Healthy Hoggin'

Detox Day 2

Megan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:24:10 +0000

Hi friends! Happy Tuesday! I’m still so thrown-off by LOST being on Tuesday night! I usually think of Tuesday nights as being “Treadmill Tuesday”– where I’ll watch the Biggest Loser on the treadmill for as long as I can stand it. Now I think I’ll divide my time between LOST and Biggest Loser, because I just can’t stay up late enough to watch it all! I’m such an old lady.

I need my sleep, too! I slept terribly last night thanks to a TERRIBLE detox headache. I realized that I barely drank any caffeine yesterday, yet I was coming off a full week of traveling and indulging in lots of black coffee! My body got used to that stimulation, and I didn’t even think about transitioning slowly off of it again… so I’m suffering the consequences. My headache pounded all morning, so I decided to give in and sip on some green tea. I figured that would be a nice compromise for my body– not quite as much caffeine as coffee, but still a nice boost. And now I feel 100% better! Whew!

My day has also included some green red juice:

I stuffed all this produce into those two glasses:

Two heads of Romaine, greens from two beets, a bunch of carrots, a lemon and a lime. This was NOT the best-tasting juice I have ever made. It was very tart, and I didn’t care for the flavor of the beet greens. But, I gulped it down! I just think of it as a liquid-vitamin I need to take.

Lunch was much tastier!!

Another round of the same salads we had yesterday! Sorry if it’s redundant, but this is just my absolute favorite combo right now. I literally crave it every day! What’s funny, is that in just two days my mom and I have gone through a block of my favorite goat cheddar:

(I live within miles of the Alta Dena farm– gotta love that!) Normally I go through about a block of this cheese a week, but with my mom eating it, too, I’ve gone through a block in two days! Ha ha. I love that I have someone to share my food with! It means I’ll get through our leftovers faster, so I can create more fun detox meals!

We followed our salads with some lightly steamed baby carrots:

Steaming them made them so sweet! It was like dessert. I’m trying to include some extra cooked food in our diet, in order to slow down the detox process. We don’t want to be detoxing more than our body can deal with at once! Body brushing, rebounding, and sweating can all help the process, too.

Speaking of sweating, I’m off to do some more walking. I really think it’s helping my back heal! I was talking to my husband this morning, and I think my injury might also have something to do with using the cross-training elliptical machine. The last time my sciatica flared up, I was using the elliptical a lot! I’ve been using it again, as my cross-training of choice, and I’m wondering if the flare-ups are related. Sometimes I feel like the cross-training aspect of the elliptical is awkward for my body– like it wouldn’t naturally move that way. So, I’m thinking for the next few months of marathon training, I will be doing more “natural” forms of cross-training (i.e. walking, jumping, etc.) The elliptical may have NOTHING to do with this, but I think it’s worth exploring!

Be back later!!

Mommy & Me Detox: Day 1

Megan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:41:47 +0000

Hi everyone! Hope you all have had a wonderful Monday! I sure did!!

My mom and I kicked off our detox this morning with some matching juices:

Carrot and Romaine juice. Very sweet!

Followed by some Emergen-C:

My mom is battling through a cold right now, so I figured some extra Vitamin C couldn’t hurt either of us! I love the Lemon-Lime flavor.

When lunch rolled around, I made us each a heaping bowl of my favorite salad:

Each serving had an entire bag of mixed greens, 1/2 a red pepper, 1 1/2 oz. raw goat cheddar, and my favorite vinaigrette. Yum-O. I was practically licking the bowl by the end!

After lunch, my exercise plans were put on hold due to my ridiculous back pain. I have suffered from sciatica in the past, and it is back in full-force! It hurts to sit!! And after sitting, it really hurts to get up and move around. According to Dr. Oz, the best thing to do for back pain is to keep moving! If you rest too much, your back muscles will only weaken and make things worse. Running seems out of the question at the moment, but walking I can do! So my mom and I did a lot of it– we walked to Whole Foods for groceries, took my dog on a 2-mile walk, and trekked around the mall this evening. And you know what? My back is feeling a little better! We’ll see how an 8-hour work day goes tomorrow, though… eek! Who’d of thought I’d dread sitting?!

After our busy day of walking, I stayed on my feet by cooking dinner! I made some detox lasagna:

And some roasted brussels sprouts:

All together:

(mine was the sloppier plate– the first slice is always a mess!) Still tasted AWESOME.

