I have said many times that even if I never lost another pound, I would continue to eat a plant-based diet and drink green juice because it has given me back my health. I would reassure others who hit weight plateaus for a week or two to just keep at it and the weight would start to go down again. Our bodies sometimes need time to adjust to this new way of being and doing, especially if we have been very overweight for a very long time. I had been from 280 to 340 for a couple of decades. So mid-March when I hit a plateau, I had to put my money where my mouth is so to speak. I hit a plateau. I hit 265 and my body froze, looked at me in horror and said, "Are you kidding me? We're melting like the wicked witch after she got watered down by Dorothy! This ain't right!!! Do you WANT to disappear? What if there's a famine? This is dangerous! You can't just go losing weight willy nilly I tell you!"
It didn't help that I had several extra-curricular stress activities pop up during this same time frame. If you don't know or understand what the stress hormone, Cortisol, can do to weight loss efforts, look up Dr. John Bergman on youtube. He explains it better than anyone else I've seen.
So for a couple of weeks, I was totally zen about this plateau. Seriously. I really didn't let it bother me because I understood what was happening. I had hit a lower weight than I'd seen in at least 15 years. When it had been a month, I started to get worried in that scared, secret, small place inside me that has always feared this new found health and energy will be ripped away. Right at this same time I was getting super busy trying to pack and clean to move out of this house finally. After several months of planning to move, we are finally actually moving. We HAVE to be out of this house by the end of the month even if it means camping out at the lake until we can find something else. Long story.... anyway, I was extremely busy and having to use every coping mechanism I had not to let the stress get to me. We had a very, very hard winter financially along with some other life stressors so it was no surprise, really, that the weight loss stalled. Knowing and understanding that and dealing with seeing that number stay the same every day are two different things. Actually, it didn't stay exactly the same. My weight, as with most people, can fluctuate 3-5 pounds in any given week which is the main reason I usually weigh daily. So I had hit that 265 for about 2 days when my weight started doing a gentle rollercoaster up and down and up and down from 266 to 269 for weeks. So I put the scale away. I didn't want worry over that number to pull my focus away from the main thing which is my health. I just played Dory and kept on swimming... and eating my plants and making my juice. As Spring came on strong, I did what I had always planned to do and shifted more to raw fruits and salads and less soups and starches. Not a big shift but just a bit more of this and a bit less of that. It felt right. I felt a boost in energy almost immediately.
I was out of town for over a week and got home last Wednesday night. Thursday morning I decided to pull out the scale and see where I was at and it said 266. Okay. Saturday morning, 264. Hey! Monday morning, today, 261! Yeah! Bye-bye plateau! I learned from you. I let you be and you let me be and now we must part ways. See ya!
That plateau lasted nearly two months. I learned that I really do have the power of my convictions within me to put my health first. I really felt that my body would eventually begin to seek a healthier weight once again. But I knew that if it didn't or if it took a year or two for that to happen, I would be okay in the meantime as long as I continued to flood my body with real nutrition. I learned some valuable lessons about myself. I have said many times that how I feel is far more important than how I look and I proved to myself that this was true. I've said that I have learned to trust my body. Now I've proven it. I've also proved to myself that if the scale becomes a detriment, I can just put it away.
I recently watched a video shared by my friend, Lori. It was posted by a bariatric surgeon and explained how our bodies will establish "set points" at a very high weight. He went into the anthropology of it all. His point was to make us feel hopeless to lose the weight without surgery. FALSE. The problem is that most people hit those points where their body is trying to adjust to the changes you've made, the weight loss slows or stops so they tighten down on the calories even more. They starve their cells which makes the body freak out even more. "Starvation! She's trying to kill us!" If you hit your plateau - or your new "set point" - and you just keep FLOODING your body with amazing nutrition, your body WILL relax and realize that it is safe to allow more of that weight to go. Truth. Doctors selling hopelessness to line their pockets make me sick. Right up until I drink my green juice or eat my bowl of fruit or salad. THAT makes me very, very well:)
JUICE ON YA'LL. WE GOT THIS!!
Showing posts with label failure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label failure. Show all posts
Monday, May 12, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Is It My Amazing Willpower? BHAHAHA!
I am in an online group who set a goal each quarter of the year to lose 25lbs with the goal of ultimately losing 100lbs in one year. I started my journey in August of 2013 so I didnt start this particular challenge until the last quarter of 2013. So from Oct 1 to Dec 31, my personal challenge (it is NOT a competition) was to get from 310 to 285. I did that. Nearly exactly that. So now for the first quarter of 2014, my goal is to get to 260 by March 31st. I'm already to 274. I KNOW that I will reach my goal. The sad fact is, I won't have much company. Very few reached their goal last quarter and very few are looking good for this quarter. The MOST important thing, of course, is that most participants lost some weight. And equally important is that they are mostly still trying as we all know my policy is that you don't fail until you quit.
