I recently had the privilege of listening to a wonderful, lively, spirited life coach and inspirational speaker by the name of Victoria Moran. She is the author of the book Fat, Broke, and Lonely – which I am yet to read but is described as “your personal solution to over-eating, overspending, and looking for love in all the wrong places.” I had never heard of her before but what she had to offer I thought could help a lot of people. Victoria addressed the topic of food addiction and binge eating.
What she suggests are 5 steps to cure food addiction. She claims until you get the addiction under control you cannot fully maintain or reach optimal health. Just as a smoker would have to break their addiction to cigarettes a food addict needs to face the food addiction/ binge eating.
From my own research it is no doubt that food addiction is real. The processed food industry has known this for years. According to www.mercola.com “An in-depth investigation into the processed-food industry reveals there’s a conscious effort on behalf of food manufacturers to get you hooked on foods that are convenient and inexpensive to make.” About 50% of the obese, 30% of those overweight, and 20% who are at what are considered a healthy weight, are actually addicted to a specific food, combinations of foods, or a volume of food in general.
Cheap fake processed food and sugar are not only toxic but making people addicted, fat, and sick.
“Nobody chooses to be a heroin addict, cokehead, or drunk. Nobody chooses to be fat either. The behaviors arise out of primitive neurochemical reward centers in the brain that override normal willpower and overwhelm our ordinary biological signals that control hunger.”-Dr. Mark Hyman
If you or someone you know is struggling to overcome food addictions or binge eating Victoria Moran has offered helpful suggestions to break the addiction for good. Once the addiction is under control then proper nutrition and avoidance of processed foods can be discussed. Here are her suggestions,
- Address the “empty hole” you are feeding. What really is the problem you are feeding, suppressing, or trying to cover up? Once you can openly face and take on this empty hole you are one step closer to getting a hold on the addiction.
- If you can’t stop eating focus on eating 3 solid meals vs. grazing on smaller mini meals throughout the day. If you focus on 3 meals a day then you only have to work at “stopping” eating 3 times. If you are grazing on multiple mini meals then you have to face trying to stop many more times. Once you STOP eating after a meal you are forced to LIVE the other parts of the day! When living you are put back in the stream of life and are not as consumed with eating.
- Eat OUT! Just for now to break the overeating pattern. You can’t binge eat at a sit down restaurant. You eat what you order and that’s it. There is a rule to this. No buffets and no fast food. You need to go to a restaurant where you sit in a chair and eat off a regular plate. Don’t worry about eating the right meal because at this point you are just trying to break the cycle. Doing this for a while will help you gain confidence that you can stop eating.
- Have an after meal prayer. Eat your meal and then when it’s gone be done and offer a gratitude prayer. Something like this “The meal has ended I will go in peace.” You have officially ended the meal and you get up and go do something else!
- ME time in the morning! M=meditation, E=exercise. Take time to do these 2 things every morning and you will be taking care of your whole self and learning to respect whole self.
Pass along these helpful tips to break the cycle. Once the cycle is broke and addiction under control only then can focus on overall health and proper nutrition come into play. We must take charge of our lives and our health by helping those who may feel helpless in the battle of the bulge and food addiction.
According to Dr. Mark Hyman 1 in 2 Americans don’t know they have DIABESITY. This is a condition of metabolic imbalances ranging from mild insulin resistance to end stage diabetes. “People need to realize what you put on your fork is more powerful than what you will find in any pill bottle.” “Disease goes away as a side effect of getting healthy.”
Here are a few healthy steps you can take today to curb cravings:
- Eat a healthy breakfast with protein such as pastured eggs scrambled in coconut oil with some
greens.
- Drink more water. Being dehydrated can contribute to cravings.
- Quit Sugar cold turkey! Just do it! This will help cravings go away.
- Make sure a food allergy is not present and contributing to cravings.
- Get a good night’s sleep every night, try for 7-8 hours.
- Optimize you vitamin D and Omega 3 levels and amino acids glutamine, tyrosine, and 5-HTP may help cut cravings.
Let’s support each other to get healthy for good and educate the future generations to do the same!
Just discovered this blog. Love it!
thanks Anne!