What do you really want?

Last week I left you with the question: Should we always honor our cravings?

A part of our Eat By Design philosophy is to listen to your body in order to give it what it needs. 

So what role do cravings play?

Author Geneen Roth makes a clear distinction between cravings of the mind and cravings of the body.

Your body always wants foods that will sustain it, energize it and allow it to function at its best. Your body wants foods that are real, By Design foods.

Your mind, on the other hand, may interpret cravings differently.

Let’s use the example of craving something sweet.

When I say, “Think of something sweet.” 

What comes to mind?

I bet it was something in the realm of candy, ice cream, chocolate or baked goods. 

Change that statement to, “Think of something sweet that you can find growing in nature.”

Now what comes to mind?

Things that grow in nature that are sweet include fruit, sweet potatoes and squash.

Nature’s sweets from the earth are always accompanied with water, fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Man-made sweets are almost NEVER accompanied with these things.

When your body is craving sweet it is looking for nutrients.

Your body is the ‘voice’ that you should be listening to. Not the voice in your mind that is maniacally screaming, “CHOCOLATE CAKE!”

Eating chocolate cake will not actually satisfy your body’s craving.  There are no nutrients or physiological benefits that come from baked goods.  Instead of feeling good, more alive and more energetic, when you eat processed sweets, your body feels tired, lethargic, unfocused and damaged.

Eating unnatural sweets also lands you a seat on the sugar train that never stops: Quick sugar high, quick energy crash, hormone fluctuations and then bigger, stronger cravings.  

Another big problem is that you stop trusting your body when you’re on the sugar train.
Many people who try to change their habits and eat healthier get into a mental battle against their cravings and start saying things like “my body hates me, all it wants is ice cream all the time.”

These negative thoughts about your body are destructive to your self-esteem.

Your body doesn’t hate you.

Your body doesn’t even want ice cream.  

When you learn to turn off the voice in your mind that was conditioned to tell you that desserts are comfort and love and satisfaction, you will realize that the ONLY foods your body really wants are the ones that bring you closer to health.

Your body is smart.

Your body is perfect.

Your body will tell you exactly what it needs.

You just have to learn to actually listen to your BODY.

When you learn to interpret your cravings to mean natural, real, By Design foods… You should give into your cravings.

Satisfying your body’s true cravings is part of living an extraordinary life. 

Cravings. To trust or not to trust? That is the question.

Have you ever found yourself going through food phases?  I totally do.

Sometimes it happens with the seasons -- Like how every fall all I want to eat is apples, pumpkin and squash. Often together and always with butter. And cinnamon. And bacon.

At other times I'll go through a month or 6 weeks of being really into a certain dish or type of food. 

Last winter I made cabbage and sausage on food prep day every week for at least 8 solid weeks. I’m not kidding – I ate that stuff everyday.

The last few weeks it’s been Asian food.

I’ve had cravings for Korean (pork bone soup and kimchi) and Japanese (sashimi with wasabi and coconut aminos) and Thai (coconut curries).

My biggest fixation has been a Vietnamese soup called Pho. If you are familiar with Pho, you know that it is usually made with rice noodles. I “By Design” this meal by skipping the noodles and loading up on the bean sprouts. 

I’ve made the spiced-up bone broth for Pho three times in the last eight days and demolished it all with heaps of bean sprouts, cilantro, basil, sliced chili’s, green onions and slices of raw beef.

It might be time for an intervention.

A cornerstone of eating By Design is to listen to your body. 

I’m listening. And all I’m hearing is “why is the broth gone?”

So what does this craving mean? Does it even matter? I think it does. 

When you are having cravings, it’s a good exercise to think about what you’re craving and why you’re craving it. 

Is your body trying to tell you something? Is the craving actually coming from your body or is it all in your head? Can you tell the difference?

What does the food you’re craving represent to you? Is it energy? Is it nutrients? Is it comfort?

After several days of this relentless Pho craze, I got out my journal and started asking myself these questions.

Here is what I came up with:

How do I feel when I am eating it?

Awesome. Pho tastes great. I love soup. Soup is comforting and satisfying, I thoroughly enjoy eating it.

What does my body get out of eating it?

Bone broth is very nutrient dense. It has collagen and a variety of minerals. The beef and veggies in the soup also contribute vitamins, minerals, fats and protein.

How do I feel after I eat it?

I feel great. My energy levels are high throughout the day and I don’t feel hungry again for hours after I eat a big bowl. I can focus and concentrate on my work.

Emotionally, I feel good about the decision.  I feel like I am doing my body a favour and it is a rewarding and positive experience.

When did these cravings start & what were the conditions?

This phase of cravings began very shortly after I moved into a new house. My new place has no air conditioning and I moved in right before that intense heat wave in July. I was sweating more than normal and loosing lots of fluids and minerals.

Ah – ha… Maybe my body is smart. Maybe it has been craving salty (mineral rich) foods and liquids as an appropriate response to the sweaty conditions.

Final Verdict: Good craving, keep satisfying it.

But what if those weren’t the conditions? Or what if the craving was ice cream & donuts instead of bone broth and bok choy?

Should we always honor our cravings?

Think about this question over the course of the week. Next Wednesday, I will give you my answer.

Also, if you want my wicked pho recipe.. Comment or ask me on facebook and I will send it your way.

I CAN'T CARE MORE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH THAN YOU DO

“How do I convince my husband/wife/kids/parents/sisters/niece to Eat By Design?”