We also enjoyed a couple sips of wine while watching Jason & Molly’s wedding– I can’t believe the weather they had! I think it would be kinda fun to get married in the rain! Maybe not all that wind, though…

I’m off to bed! Hope you all have a great night!

Mommy & Me Weekend

Megan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:31:02 +0000

Hi friends! Sorry for my lack of posting– I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the weekend with my mom! She met me at the airport on Saturday afternoon, and we’ve been keeping busy ever since!

One of the things on my “To-Do” list this weekend was to use up some of my Crate & Barrel gift cards! We got a LOT of their gift cards for our wedding, but the problem is– we didn’t really register for that much at Crate & Barrel. And as much as I love the store, I don’t have much room to store a bunch of extra stuff! So, I made an effort to buy things that would be really useful around my house.

At the top of my list was glass storage containers:

I am so excited about these! No more worrying about chemicals leaching into my food.

I also got some organic cotton towels for my kitchen:

I have a feeling these won’t stay perfectly white for long. But I’m hoping they will keep us from using too many paper towels! I really want to reduce our household use of paper products…

Which is why I also bought these cloth napkins:

I love black linens. We had black linens at our wedding, so I thought these were appropriate. I really want to start using these on a regular basis, rather than saving them for a “special occasion.” And since they’re black, I don’t have to worry about any stains!

I also bought some new storage containers for our pantry, a whisk, and a couple white ceramic spoons. I can’t resist little spoons– they’re so cute! You’ll probably be seeing them on the blog soon.

While I made a dent in our gift cards, I still have a lot left over– not a bad problem to have, but I’m thinking of saving them to buy Christmas and wedding gifts this year! Is it weird that I have such a hard time using up gift cards?!

In addition to shopping, my mom and I ate a lot of good food. We decided we would enjoy her first weekend in LA by indulging at some great restaurants– then worry about getting ‘back on track’ on Monday. And, boy, did we enjoy ourselves! But by last night, we felt ready for some healthy, hydrating food again. My body can only handle heavy foods for so long! I’m ready for some green juice! And salad! Isn’t it funny how the body will tell us what it wants?

We started our morning off with some lemon water for two:

And green juice is coming up next.

Be back later with a full recap of our first detox day! Anyone else watching Molly & Jason’s wedding tonight?

Something to do: Enter Averie’s Celestial Seasoning’s Giveaway!

Food Addiction

Megan — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:15:08 +0000

Hi friends! I’m sitting in the airport, getting ready to fly back to LA! I’m so excited to get back to my regular routine– I’ve noticed my eating has gotten progressively worse throughout the week! That always happens to me. I get a taste of sugar or processed food, then I go off the rails! And the more I learn, the more I am starting to realize that I may not the only one who is affected like that! Processed foods and sugar have quite an addictive quality!

In fact, I have been listening to a LOT of NPR at work lately (Nerd alert: I love listening to talk radio while I work!), and they did a really interesting segment on Food Addiction the other day– specifically on sugar addiction.

Did you all know that in research using lab rats, sugar was to be found almost as addicting as narcotics?! And they tested sugar across the board– not just high fructose corn syrup, but all types of “fructose” were found to be addictive, including agave nectar and honey. Artificial sweeteners were not involved in this particular study, but I think it would be interesting to find out how they compare… I think heard somewhere that artificial sweeteners can stimulate your sweet tooth as well, which may lead to more sugar cravings later. Pretty interesting, huh?

According to Rob Lustig, professor of pediatrics, division of endocrinology at UCSF Medical Center, addictive substances must satisfy four criteria. They are:

Binging
Withdrawal
Craving
Cross-sensitization with other substances (i.e. if you’re addicted to sugar, you may also find yourself more likely to become addicted to alcohol as well)

While they haven’t confirmed that all of these criteria are met among the human population, they have seemed to confirm the addiction criteria in rats.

Research showed hungry rats that binge on sugar experience a surge of dopamine in their brains. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a major role in addiction and affects movement, emotional response and the ability to experience pleasure and pain.After a month of binging, the rats’ brains adapt to increased dopamine levels and have fewer of a certain type of dopamine receptors than before. Similar changes have been observed in the brains of rats fed cocaine and heroin. [source]

What’s scarier (to me, anyway) are the sugar withdrawal symptoms of the rats:

Once the rats were hooked, researchers induced symptoms of withdrawal by taking away their sugar. The level of dopamine in the rats’ brains dropped and they exhibited anxious behaviour such as chattering teeth and an unwillingness to venture into the open arm of their maze, preferring to stay in a tunnel area. Normally rats like to explore their environment, but the researchers say the rats experiencing sugar withdrawal were too anxious to explore.

