10/14/12
Again, today I ate fairly clean until bedtime. I had lots of chips with blue cheese, one reses peanut butter cup, 1/4 of a cream puff, some more chips in ranch, etc. I don't feel guilty and am not punishing myself. That is not the goal. That being said, I plan on starting tomorrow with some green juice and a smoothie for later.
But why eat raw foods to begin with?
1) Positive feelings. My lifelong depression fades on a raw food diet. This is the most important reason for me.
2) Beauty: I feel and look younger on a raw diet
3) Respect of Life: Animals are treated better on a raw or humane lacto ovo vegetarian diet.
4) Connection to surrounding "life source" (I know this sounds New Age. But it's just a feeling I get when I eat clean. Frankly I am sometimes exhausted from caring about people judging me for being "new age" for enjoying Garden of Eden foods that God told us to eat. Also, a life source must exist for life to exist).
10/9/12
Today I ate extremely clean up until bed time. This is a recurring theme for me. I tend to crave dairy products near bedtime. So I had a lot of cheese and a couple of eggs just now. That's not horrible and is actually quite typical for most Americans. Yet I want to believe the vegan diet is possible, doable and healthy. In some ways, I just tend to feel better eating some sort of animal products. In other ways, I feel worse (especially if there is animal cruelty involved). I take a great B12 supplement, but maybe I'm B12 deficient or something? I don't know. Regardless, I try to not feel guilty, as that doesn't help. I see all of these examples online of super healthy vegans, so I know it's possible. I guess I would just like to not feel the need for delicious, grass fed dairy. Also, my main goal is "raw until dinner", which I've been able to keep so far for the most part.
9-20-12
Tonight I was working at a group home. I came here with a salad and salad dressing to prepare. Yet once I got here, the other foods were too enticing. I ended up eating some sweet cereal with factory pasteurized milk. I also ate cheese, spaghetti sauce and cheezit crackers. Here are some post binge thoughts that I want to follow for next time:
1) Don't show up on an empty stomach. I should have committed to eating lots of bananas or a couple of avocados before eating anything else. Then at least my stomach would have been full and I would have been less likely to binge on processed crap.
2) Don't bring a salad if a salad doesn't sound good. I probably should have brought some soup or something that I would have been more likely to enjoy. Often at night raw food doesn't interest me as much as something warm and cooked.
3) Drink lots of water. I could have also filled up on water.
4) Forgive yourself. When people don't forgive themselves it only makes things worse.
Showing posts with label binge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label binge. Show all posts
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Binge Eating Treatment
Today I ate healthy up until about an hour ago at 8:30 PM. Then, unfortunately, I binged on several servings of greasy, artificially flavored potato chips. What can I learn from this binge "episode" tonight?
1) Surround yourself with healthy foods. At home I have my juicer, my blender and several healthy food options. Conversely, tonight I was in an environment that was full of lots of unhealthy foods and very few healthy options, which made "caving in" easier.
2) Prepare in advance. One way of changing the unhealthy outcome of tonight would be to prepare in advance. I had intended to stop at a health food store today, but ran out of time. This simple preparation would have undoubtedly helped me eat healthier tonight.
3) Find some healthy foods to eat first. Tonight I could have eaten a few vegetables in the refrigerator before eating the potato chips. This will have left less room in my stomach for the unhealthy foods that I binged on.
4) Surround yourself with encouraging people. In a healthy eating meetup group I go to, people share tips and encouragement on staying healthy that I find helpful. It helps me to not feel so alone when trying to eat healthy, while realizing that I am also not alone on the occasions when I binge.
5) Set realistic goals. One of my main goals in healthy eating is to eat whole, fresh (raw) foods until dinner, and then continue from there. For me, this goal more realistic than expecting to never eating unhealthy again.