Before I answer this, I invite you to answer these questions.

First, do they want to Eat By Design?

And second, why is it important to you that they Eat By Design?

I struggled with this for a really long time. I was raised in a house where convenience and price were the two determining factors as to what I ate for dinner, not principles. If a food was easy to make and on sale, I ate it – regardless as to whether that food moved me towards or away from health. I recognize that those decisions were made with the best available information my parents had. You don’t know what you don’t know.

I haven’t always eaten By Design. In fact, up until two years ago I was vegan. And before that I advocated for whole wheat and low fat. So, I get it – my family was more than confused when I began encouraging them to Eat By Design. After a year of resistance I stopped myself and asked the two questions I prompted you with earlier.

Do they want to Eat By Design? Yes. Every member of my family had expressed authentic interest in learning more about it – but because of whatever limiting belief or excuse, they hadn’t implemented it in their life…yet.

Why is it important to me that they Eat By Design? It’s important to me because they are important to me. I love my family and want them to have a healthy, happy and purposeful life. I believe that Eating By Design, in addition to meeting your other requirements, is the best strategy to achieve this. But I recognize that I can’t care more about their health than they do.

Does my family Eat By Design now? Yes – some of them. The rest – they’re getting there. And they will get there. Or they won’t. Whatever they choose is their decision.

It has been a process – a challenging one for both parties. I am proud that they understand what the body requires to be healthy and have taken action. They have taken responsibility for their own lives.

So here’s what you need to do.

1. If you are trying to convince someone you care about Eat By Design, stop. “But if I know Eating By Design is good for everyone and good forever, why shouldn’t I force someone to do it? I know it’s good for them.” Because force removes choice from the equation. When you remove your ability to think, you lose the right to your own life. You want the people you care about to make good decisions for themselves, not just because you said they should. 

2. Stick to your principles. Educate others why you have chosen to Eat By Design and why you think they should do the same, but accept that the choice is theirs.

3. Lead by example. Individuals automatically gravitate towards people that they see as leaders.

4. Join us at our next Eat By Design seminar – and bring a guest. You may find it hard to explain why you do what you do, so let us do the work. Click for more details about attending a seminar in London or Ottawa.

Integrity & Treats

This post comes on the heels of the blog I put up last week about YOLO. One concept that is kind of woven in there that I didn’t specifically talk about is how we handle treats and special occasions.

This is a tough topic for a lot of people, myself included.

When I was growing up my parents could get me to do ANYTHING for food. I was a little Hoover. I wanted ALL THE FOOD, all the time. I have noticed a similar trend in my 5-year-old niece. You can turn that kid from a complete heathen into an angel through the mere mention of dessert.

Sounds familiar, right?

As children, our parents bribe us and reward us with food.  As adults, we do it to ourselves. After decades of conditioning, it is second nature.

Got promoted -- Go out for a cocktails to celebrate.

Had a great work out -- Earned a chocolate bar.

Celebrated a birthday -- Deserve birthday cake.

Stuck to the 30 day challenge -- Celebrate with pizza.

Made it through a hard day at work -- Haagen-Dazs is warranted.

There are lots of diet gurus who cite the benefits to this. They may suggest that if you have something to look forward to it will help you stay on track.

I have fallen into this trap before. In my dieting days, I often gave myself a “cheat night” or allocated an off track meal. If you have ever done this, I’m sure you can relate to how much harder it is to get back on the bandwagon after you have leaped off into a pool of french fries, ice cream and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Another confession from my past is that I have justified dessert on the grounds of it being Thanksgiving… Christmas… Easter… First day of school... Last day of school…Date night... Movie night…Friday night … Sunny Out...Rainy out… Snowing…

Are you starting to see the trend here? Everyday can be a special day if you want it to be. A once-in-a-while indulgence can very easily become an everyday occurrence that sabotages your goals and hurts your health.

The big issue here is your beliefs surrounding food.

If food is one of the only ways that you reward yourself for working hard or achieving success, it becomes loaded with all of the feelings that come along with these events. Emotional eating happens just as much with positive emotions as it does with negative ones.

I have spent a lot of time reflecting and journaling on my beliefs around food. I encourage you to do the same. Toxic food is toxic food. Whether in the form of pizza or a cupcake, whether you eat it once a year or once a day, it is TOXIC in your body.

I love my body. I want the best health possible for today and tomorrow and for my whole life. “Treating” myself with toxic food should not make me happy. This subtle but very important change in my beliefs has helped me enormously in my By Design journey.

Sometimes I am still tempted to eat a huge piece of chocolate cake on a ‘special occasion’ but it is becoming easier and easier to tell myself that it is not actually what I want - and to BELIEVE it.

Next time you do something that you feel guilty about, such as splurging on some ‘off track’ food item. Investigate that feeling. Why do you feel guilty? I guarantee it is because you have done something that goes against your values.

For me, eating junk food violates two of my highest values: My health and my integrity.  It is much more important to me that I am healthy and that I live in integrity with all of the things that I talk about and recommend to other people.

I have found other ways to reward myself for good behavior. Instead of getting personal with Ben and Jerry I now spend alone time with a good book, snuggle with my kitten, take a bubble bath, have a date night with my amazing boyfriend, call a good friend, spend a day on the beach, take a walk in the woods, get a pedicure.. You get the idea. 

I get WAY more enjoyment out of doing things that I love. Plus, these activities add value and happiness to my life and health.

What are things in your life that you could replace food rewards with?