The thing is, I have to sometimes remind myself not to feel guilty for succeeding where so many others who are trying SO hard fail. Does that sound crazy? I find myself downplaying or just very quietly recording my success unless someone else in the group brings it up. I've made no secret of my methods but I don't try to "push" them on anyone else. So there are people on there using all different sorts of approaches. I mean some of these people count every bite, track it on their calorie tracker and work out like a beast and make sure they have a "calorie deficit." They work hard for every pound lost! Each person has their own idea of what a "healthy diet" looks like and that is fine. The thing is, I honest-to-goodness have to fight feeling guilty because what I'm doing is so easy to me. I don't feel like I'm having to really "fight" for it anymore. It is comfortable and easy.
On the other hand, I do occasionally have to fight off mini waves of panic that at any time now it will all be ripped away. My plant-strong diet will suddenly stop healing my body. My body will suddenly stop seeking a healthy weight and releasing the fat. I will once again find myself "fat, sick and nearly dead." The great thing is that the scared little girl who fears these things is growing paler, weaker and quieter with each passing day. I know that this fear is just born of a sad, sick past. It isn't real. It isn't a part of my today or my tomorrow. I can ignore it and it will go away. Once in a while "ignore it and it will go away" actually works in our favor! LOL Seriously though, if we don't feed our fear, it will wither up and die. If we indulge in it and feed it (with our time and attention) it will grow stronger. Don't feed the fear!
So, the qustion is, how can I succeed after all these years with my abysmal track record when so many other are failing? Am I smarter? No. Am I blessed with a better metabolism? BAHAHAHA!! Do I work harder? Not in most cases! Some people I know work super hard at doing everything "right" with painfully little to show for it. Do I have more willpower? No. Only two things come to mind to explain this. One, I hit my own personal rock bottom which put me in the perfect position to be truly willing to do whatever is required. Most people look at my life style and only focus on what they would have to give up. They immediately zero in on whatever their particular weakness is. "No steak?!" "No doughnuts?!" "No McDonalds?!" NO WAY!! Whereas my focus is on NO PAIN! NO WEAKNESS! NO WHEELCHAIR! NO STROKE! NO HOSPITAL! NO MORE SIZE 28! So when someone asks me if I'll never have a cookie cake or a pizza ever again, I can calmly, truthfully and with no regrets say, "Not if you paid me!"
The second thing is much simpler for me but resisted by so many because of the pervasive lies we have been fed as a society about diet and nutrition. It's the plants. That's it. Beginning, middle and end. It's. The. Plants. Plants heal and nourish. Fake foods and chemically and genetically modified crap posing as food destroy and damage and disease. Plants heal and nourish. It. Is. The. Plants.
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The thing is, I have to sometimes remind myself not to feel guilty for succeeding where so many others who are trying SO hard fail. Does that sound crazy? I find myself downplaying or just very quietly recording my success unless someone else in the group brings it up. I've made no secret of my methods but I don't try to "push" them on anyone else. So there are people on there using all different sorts of approaches. I mean some of these people count every bite, track it on their calorie tracker and work out like a beast and make sure they have a "calorie deficit." They work hard for every pound lost! Each person has their own idea of what a "healthy diet" looks like and that is fine. The thing is, I honest-to-goodness have to fight feeling guilty because what I'm doing is so easy to me. I don't feel like I'm having to really "fight" for it anymore. It is comfortable and easy.
On the other hand, I do occasionally have to fight off mini waves of panic that at any time now it will all be ripped away. My plant-strong diet will suddenly stop healing my body. My body will suddenly stop seeking a healthy weight and releasing the fat. I will once again find myself "fat, sick and nearly dead." The great thing is that the scared little girl who fears these things is growing paler, weaker and quieter with each passing day. I know that this fear is just born of a sad, sick past. It isn't real. It isn't a part of my today or my tomorrow. I can ignore it and it will go away. Once in a while "ignore it and it will go away" actually works in our favor! LOL Seriously though, if we don't feed our fear, it will wither up and die. If we indulge in it and feed it (with our time and attention) it will grow stronger. Don't feed the fear!
