Kristi Whitley

Healthy Living

Fighting Food Seduction

Multi-Media Onslaught 

Anyone who eats like I do swims against the current. There is a constant battle in our minds to ignore the messages that we are bombarded with every minute of every day. I read a news article about a vegan hockey player this weekend and he spoke of missing out on some of the bonding with his teammates over steaks and beer. Its not that we can’t go to a steak house and order a baked potato and some steamed broccoli it is too painful to watch other people poison themselves.

Break the Habit of Eating Out

I can’t stand to eat out anymore. The food is bad, the atmosphere is usually loud and nasty no matter how much money you are spending and my husband always orders the most poisonous things on the menu. It is like he has a sixth sense about what to order that is the least healthy. Last time we ate out I thought I would take him to a new Asian restaurant in town. How can you go wrong with stir fried vegetables and rice, right? Well, he ordered one of the new taste sensations, Bang Bang Shrimp. The dish came with six prawns, battered and fried, and tossed in thousand island dressing.  For his entrée he chose General Tso chicken. That is tiny chunks of mystery chicken parts, battered and fried, and tossed in sweet and sour sauce. They served it with two cups of white rice. It was enough for three servings. Those were easily the two least healthy options on a four-page menu. Ugh. 

The preacher this Sunday was sniffling and coughing while he spoke. It was painful to hear because his wife is a cancer survivor and one of my mentors. She has survived breast cancer for six years without chemo or radiation. She taught me how to get started on this lifestyle even before Sara was diagnosed. The pastor and my husband both see the results of this lifestyle living with Julie and me. The power of addiction is stronger than the power of observation.

That’s how the stream keeps flowing in one direction. We ignore what we know and keep doing the same things day after day, year after year. I am grateful that I snapped one day and said enough is enough. I was tired of being thirty pounds overweight and I started Weight Watchers. I continued to learn about vegan and raw eating and slowly gave up all animal products and counted points to manage my wheat and sugar intake. When Sara was diagnosed and we saw Dr. Ann, she told us about the dangers of wheat and sugar. I lost 5-8 more pounds and have kept them off ever since.

 A Change in Results Requires a Change in Behavior

You can’t expect anything to change if you keep doing or eating the same things. You can’t expect long-term results from limiting the quantities of what you eat now. They won’t let you. Moderation is impossible when it comes to addictive foods like sugar and wheat. Sugar makes you want more sugar and wheat makes you eat more wheat.

See these books and websites regarding food addiction, then go COLD TURKEY off wheat and sugar.

Breaking the Food Seduction by Neal Barnard, M.D.

PCRM.org

www.vegsource.com/.../chocolate-cheese-meat-sugar-physically-addictive-foods.html

Pleasure Trap, the: Mastering the Hidden Force that Undermines Health and Happiness by Douglas Lisle Sep 1, 2007

5 Ways To Prevent Heart Disease, Diabetes, And Cancer: An Interview With World Renowned Dietician Jeff Novick   Jul 11, 2011

 I'm always a click away. kristi@kristiwhitley.com