Finally, Hoebel and his colleagues found that rats denied sugar for a prolonged period after learning to binge worked harder to get it when it was reintroduced to them. In fact, they ate more sugar than ever, suggesting craving and relapse behaviour.

Hoebel said such behaviour shows their motivation for sugar had grown. “Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder,” he said.

Does this sound familiar to anyone else?! I know I certainly crave sugar when I try to give it up, and I’m SO grouchy about it, too! I’m totally experiencing withdrawal!!

So, now that we’re pretty sure that sugar is addictive, how do we beat it?

Here are some suggestions:

Trying to stop eating sugar is as hard as quitting smoking or drinking coffee, so cut yourself some slack and check out these ways to curb your sugar cravings.

Reduce the amount of sugar you consume – the less you eat, the less you crave. Soda and juice are high in sugar so read your labels carefully.

Eat some sweet vegetables. Root vegetables like yams, sweet potato, carrots, beets and onions provide a sweet flavor that satisfies the palate, reducing your craving for a sweet dessert.

Eat some leafy green vegetables to replenish the vitamins and minerals you have been losing to sugar.

Drink more water! We often mistake thirst for hunger. The next time a craving strikes, drink some water and see how you feel.

Gain awareness of the many names of sugar as they appear on food labels. Sugar is called fructose, maltose, dextrose, cane sugar, turbinado, organic sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and corn syrup, just to name a few.

Remember that processed foods act like sugar in the body, so stay away from white bread, white pasta and white rice when you are trying to reduce the amount of sugar you consume. Replace these with whole grain versions for a slower burning food.

Stay away from artificial sweeteners! Aside from being a chemical and not a food, artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than regular sugar. Studies have shown that zero calorie sweeteners cause weight gain by tricking the body into thinking that they are the real sweet. Because artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than sugar, people overeat when exposed to sugar, trying to reach the sweetness of the fake.

If you must indulge in something sweet, try natural sweeteners like raw honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar in place of sugar. These sweeteners are less processed than sugar and still have their nutrients intact. Although they have calories like sugar, they do not cause weight gain as quickly because they burn more slowly in the body. If you want a zero calorie sweetener, try stevia leaf, an herbal supplement that is extremely sweet and can be found in your local health food store. [source]

I couldn’t possibly cover all the information they talked about in one post! If you all have some time during your workdays, I highly recommend listening to the NPR audio here.

Another book that addresses the science of food addiction is Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food. I’m still finishing up this book, but it is SO interesting to read how some food manufacturers and restaurants will go to great lengths to make us crave their food! And in my experience, it works!

Now that I’m feeling thoroughly addicted to processed foods and sugar again, I feel like I have to start all over again with some sugar-detox. Ugh. My mom is going to be meeting me at LAX this afternoon for a long visit (yay!!) and I think she’s feeling pretty addicted, too, since she’s coming off a trip from seeing my brother and his family. I’m thinking some mommy-and-me detox is in order!! I think we’ll play this weekend in LA, then jump on the detox wagon together on Monday. It’s always easier with a buddy, anyway!

I have a feeling it’s going to be a grouchy week, but I know it will get better the sooner I get the sugar-cravings back under control! Sugar will not win!!

Reader Feedback: Have you guys ever experienced sugar withdrawal? When you cut out sugar, do you go cold-turkey? Or try to gradually cut back?

Drink your veggies!

Megan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:15:06 +0000

Hi friends! Happy Hump Day! Is it seriously already Wednesday?! My business trips make time FLY!

While I haven’t been able to eat perfectly during my trip, I have tried to keep some things sacred. Vegetable juicing is at the top of my list! I feel like it’s my nutritional insurance policy. Even if I can’t eat perfectly the rest of the day, at least I started it off with a hefty dose of vitamins, minerals and enzymes!

I stuffed a cucumber, 1/2 bunch of kale, 4 carrots, 1 beet and 1 lemon into that glass!