So, the qustion is, how can I succeed after all these years with my abysmal track record when so many other are failing? Am I smarter? No. Am I blessed with a better metabolism? BAHAHAHA!! Do I work harder? Not in most cases! Some people I know work super hard at doing everything "right" with painfully little to show for it. Do I have more willpower? No. Only two things come to mind to explain this. One, I hit my own personal rock bottom which put me in the perfect position to be truly willing to do whatever is required. Most people look at my life style and only focus on what they would have to give up. They immediately zero in on whatever their particular weakness is. "No steak?!" "No doughnuts?!" "No McDonalds?!" NO WAY!! Whereas my focus is on NO PAIN! NO WEAKNESS! NO WHEELCHAIR! NO STROKE! NO HOSPITAL! NO MORE SIZE 28! So when someone asks me if I'll never have a cookie cake or a pizza ever again, I can calmly, truthfully and with no regrets say, "Not if you paid me!"
The second thing is much simpler for me but resisted by so many because of the pervasive lies we have been fed as a society about diet and nutrition. It's the plants. That's it. Beginning, middle and end. It's. The. Plants. Plants heal and nourish. Fake foods and chemically and genetically modified crap posing as food destroy and damage and disease. Plants heal and nourish. It. Is. The. Plants.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
If You Are Juice FASTING, Then, for Heaven's Sake FAST!
Okay, I'm gonna rant a bit so prepare yourself. And remember that this rant applies to the old Natshell as much as to anyone else.
I have heard SO many people say, "I don't like vegatables." And I've even heard quite a few say, "I don't like water." Let's be clear here. What you are saying is that you have become so addicted to artificial crap posing as food and drink that your body has forgotten what it really needs. That, in my humble opinion, is the best and most important function of a juice fast. It gives your body the chance to get out from under that addiction and remember what it really, biologically, needs so that it will start telling you that this is what it wants again.
Those of us who have been through some juice fasting tell newcomers not to worry because their taste buds will change. It's truth. The same is true of the water. There are some people who try to baby people along and tell them to do whatever is easiest for them. "Just drink tea or flavored water." "Don't worry about giving up your coffee if that is too hard for you." "I'm sure a diet soda once in a while won't be the end of the world, at least you'll be getting some healthy juice too...." I tell people similar things sometimes when I sense that they are really not mentally prepared to deal with their addictions. But here is my honest to goodness bottom line. Here is where what Natalie really believes departs from what kind Natalie isn't going to push on others. When I'm in a public forum, I am pretty good at feeling out where someone is mentally and emotionally and I don't generally push. I'm not God and I'm not the world's leading juicing expert so I encourage people to find their own path and make their chosen path work for them. Here's the not-so-kind truth why I say and act that way. Everyone out there has the same resources I had to find the truth. Everyone has the same responsibility to themselves to find it. And everyone out there has to live with their choices. Meanwhile, here on MY blog, I can be blunt about what I've learned and about what I believe without worrying about hurting anyone's tender feelers. So, are you prepared now? This isn't the Natshell you are used to....
SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUP. JUST DRINK THE JUICE AND THE WATER. Your body was not designed to crave coffee or that poison crap called soda. It was designed to NEED and CRAVE pure water to survive! Your body wasn't designed to crave a cheeseburger. It was designed to crave plants. Give it a chance. Give it a tiny little chance to get out from under all the addictive S.H.I.T. that our illustrious scientists have created to cause it to crave those things and you will be ASTOUNDED by how fast it will switch to doing what it was designed to do.
In case there is anyone out there who hasn't yet come to accept that the food industry intentionally hooks us on unhealthy crap, don't take my word for it:
You haven't been able to "eat in moderation" or use "portion control" any more than a crack addict can "control" himself with crack. It's addictive. And if you don't believe the higher ups at the food giants know this and use it to sell more more more, then you are too naive to waste my time on. So with you, I'll be gentle and kind in another place and time. For now, those of you who can handle the truth, suck it up, recognize you are being used and abused and do what you would tell any alcohol or drug addict to do. Step away from the crap that is hurting you. Replace it with what can make you healthy and strong. If you don't "enjoy" it in the beginning, just "take your medicine" and have faith. You will come to enjoy it. You will come to crave it as the life-giving substance that it is. Your body knows. Once you clear out the crap, you can trust your body to tell you what it needs.