6) Forgive yourself. Health is about enjoying life more, not beating yourself up when you fail. Also, tomorrow is a new day, and I hope to start it off with a big glass of green juice. ;-)
1) Surround yourself with healthy foods. At home I have my juicer, my blender and several healthy food options. Conversely, tonight I was in an environment that was full of lots of unhealthy foods and very few healthy options, which made "caving in" easier.
2) Prepare in advance. One way of changing the unhealthy outcome of tonight would be to prepare in advance. I had intended to stop at a health food store today, but ran out of time. This simple preparation would have undoubtedly helped me eat healthier tonight.
3) Find some healthy foods to eat first. Tonight I could have eaten a few vegetables in the refrigerator before eating the potato chips. This will have left less room in my stomach for the unhealthy foods that I binged on.
4) Surround yourself with encouraging people. In a healthy eating meetup group I go to, people share tips and encouragement on staying healthy that I find helpful. It helps me to not feel so alone when trying to eat healthy, while realizing that I am also not alone on the occasions when I binge.
5) Set realistic goals. One of my main goals in healthy eating is to eat whole, fresh (raw) foods until dinner, and then continue from there. For me, this goal more realistic than expecting to never eating unhealthy again.
6) Forgive yourself. Health is about enjoying life more, not beating yourself up when you fail. Also, tomorrow is a new day, and I hope to start it off with a big glass of green juice. ;-)
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Healthy Holiday Eating
I write this post now guilty of unhealthy holiday eating. "You've gotta let your hair down sometimes," is a common reason given for holiday overeating. Yet between Christmas, New Years, Easter, Thanksgiving, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, Valentines Day, birthdays, sports games, graduations, etc, there is always a reason to party. In other words, I feel like we let our hair down a little too much. I don't want to be satisfied with a status-quo that has 2/3 of American adults overweight (Link) and over half of us on chronic prescription medications (Link). Also, unhealthy eating has been linked with increased risk of depression (Link). Below are a few tips to avoid the often present temptations of holiday overeating.
1) Eat beforehand if possible. Being surrounded by unhealthy foods on an empty stomach is usually not a good idea for those of us trying to remain healthy during the holiday season.
2) Eat healthy party foods first. Most holiday parties offer some healthy foods to enjoy. Focus on salads, vegetables, fruits or nuts first. You may find that these healthier options are filling enough. And even if they are not, they will leave less room in your stomach for unhealthy foods, which means fewer belly pounds to work off the following week.
3) Postpone eating until later if necessary. At holiday parties, we are all bound to eat foods we would not normally eat. Yet we all have our limits. For example, if the only food options available are chips, cookies, pop and beer, learning to say "no thanks" might be the best option. It is better to go hungry for an hour or two than eat foods that sap us of our energy, strength or vitality.
4) Forgive yourself. Expecting perfection is neither realistic nor helpful. I believe there is a time for occasionally "coloring outside the lines." The problem is when we form unhealthy food addictions or engage in binge eating. Still, we can not effect the past, only the future. Enjoying the journey is just as important as reaching the destination!
1) Eat beforehand if possible. Being surrounded by unhealthy foods on an empty stomach is usually not a good idea for those of us trying to remain healthy during the holiday season.
2) Eat healthy party foods first. Most holiday parties offer some healthy foods to enjoy. Focus on salads, vegetables, fruits or nuts first. You may find that these healthier options are filling enough. And even if they are not, they will leave less room in your stomach for unhealthy foods, which means fewer belly pounds to work off the following week.
3) Postpone eating until later if necessary. At holiday parties, we are all bound to eat foods we would not normally eat. Yet we all have our limits. For example, if the only food options available are chips, cookies, pop and beer, learning to say "no thanks" might be the best option. It is better to go hungry for an hour or two than eat foods that sap us of our energy, strength or vitality.
4) Forgive yourself. Expecting perfection is neither realistic nor helpful. I believe there is a time for occasionally "coloring outside the lines." The problem is when we form unhealthy food addictions or engage in binge eating. Still, we can not effect the past, only the future. Enjoying the journey is just as important as reaching the destination!
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