I’ve also been eating lunch at home, which helps keep me on track:

I feel like photos just don’t do the size of my salads justice. I used an entire 6-oz. bag of lettuce in that bowl! My new favorite salad EVER is mixed greens topped with crunchy red peppers, shredded raw goat cheddar, and my new dressing love. This is like heaven in a bowl.

Once I have breakfast and lunch under control, I feel like any decision I make at dinner will be okay. I wind up eating out a LOT during my business trips, so my choices aren’t exactly as healthy as they would be at home. But I try to keep it in perspective– I’m only here for a week! I’ll be back on track in no time, and I should enjoy myself while I’m here! Some of my FAVORITE restaurants are in Kansas City, and I’m not going to deny myself the enjoyment of eating at them! And let me tell you, so far I have really enjoyed eating at them this week!

To try and prevent some of the “damage” eating many meals out can do, I’ve also pulled this out from my travel-arsenal:

See my KU glass? Rock Chalk!!!! (There’s a BIG GAME TONIGHT!!)

Here’s a bit about Natural Calm from its website:

Natural Calm is the solution to both restoring a healthy magnesium level and balancing your calcium intake—the result of which is natural stress relief. Natural Calm is the best-selling magnesium supplement on the market for over three years in a row according to health food supermarket scanner reports. It features a proprietary formula developed by nutritional researcher Peter Gillham that provides a highly absorbable, water-soluble magnesium in ionic form (having molecular charge that allows the element to easily bond with water), so it is ready to go to work right away.

Natural Calm can gradually reduce accumulated calcium, giving fast relief to many symptoms of magnesium depletion.

My colon hydrotherapist recommended this as a supplement for when I’m traveling or feeling “backed-up.” (A common symptom of travel and dehydration!) When I’m eating less-than-stellar foods, I find that taking Natural Calm helps my body manage a bit better. About 1-2 teaspoons a night with some water does the trick.

I’ve only got a few days left of traveling, then I’m looking forward to going back to Southern California’s abundance of fresh, cheap produce, and WARM weather!! I can’t believe how COLD it still is here!! Brrrr….

Hope you all enjoy your night! I’m going to be cheering on my alma matter from the top of my lungs.

Manic Monday

Megan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:26:13 +0000

Hi friends! Sorry for disappearing on you yesterday… I had a jam-packed Monday!

I got off to a great start by packing some fresh vegetable juice to take with me to work:

I can’t have breakfast right away in the morning… I’m just not awake enough! So I kept this beauty cold in the fridge until I was good and ready for it. Still tasted wonderful when my appetite showed up!

I got a couple of strange looks from my co-workers as they walked by my office with that puppy sitting on my desk! Ha ha. This juice was packed with a cucumber, kale, carrots, a lemon and a beet. YUMMY!! I was really paranoid about spilling this DEEP red drink on myself and ruining the rest of my work day, but the straw was a life saver! No red lips or red clothes! Whew!

Lunch was an un-pictured salad– a huge bowl of mixed greens, topped with 1/2 a red pepper, and 1 1/2 ounces raw goat cheddar– topped with my favorite homemade dressing. So good. I could eat that salad every single day!

Immediately after work, I went to dinner with the “geezers” as they call themselves.

I had a nice time with my grandma and her friends, and munched on a veggie plate of sweet potatoes, roasted green beans and grilled zucchini. They were a bit oily, but other than that it was awesome. I also sipped on about half a glass of Shiraz. You need it when your dinner guests are guzzling martinis! My grandma and her friends go out for the alcohol, NOT the food!

[source]

And of course, I spent the rest of the evening watching The Bachelor Season Finale! Um, sorry Jake. I don’t think I respect you anymore. First you pick Vienna, then you announce you’re going to be a contestant on Dancing with the Stars?! Not sure how I feel about that… let’s just say, I felt like this surprisingly intriguing season kind of just fizzled out at the end.

I got to bed pretty early after the show– I was wiped out! Good thing, too, since I had an early morning ahead of me. I had to be off to work by 7:25 am, whether I liked it or not, because my grandma was having her cleaning people come over– and I can’t be there to get in the way! Breakfast juicing was not an option!

I had quite an appetite this morning, so I made a less-than-stellar choice for breakfast:

A whole wheat bagel with butter, and a cup of black coffee. Not exactly the breakfast of champions, but the bagel tasted AWESOME. Bagels aren’t very common in LA (donuts and cupcakes are the more popular choices there), so it was kind of a nice treat. The coffee, on the other hand, was terrible! So watery, I poured it right down the drain. Sorry, Einstein’s– that was not at all a “bold” roast! Yuck!