Let's not forget that sometimes old, sick tapes can still play in our heads and tell us that we "deserve" to "enjoy" the junk that Barbie and Ken are having at the family picnic. After all, look how sexy they look! Just remind yourself that what you really deserve is health, freedom from disease, depression and obesity. What you really deserve is to live into your 90s with vigor and purpose. And it doesn't hurt to remind yourself that you can "enjoy" things that don't hurt you! Do I feel deprived when I'm having a vegan, raw chocolate brownie at the party while others are having TollHouse cookies? Hell no! I'm getting the great hormonal boost of the raw chocolate without the heaping dose of poison on the side! Thanks anyway;o) And it doesn't hurt to remind yourself that in 40 or 50 years, Barbie and Ken will probably either be pushing up daisies or toodling around a nursing home with their walkers while you are doing 5ks or (if you are me) trail riding with your grandkids.
One more little bitty rant and I'll return you to your regularly scheduled easy-going Natshell. Promise. When you are on a juice fast. FAST on JUICE. "Is it okay to add a bit of meat so I'll get enough protein?" No. "Is it okay to take a bunch of chemical pain relievers because I have a headache?" No. "Is it okay to have my coffee in the morning since it's liquid?" NO! Go ahead and do those things if you want. But DON'T call it a JUICE.... FAST! Caffeine, meat and chemicals are some of the precise things your body is having to try to recover from in detox!!!! If you are still using those things, or having a super healthy weight watchers frozen dessert to keep from feeling "deprived" or having "just a bite" of the kids mac and cheese, you aren't juice fasting. You are giving your body some great nutrition. You are giving your body a chance to battle the effects of those toxins. Giving your body a fighting chance is a good thing. But it isn't a juice fast.
(Big sigh.) I feel better now.
Oh and, for those who care to know, I'm juicing February starting the minute the Superbowl ends. I have my healthy snacks and my salad and I am READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!! Go Broncos!!!!
Oh and my birthday is Feb 11 so I will be having a super yummy, satisfying and indulgent vegan healthy meal on that day. Is that a "planned cheat?" NO! It's a planned healthy meal. I DON'T CHEAT!
Okay, NOW I feel better. Let's just say that some Dysfunctional Eating Societies posing as juicing support groups are making me a bit cray cray. But I'm aaaaallll better now;o)
JUICE ON!!
I have heard SO many people say, "I don't like vegatables." And I've even heard quite a few say, "I don't like water." Let's be clear here. What you are saying is that you have become so addicted to artificial crap posing as food and drink that your body has forgotten what it really needs. That, in my humble opinion, is the best and most important function of a juice fast. It gives your body the chance to get out from under that addiction and remember what it really, biologically, needs so that it will start telling you that this is what it wants again.
Those of us who have been through some juice fasting tell newcomers not to worry because their taste buds will change. It's truth. The same is true of the water. There are some people who try to baby people along and tell them to do whatever is easiest for them. "Just drink tea or flavored water." "Don't worry about giving up your coffee if that is too hard for you." "I'm sure a diet soda once in a while won't be the end of the world, at least you'll be getting some healthy juice too...." I tell people similar things sometimes when I sense that they are really not mentally prepared to deal with their addictions. But here is my honest to goodness bottom line. Here is where what Natalie really believes departs from what kind Natalie isn't going to push on others. When I'm in a public forum, I am pretty good at feeling out where someone is mentally and emotionally and I don't generally push. I'm not God and I'm not the world's leading juicing expert so I encourage people to find their own path and make their chosen path work for them. Here's the not-so-kind truth why I say and act that way. Everyone out there has the same resources I had to find the truth. Everyone has the same responsibility to themselves to find it. And everyone out there has to live with their choices. Meanwhile, here on MY blog, I can be blunt about what I've learned and about what I believe without worrying about hurting anyone's tender feelers. So, are you prepared now? This isn't the Natshell you are used to....
SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUP. JUST DRINK THE JUICE AND THE WATER. Your body was not designed to crave coffee or that poison crap called soda. It was designed to NEED and CRAVE pure water to survive! Your body wasn't designed to crave a cheeseburger. It was designed to crave plants. Give it a chance. Give it a tiny little chance to get out from under all the addictive S.H.I.T. that our illustrious scientists have created to cause it to crave those things and you will be ASTOUNDED by how fast it will switch to doing what it was designed to do.
In case there is anyone out there who hasn't yet come to accept that the food industry intentionally hooks us on unhealthy crap, don't take my word for it:
Let's not forget that sometimes old, sick tapes can still play in our heads and tell us that we "deserve" to "enjoy" the junk that Barbie and Ken are having at the family picnic. After all, look how sexy they look! Just remind yourself that what you really deserve is health, freedom from disease, depression and obesity. What you really deserve is to live into your 90s with vigor and purpose. And it doesn't hurt to remind yourself that you can "enjoy" things that don't hurt you! Do I feel deprived when I'm having a vegan, raw chocolate brownie at the party while others are having TollHouse cookies? Hell no! I'm getting the great hormonal boost of the raw chocolate without the heaping dose of poison on the side! Thanks anyway;o) And it doesn't hurt to remind yourself that in 40 or 50 years, Barbie and Ken will probably either be pushing up daisies or toodling around a nursing home with their walkers while you are doing 5ks or (if you are me) trail riding with your grandkids.