Okay, it’s back to work for me! Hope you all have a great Tuesday!!

There’s No Place Like Home

Megan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:31:31 +0000

Hi Friends! Happy Sunday!

It was an early morning for me– my shuttle picked me up at 6am! Too early for a weekend, in my opinion. Especially, since I tend to stay up late the night before I travel! I’m always worried about all the little details I could be forgetting, so I drive myself crazy double-checking everything. I’m pretty sure I got everything done that I needed to, though! Whew!

The shuttle ride was a bit stressful this morning, because there was a terrible accident on the freeway– they shut the WHOLE thing down! We had to deal with backed-up traffic on the city streets of Downtown LA, which had me stressing about missing my flight! It was my own fault, too. I tend to “fudge” my departure time when I have an early-morning flight, because shuttles typically pick you up 3 hours before a domestic flight. In the early morning, it only takes 20-30 minutes to get to the airport, so that’s 2 1/2 hours I have to just sit there! I hate wasting that much of my life waiting… so I usually tell the shuttle company that my flight leaves about 30 minutes later than it actually doess. Shhh! Don’t tell.

I still ended up getting there with over an hour to spare, so it all worked out. Thank goodness!

Since I travel pretty regularly for work, I have my routine down pat at the airport. After I get through security, I buy a bottle of water:

A bag of raw almonds:

And a fun magazine:

The water keeps me nice and hydrated in all that altitude, the almonds keep me from munching on the nutrient-devoid airplane food, and the magazine keeps me occupied until take-off. Once the plane is up in the air, I almost always try to sleep! There’s nothing better than falling asleep at take-off, and waking up when you land. Ahhh….

I didn’t sleep quite that well today, but I did manage to at least rest for most of the flight. Even if I can’t sleep, I try to keep my eyes shut and not stress about anything. Flying is one of the only times that I can force myself to not be productive! My computer battery will not hold a charge for 3 hours, so there’s really no way I could work, even if I wanted to. It feels kinda nice to do nothing…

Now that I’m here in Kansas, I’m thoroughly enjoying myself! (and the chilly weather!) I had lunch with one of my good friends, a nice dinner at home with my grandma and uncles, and I picked up my groceries for the week. I forgot how good I have it living in Southern California, fresh produce-wise! The lettuce here looked SO OLD and WILTY! Gross. I decided cucumbers might be a better green base for my juices, instead. My bill was also WAY higher here for my normal produce! I guess it takes a lot to get fresh veggies all the way to Kansas… I already miss Trader Joe’s! Oh well, I’ll be back to my abundance of fresh produce next weekend.

I’m off to watch Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters with my grandma– my family still doesn’t have a DVR at their house! I have to watch commercials?!

I really enjoy watching TV with my grandma, though… it reminds me of staying up ‘late’ to watch Golden Girls with her when I was little. I have the fondest memories of watching that with her!

Alright, I’m off! Hope you all enjoy the rest of your night!!

Use it all up!

Megan — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:58:57 +0000

Morning bloggy friends! I can’t believe it’s already the weekend! By this time tomorrow, I’ll be flying to Kansas!

Lately, I’ve been trying to use up all the perishable food in my house! Since this business trip was planned in a hurry, I have more fresh food in my house than I can use! Some of my food should stay pretty well over the next 6 days (I’m hoping my winter squash will be okay!), but my leafy greens, fruits and veggies are another story… and I hate wasting food!

I’ve been trying to use up all my sweet potatoes at dinner:

I am in LOVE with roasted sweet potatoes, ever since I started roasting them in coconut oil! For some reason, they taste SO much better this way, and there’s no blackened, charred-taste that occurs when I use olive oil. (Most oils mutate in high heat, actually creating carcinogens! Yipes! Coconut oil doesn’t mutate, making it an ideal choice for cooking.) You guys need to give this a try!

Coconut Oil Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Serves 2

2-3 sweet potatoes, cut into 1″ chunks (you can leave the skin on if they’re organic)
2 tablespoons coconut oil, in a liquid state (melt over stove if needed)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and toss until the potatoes are well coated. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet, and roast for 10 minutes. Flip all the potatoes with a fork or a spatula, then return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden brown– crispy on the outside, fork-tender on the inside. Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired, and serve immediately.