One more little bitty rant and I'll return you to your regularly scheduled easy-going Natshell. Promise. When you are on a juice fast. FAST on JUICE. "Is it okay to add a bit of meat so I'll get enough protein?" No. "Is it okay to take a bunch of chemical pain relievers because I have a headache?" No. "Is it okay to have my coffee in the morning since it's liquid?" NO! Go ahead and do those things if you want. But DON'T call it a JUICE.... FAST! Caffeine, meat and chemicals are some of the precise things your body is having to try to recover from in detox!!!! If you are still using those things, or having a super healthy weight watchers frozen dessert to keep from feeling "deprived" or having "just a bite" of the kids mac and cheese, you aren't juice fasting. You are giving your body some great nutrition. You are giving your body a chance to battle the effects of those toxins. Giving your body a fighting chance is a good thing. But it isn't a juice fast.
(Big sigh.) I feel better now.
Oh and, for those who care to know, I'm juicing February starting the minute the Superbowl ends. I have my healthy snacks and my salad and I am READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!! Go Broncos!!!!
Oh and my birthday is Feb 11 so I will be having a super yummy, satisfying and indulgent vegan healthy meal on that day. Is that a "planned cheat?" NO! It's a planned healthy meal. I DON'T CHEAT!
Okay, NOW I feel better. Let's just say that some Dysfunctional Eating Societies posing as juicing support groups are making me a bit cray cray. But I'm aaaaallll better now;o)
JUICE ON!!
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Guest Blogger Reynolds - Surely Juice fasting isn't (gasp) ever difficult!?
Hello Ladies and Germs, it appears to me that contrary to all previous articulated notions to the contrary, doing a juice fast can, for some, in certain specific circumstances, be just a tinge on the difficult side.
Who would have thought? Let's see.... ceasing to chew food after decades of that thrice daily ritual ... ingesting liquids that look like your grandpa in South Louisiana just dipped a pitcher into the swamp to conduct mosquito larvae experiments... giving up our favorite foods of Snickers and Cornflakes on rye and cold Chef-Boyardee ravioli with apricot and dark chocolate pieces... living in a world where inundation from food sellers is more difficult than winning the lottery three times in one week... being ridiculed, criticized and called crazy by our FRIENDS!!! ... having removed from our listening pleasure the melodic sound of freshly produced cellophane wrappers crackling in our fat little fingers... having that little invisible monkey that piggybacks around with you screeching that he is hungry at the top of his lungs ... and the icing on the cake, so to speak, having to wash the dog in the backyard as your sadistic neighbor grills burgers and bacon every night. Then you realized that you've bathed the dog in the back yard four times this week already.
This is a big head game, this juice fasting. It is an exercise in distraction, illumination, redirection, denial and wistfully hoping.
It is all about dealing with THIS hour. Whatever it takes is what it takes. Taking a walk, cleaning the bathroom, calling your mother, vacuuming the car, weeding the roses, reading a book, watching Fat Sick and Nearly Dead again. Whatever it takes. The big thing is you have to believe that rebooting is beneficial and worth the sacrifices. Has stepping on the scale and seeing a smaller number show up, does that spin your top? How about knowing that you just began the process of expelling decades of stored toxins in your body, likely extending your life and making your remaining years healthier? If none of that works, then get creative. Try following a squirrel into a tree and do the squirrel bark at him until he looks mad enough to jump on you. Get creative!
Just please, please........... don't go eat 19 twinkees and a bag of Oreos and expect to feel good tomorrow, or feel good about yourself. It is not gonna happen. We are rooting you on gal. We've walked that walk. It is all about THIS HOUR. So just win this hour. Whatever it takes.
- See more at: http://community.rebootwithjoe.com/discussions/topic/100-lbs-or-more-starting-a-9113-30-day-reboot?p=135#sthash.Ys8JReho.dpuf
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Guest Blogger - Reynolds
I am a member of the fantastic community of juice nuts at rebootwithjoe.com based on Joe Cross and his experiences as seen on "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead." My friend Reynolds is the guy that everyone in our group turns to for wisdom and inspiration. He is in the middle of this same journey that I am on and, like me, feels that nothing in this world is going to offer the things that juice fasting can. Another friend on the group had had a pretty significant slip-up on day 6 of her first juice fast and wondered if she should just give up and "pig out for a few days" or jump right back into juice fasting or maybe just try to transition onto a healthy "diet" instead of juice fasting. She got tons of great advice and support but Reynolds words really hit home for many of us. I asked him if I could post his reply here and he agreed so here it is. Someone out there needs to hear this. I just have this feeling.