©Healthy Hoggin’

I truly can’t taste the coconut oil in the potatoes, but it makes your home smell HEAVENLY while they’re roasting!

After dinner, I moved on to tackling the disaster that is my dishwasher. All of the sudden my dishes are all coated in a white film AFTER being washed!

Yes, that spatula USED to be black. Now it covered in gross, white powder! I have NO idea what I’ve done to create this white-filmy-MONSTER, but I’m at my wit’s end! My dishwasher used to work fine, and I haven’t changed detergents. I was looking up remedies online, and there were a few suggestions that this could be a result of using too much detergent in each load. A fix was supposed to running your dishwasher empty with a mug full of white vinegar in the bottom rack.

No dice. Still tons of white film on my dishes. I’ve also added white vinegar to my “rinse agent” reserve. Nope, didn’t work either. UGH! What do I do? I’m about to throw in the towel, and pretend like I don’t have a dishwasher anymore! It’s so frustrating to see your dishes come out looking DIRTIER than when you put them in! I’m thinking maybe I should try running the dishwasher a couple more times, to give it a more thorough cleaning? If you guys have any suggestions, I’m all ears!!

For a frustration-free distraction, I decided to try out some of the new powders I got in the mail yesterday:

I’ve been meaning to try Maca for a while now, but when I saw it at Whole Foods, it was a little pricey for my pocket book. Fortunately, I found it cheaper online. I also found this affordable, high-quality cocoa powder (sold in a 2-pack) in my online search, so I added that to my cart, too. What can I say, when the husband’s away, the wife will…. shop.

I used my new cocoa powder to make some detox pudding — using up all the ripe avocados that I have sitting in my house. It would be a shame to see these babies go to waste:

I made the pudding (recipe here)– tried really hard not to taste it, since it’s a sweet– and scooped it into a well-sealed tupperware. I decided to freeze it, so I’m really curious how it will be as ice cream! I’m hoping it gets nice and malt-like.

I’ve got a busy day ahead of me! My house-sitter is coming by this afternoon to get acquainted with everything, then I’ve got bunches of packing to do! I always make a “to-do list” before a big trip. It calms my anxiety about forgetting something! I feel like my list is even longer this time, with my husband gone! (Gulp.)

I will get everything done. I will get everything done.

Gotta run for now! Hope you all enjoy your Saturday!!

Beating a Binge

Megan — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:33:30 +0000

Hi friends! Thank you so much for your sweet comments about my last post. It’s not something I like to talk about very often, but I know it was helpful for my recovery to know that there were others out there that I could relate to, and I hope that my story can do that for someone else. In continuing with NEDA week, I’d like to talk about techniques that have helped me prevent binges, or at least helped put a stop to a binge-in-progress.

Whether you suffer from emotional eating issues or not, these techniques can help you get past the temptation of eating something you might regret later!

So, before you eat that tempting (fill in the blank) :

1. Think it through. Imagine yourself indulging in whatever you want. Imaging eating that cookie or cake or ice cream… whatever it is, and savoring every last bite. Then what? How easy will it be for you to get back on track with your goals? Will you “blow” the rest of your day with other bad foods? What about the next day? Think through the consequences of your actions– is it worth the aftermath?

2. Eat something healthy immediately! Even if it doesn’t sound good to you and you don’t think you’re that hungry. Often times we’ll start dreaming of unhealthy things when we’re starting to get the slightest bit hungry, or even just plain, old bored. Eat a piece of fruit, some raw almonds, baby carrots… anything you like, as long as it’s healthy. It will squash your hunger and keep you on track, buying yourself some much-needed time to mentally re-group before you make your next food choice. If you can’t talk yourself into eating something healthy, then you’re probably not truly hungry, and need to figure out what’s really causing your cravings.

3. Drink some tea. Maybe it’s just me, but when I sip a cup of tea, I instantly feel calmer and healthier. The soothing, warm liquid reminds me of how good it feels to take care of myself, and helps remind me of my goals.

4. Find a “fun” distraction. Some people binge on junk food because they associate it with being “fun.” Often times, a certain food can remind you of a pleasurable experience from your past. Instead, find something else to do that brings you pleasure. One of my favorites? Playing the Nintendo Wii! Not only does it distract me from my urge to eat, most games are pretty active– bonus calorie burn! Playing with your dog or meeting up with a friend also works!