Heathie: I read your post then went offline to compose a thoughtful response. When I came back to post, Katie had posted her very sage advice gleaned from numerous reboots over the last 6 months where she trimmed over 100 pounds from her frame. My words are very similar to hers, I'm just more long-winded. But the common points on which we both touch, we hope resonate with you. Here is mine:
ROFL..... Heathie your number three, "pig out a few days and then start back?" had me splitting my side. You probably don't get it but Natalie, Katie and Jana do for sure.
You are likely saying, "but I wasn't trying to be funny." Exactly! You were asking the SAME question every Fattie asks themselves when they get a mouthful of mud... "so do I just go back to being who I was for all those years?" Every single one of us in this forum have had huge doubts when we stumbled and we asked that same question.
Here is the whole enchilada wrapped up in a long thought :
All fat people got that way for a reason, maybe three. Once fat, we had family, friends and society send us mixed messages about our rising weight. At some point we became obese, and while we learned a host of excuses to push back anyone who cautioned or criticized us, we never managed to get around to accepting responsibility for STAYING fat. It is one thing to get fat over our teenage and young adult years, but it is another thing to keep gaining in our twenties, thirties and forties. Jana, Natslie, Katie and I are all near or above 50. Sure, we'd tried to lose weight every year or two. But we never found a way to get it off and keep it off. Until we ran into Joe Cross and juice fasting.
Heathie, what happens on a JF is a fundamental change in the mind. It doesn't come with most any other weight reduction plan. During a prolonged JF the mind is allowed, yes even forced, to put some distance between food and ourselves. Not having reason to be so intimate with chewed foods for a period of time allows us to reduce, and even remove, the emotional bonds that exist between EVERY Fattie and food. Finally, the stranglehold food has had on us is broken, literally, for the first time. It is not a permanent break up, necessarily, and yes that is the challenge of every Fattie that has gone through an extended JF must deal with.
I can't tell you how many days you have to be on a JF (10-45?) before the brain makes the switch and the mind sees things like it has NEVER seen them before. That change has as many looks as there are people doing a JF. But most JFers come to the realization that they have been lied to by the commercial food companies, but worse they've been egregiously lying to themselves as well.
During the JF the combination of detoxing, losing lots of weight and stepping back some distance from food synergizes together to give the person a birdseye view of food, addiction, compulsion, cravings and binging. I guess it is akin to seeing a ghost or Bigfoot. -- you might later question what you saw, but at the time you were unmistaken in what you saw. It is that pronounced of an awakening. The trick is to live out what we know. But we have 10-20-30 years of bad habits and only days/weeks/months at having a deep appreciation of vegetables and juicing.
So it is hard at first to win every single fight with our compulsive/addictive self. We'll lose once a day, then once every third day, then once every week, until finally ... finally the body relents and goes along with what the mind has been saying! Then, the struggle is cut to a fraction and the person is "over the hump." Will he or she struggle occasionally? Most certainly. But the struggle isn't at 10:42am, 2:39pm, 6:05pm, 8:47pm -- it is once every week or so.
The addiction is broken, but no immunity is created or a magic shield thrown up around the person. The lust of the eye is still there. The difference is that the new mind sees food differently. It no longer is a surrogate lover as it was. Now it is something to use as needed to meet a basic nutritional need. Sure, enjoying food is fine, but seeking pleasure from food no longer controls your every chewing decision. Most critical for the typical JFer out living in the chewing world again is the ability to master perceptions of food and thereby strictly controlling what goes in the body. There is no longer a free-for-all where just anything goes. We cant kid ourselves anymore. When eating again, every meal is a considered decision. Do want me to say that again? Every meal is a considered decision.
So why this loooong post? Well, what I'm telling you is this, it is so US. So fattie, to flop off the horse and then say, "oh what the hell, I think I'll just go eat a pan of peach cobbler." That is what fatties do routinely.
But in the near future, maybe within only a week or two, you too will recoil from the thought of going and pigging out with every stumble. Soon, you'll want to flee from pig outs as you will see them for what they are -- compulsive , uncontrolled bouts of mania. Yep, as part of JFing the mind changes its perceptions and with the changed perceptions comes a changed behavior. But! It is possible to slide back into the abyss, so vigilance is required for a long time, usually for more than a year.