5. Be aware of your “food cues.” For me, there are many. Overcast weather makes me crave cookies and hot chocolate, certain TV commercials make me crave pizza, chips and soda. Cues can be everywhere! When possible, avoid the cues you can (i.e. record your TV shows and fast forward through commercials), or when you can’t avoid them, try to develop a new behavior to associate with it. Now, when I see an overcast day, I try to imagine how nice it would be to read a good book, bundled in a cozy blanket with a mug of green tea.

6. Relax. Often times, binges result from some sort of anxiety. Take a hot shower or bath, light some candles, read a book or take a nap. Taking a nap is my favorite way to re-set my brain– you wake up refreshed and ready to get back on track!

7. Find a suitable substitute. Have you tried raw chocolate pudding? Or raw macaroons? How about banana soft-serve? With the abundance of quick and delicious, nutrient-dense treats out there, why are we still talking about junk food?! Do yourself a favor, and give them a try! You may never want a traditional dessert again!

And if all else fails, give into your craving! Maybe it won’t taste as good as you remember, and you can move on. Or maybe it is as good as you remember, and it’s worth it! Whatever you do, don’t beat yourself up about it. One choice isn’t going to make you or break you– your life is a series of choices, and it’s what you choose the majority of the time that matters!

And if you resist the urge, congratulations! You may have realized that whatever treat you wanted is not as important to you as your long-term goals. You just flexed your “discipline muscle!” Just like any other muscle, you have to train it before it gets strong, but eventually your old habits will become less and less tempting!

Okay, that’s it for eating-disorder talk on this blog! Simply talking about it can be a trigger for me, and I’m afraid it might trigger others, too, so I try to avoid the subject as much as possible in day-to-day life. But I do think it is important to talk about, because many more people than we even realize suffer from some sort of disordered eating! If my experiences can help others, then it’s worth it!

I’ll be back tomorrow with much more pleasant talk, I promise!

Yo-Yo Diets & Disordered Eating

Megan — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:07:35 +0000

* If you suffer from disordered eating, and think that reading about it will trigger something in you, please do not continue reading this post. I’ll be back to my regular blog topics tomorrow! Promise!! *

In honor of NEDA week, I’d like to discuss with you all my experience with yo-yo diets and disordered eating. It is SUCH a common problem, yet I think it is still not common-enough-knowledge that the two are related! I truly believe that if I had never yo-yo dieted, disordered eating wouldn’t even be on my radar.

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As a child, I was very active– involved in track and dance all the way up until my sophomore year of high school. That’s when my life drastically changed! My family moved, ripping me away from my close friends and a school that I loved. It wasn’t my parents’ fault. We were a military family, and moving was the norm, but we had been stationed in Georgia for 5 years, which was the longest we had ever been in one place! I grew attached to the friends I had made, and didn’t want have to start all over again, especially in the middle of my high school career! I was angry and sad, and I could only tell my parents about it so much– I didn’t want to make them feel worse, either! So I started suppressing my feelings with food. Eating potato chips reminded me of spending days at the pool with my friends. Eating cake reminded me of movie night with the girls. All of the sudden, I was getting an emotional “fix” from food!

However, I was very naive and didn’t know ANYTHING about calories or weight gain. In Georgia, I was a competitive dancer, in the studio 10+ hours a week, and never had to worry about what I ate. While I wasn’t the skinniest girl in my dance classes, I had always been thin, and thought I’d stay that way. So let’s just say, I was utterly shocked when I started gaining weight from eating all that “comforting” junk! Clueless on how to get back into my old jeans, I looked into drastic measures.

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The only thing I really knew about dieting at the time, was that Jennifer Aniston had successfully lost some weight while she was on Friends. I looked into her diet of choice– The Zone. I was grateful that The Zone had a very informative website, and taught myself all about it. I immediately dove in– meticulously tracking my “blocks” of protein, carbs and fat at each meal. It was mentally exhausting, and I was always hungry, but it worked!

That is, until I went right back to eating my comfort food again. And this time around, I missed those foods so much that I ate MORE of them! And, thus, the cycle of yo-yo dieting began.

I managed to keep my weight in-check throughout the rest of my high-school career (thanks to a high-metabolism and teaching dance classes), but when college rolled around, I dreaded the idea of gaining the “Freshman 15.” I avoided the dining hall as much as possible, choosing the bagged lunch options instead– filled with bagels, sandwiches and baked chips (what I thought was “health food” at the time). What I didn’t know, however, was that ALCOHOL was the real culprit behind the Freshman 15! So here I was, obsessing over every bite I took, and then drinking countless numbers of beers and cocktails every weekend! Surprise, surprise– I gained the full 15, and then some.

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That’s when my experimentation with dieting REALLY kicked in– I tried Atkins, South Beach, The Abs diet, calorie-counting, and even weirder diets that my friends suggested (eating protein the size of my fist every two hours?!). It all worked for a matter of two weeks or so, but then my willpower would lack, and I’d fall right back into old habits. I even tried more drastic measures– becoming a vegetarian, then even a vegan! I still found food to binge on, and eventually gave up on the vegan thing, because the “label” was doing more harm than good for me. The more restricted I felt, the stronger my urge to binge!

I found myself more and more embarrassed by the way I was eating, so I started doing it in secret, when no one was home. I’d hide food, or eat it in the car– even in the bathroom! The more embarrassed I was by it, the more depressed I got, and the harder it was to quit. I got into a cycle of binge eating, followed by severe dieting to “make up” for it, then binging all over again. I never thought I had an eating disorder, because I wasn’t a “classic” bulimic– I wasn’t binging, then purging– I was just binging. I felt like I was “getting away with it,” too, because my size wasn’t really changing, despite all the binging I was doing. But I could tell my body was getting softer and softer, regardless of what the number on the scale said.

The turning point for me, was when I started actually LEARNING about health and how the body works. The first book that opened my eyes was UltraMetabolism, by Dr. Mark Hyman. I learned about how certain foods affect the body, and send triggers to our brain, causing us to overeat or feel satiated. I followed his principles for one month, eating plenty of foods that I loved, and lost 15 lbs! Success! As soon as I started associating this plan with weight-loss, however, I immediately fell into that “diet mentality” again. I needed one more push to truly get myself health-oriented, rather than vanity-oriented.

I soon discovered The Raw Food Detox Diet, by Natalia Rose. The funny thing is, I was still seeking-out a “quick fix” for weight loss when I picked up this book, but I got so much more out of it than that. She explained health to me in a way I had never heard it before– from a digestion standpoint. It finally “clicked” for me! I realized that the way I had been eating was accumulating waste in my body and creating an acidic environment, setting me up for countless problems in the future. I finally understood the importance of eating for health, rather than eating for a certain jean-size. She also emphasized the importance of transition. Creating a healthy, lean body doesn’t happen overnight, and you shouldn’t expect your old habits to vanish that quickly either. It’s a process. Finding whole, unprocessed foods that you enjoy is a step in the right direction.

And that’s where I am today. Still transitioning into a healthy lifestyle, both mentally and physically. Most importantly, I’m learning to appreciate my body and all it does for me, even after everything I’ve put it through! My body has a lot of healing to do from all the damage I’ve done, and I’ve been making great strides in my recovery. Incorporating raw food, and avoiding calorie-counting has been key to my healing. That’s not to say that I still don’t obsess over food on occasion, or have some slip-ups, but they are getting fewer and farther in between, and I’m becoming more aware of how to manage them now.

The key is to avoid crash diets at all costs. My biggest slip-ups in life have been right before big events, where I really care about how I’m going to look. Preparing for my wedding was actually one of the lowest points in my mental health, because the pressure to be thin for pictures was so high!

That’s when I realized that eating disorders don’t just affect you, either! My poor husband suffered right along with me! I think it was a big wake-up call for me– I realized I wasn’t just holding myself back with my food and body insecurities, I was holding “us” back, too! One of the hardest things I’ve ever done was admitting to my husband that I had a problem, but I’m so grateful that I did! It’s out in the open, and that’s a huge step! He has been so supportive, and I love him even more for it.

It’s truly been a journey for me, and while I’m not completely healed, I hope my story will help others from sliding down the same path. If you are struggling with disordered eating, I can’t recommend enough that you seek out help. To get started, check out the resources provided by the NEDA.

And if you have any more questions for me, you can ask them anonymously here!

Most of all, remember to love and accept your body, no matter what shape or size it is. The more you look at the BIG PICTURE (life-long health, disease prevention, preparing for pregnancy) the more trivial your jean size will become. You are beautiful, just the way you are!

Something to do:

For two healthy outlooks on life, check out:

Angela’s Size Healthy

Caitlin’s Operation Beautiful