Have you ever talked with someone that has climbed a massive peak like Kilimanjaro or Denali? Invariably they will mention that besides being staggeringly difficult dealing with all the adversities, it was a very specific system to summit and return to base camp safe. Freelancing was tantamount to death. The many that had gone before had spelled out all the problems and obstacles threatening each climber. While only thousands had done it before, nevertheless all the perils, risks, pitfalls and dilemmas any climber could face were very well articulated and defined by previous climbers writing about their experience.
So it is with a JF. There are no new wrinkles to be discovered by a new JFer. The struggles are all well known and written about here and in many blogs. It is important to know that what each of us are going through on our JF, is completely commonplace. It is predictable! Really!
Oh, not everyone has the exact same issues of headaches and diarrhea, or like. But your weaknesses, cravings, panics, listlessness and other symptoms experienced in your JF are the same ones the rest of us have experienced. Promise! So you see where I'm going with this -- learn from climbers that have summitted and come down to tell about it. Don't think for an instant that you , or me, or Natalie, or Katie, or Jana or Danielle -- can beat the established path that has been blazed ahead of us. We simply can't do it. Knowing the regimen and then sticking to it is imperative. We just aren't smart enough to find a new, better route up the mountain. Stick to the known, proven routes. Going rogue has bad consequences.
So what! You fell off the horse! You did it. Now that is history. Are you going to live in that momentary failure or instead jump back on the horse and ride. I hope you choose the latter, and choose it immediately.
Heathie, you have inside you a champion. But you'll have to find that champion. Usually the champion doesn't show up in the first couple of days as that time is so full of confusion, angst and flailing about.
But she will show up if you stay on the horse. But, before she does, it seems like you are about to expire. The body throws a fit, and then capitulates finally in day 4, 5 or 6. This gets lots easier. We are sure rooting for you and want you to ride with us on our journey to get healthy and lose weight. We hereby grant you a full absolution of your face plant! Now c'mon, go with us. You can only fail if you quit. So don't quit! :)
- See more at: http://community.rebootwithjoe.com/discussions/topic/100-lbs-or-more-starting-a-9113-30-day-reboot?p=83#sthash.AEETWGPg.dpuf
Thursday, October 17, 2013
My Personal Dialogue
I belong to several wonderful and amazing groups who are committed to the same path that I have, more or less. I also follow every committed juice faster and raw foodist that I can find on youtube. Lately I have seen a rash of people hitting "bumps in the road." It always hurts my heart to see/hear someone questioning their own commitment and wondering if they should throw away all they've accomplished because of the slip ups, whether it be the first one or the 101st one. I have a favorite saying: "You never fail until you quit." The problem is that when you really screw the pooch and dive headfirst into a mountain of processed or fast food, all your past failures and all the nasty chemicals start whispering to you that you are a failure; that you "can't do it" and trying to convince yourself to tune those voices out is really hard while you are under that influence. It's like trying to talk to an alcoholic about AA WHILE they are drunk. It just doesn't work.
I consider there to be two kinds of slip-ups. Lets get this straight first. There are slip-ups and then there is screwing the pooch. A slip-up is, for example, eating too much of a food that is actually allowed on your plan. The food is okay but you ate much more of it than planned. Or perhaps you ate a slice of tomato while on a juice fast. It isn't going to really mess with your head in a chemical way but it wasn't "The Plan." Now screwing the pooch is an entirely different thing. For example, going for a value meal at McDonalds, possibly followed up with a box of donuts or a trip to Braum's for a brownie fudge sundae. Of course, there are also all the degrees in between. I have had slip-ups but since I started down this path back in August, I haven't screwed the pooch even once. Not even close. I see these people who seem so committed and so strong and who are even having great results slip and sometimes fall altogether. The ones who just never show back up break my heart. The ones that get up, dust themselves (and the juicer) off, and trot right back down that path again are heroes.
As I said, I've encountered quite a few of both types of slip-ups, fall-downs and crash and burns lately and it's got me asking myself how have I avoided it? I have only experienced the milder version of slip-ups and one week of trying to put bread back into my diet and discovering that was a bad idea. (Previous blog - and for the record, I have taken off the 7 lbs I regained from that little experiment as of today.) Every healthy thing I have attempted in my entire life, I have screwed the pooch within short order and then I've given up entirely. Every time and there have been many. Weight watchers, Nutrisystem, Atkins, South Beach, you name it. I have been the Crowned Queen of excuses and giving up. How have I avoided that?
I know this will sound simplistic but it really, really isn't. I have not screwed any pooches this time for a couple of simple reasons. This plan, this path is awesome. That's reason number one. I don't feel deprived. I have learned the truth about the caca I was eating before and I really, truly, deeply don't have any interest in putting that junk in my body anymore. The other reason is a little harder to articulate so bear with me.
I have changed my personal dialogue. I don't stand in front of a mirror and tell myself I'm thin and healthy and becoming more successful every day. I have literally internalized and come to believe different things about myself. I think of myself as someone who has conquered a huge slavering beast and come out of it with super powers, because I did. I think of myself as someone who loves all those beautiful rainbow treats in the produce section, because I am. I think of myself who has the number of the food industry liars and the FDA and the Dept of Ag liars and doesn't fall for their bs anymore. I'm smarter than that. I think of myself as someone who sets a good example for her family and friends because I AM. And I think of myself as someone who is clearly losing weight and becoming healthier and stronger every day Because. I. Am.
I am human and, let's face it, the holidays are approaching like a locomotive. I was concerned that the first big test would be all the masses of Halloween candy that appeared a couple of weeks ago. But honest to goodness, it just isn't even on my radar. Not even when a friend holds out a big basket of it and says, "have a piece!" I mean it sincerely when I say it isn't even difficult to say, "No thanks." If I ever, finally, face that day, that situation, that I can't say no to and I experience a true Screw-the-pooch moment, I am confident that I will have the strength to turn right back down my chosen path. But I reject the conventional wisdom that says that day is inevitable.
I consider there to be two kinds of slip-ups. Lets get this straight first. There are slip-ups and then there is screwing the pooch. A slip-up is, for example, eating too much of a food that is actually allowed on your plan. The food is okay but you ate much more of it than planned. Or perhaps you ate a slice of tomato while on a juice fast. It isn't going to really mess with your head in a chemical way but it wasn't "The Plan." Now screwing the pooch is an entirely different thing. For example, going for a value meal at McDonalds, possibly followed up with a box of donuts or a trip to Braum's for a brownie fudge sundae. Of course, there are also all the degrees in between. I have had slip-ups but since I started down this path back in August, I haven't screwed the pooch even once. Not even close. I see these people who seem so committed and so strong and who are even having great results slip and sometimes fall altogether. The ones who just never show back up break my heart. The ones that get up, dust themselves (and the juicer) off, and trot right back down that path again are heroes.
As I said, I've encountered quite a few of both types of slip-ups, fall-downs and crash and burns lately and it's got me asking myself how have I avoided it? I have only experienced the milder version of slip-ups and one week of trying to put bread back into my diet and discovering that was a bad idea. (Previous blog - and for the record, I have taken off the 7 lbs I regained from that little experiment as of today.) Every healthy thing I have attempted in my entire life, I have screwed the pooch within short order and then I've given up entirely. Every time and there have been many. Weight watchers, Nutrisystem, Atkins, South Beach, you name it. I have been the Crowned Queen of excuses and giving up. How have I avoided that?
I know this will sound simplistic but it really, really isn't. I have not screwed any pooches this time for a couple of simple reasons. This plan, this path is awesome. That's reason number one. I don't feel deprived. I have learned the truth about the caca I was eating before and I really, truly, deeply don't have any interest in putting that junk in my body anymore. The other reason is a little harder to articulate so bear with me.
I have changed my personal dialogue. I don't stand in front of a mirror and tell myself I'm thin and healthy and becoming more successful every day. I have literally internalized and come to believe different things about myself. I think of myself as someone who has conquered a huge slavering beast and come out of it with super powers, because I did. I think of myself as someone who loves all those beautiful rainbow treats in the produce section, because I am. I think of myself who has the number of the food industry liars and the FDA and the Dept of Ag liars and doesn't fall for their bs anymore. I'm smarter than that. I think of myself as someone who sets a good example for her family and friends because I AM. And I think of myself as someone who is clearly losing weight and becoming healthier and stronger every day Because. I. Am.
I am human and, let's face it, the holidays are approaching like a locomotive. I was concerned that the first big test would be all the masses of Halloween candy that appeared a couple of weeks ago. But honest to goodness, it just isn't even on my radar. Not even when a friend holds out a big basket of it and says, "have a piece!" I mean it sincerely when I say it isn't even difficult to say, "No thanks." If I ever, finally, face that day, that situation, that I can't say no to and I experience a true Screw-the-pooch moment, I am confident that I will have the strength to turn right back down my chosen path. But I reject the conventional wisdom that says that day is inevitable.
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