Emotional Eating and the Unconscious Shovel

You all know what emotional eating is about - at least basically.  You have a fight with someone and go out and eat a gallon of ice cream to soothe yourself.  Comfort food.  In your mind you have given yourself a reward or a hug.  But what is happening in your body?  You've sent your poor cells into a freinzy trying to cope with the fat you are consuming.  YOU may be consoled temporarily by "treating yourself", but this is so mental. And that's the good news.  You can take a different look at food and what you are doing. 

Or maybe what you struggle with is not so much the emotional issue of eating but the "lack of will power" or portion control.  There is a lot of overeating going on today across the board.  But there is hope - and help!
I'm excited to tell you about a book "The End of Overeating" by Dr. David Kessler.  Rarely does a book come along that I feel so compelled to share - in more than one blog - and I read voraciously! 

We do, of course, have to take responsiblity for what and how much we consume but does it comfort you at all to know overeating may not be entirely your fault?  This is not a chapter in the blame-game (leave your mother out of this!) but rather a real look at our present day food, its merciless availability, the supersized portions and the marketing by food manufacturers that seems to take away our sense of control.

For a moment, back to the emotional ice cream eating scene.  There is an aftermath of emotion that usually follows this indulgence.  Usually it is guilt.  You look at the empty ice cream carton and groan "Why did I eat all that?"  What started out as emotional eating may have shifted now into the land of the unconscious eater.  Your mind was so busy chatting about what just happened that drove you to the fridge, that you are not listening to your body (were you even hungry?) and that old spoon to mouth shoveling is on auto-pilot.  Perhaps the empty bowl or carton is what wakes you up out of the "chat-zone" and back into reality where you have just, unconsciously, consumed the ALL the ice cream.  Wow.  What just happened?

We can consume a lot of fat before we "feel" fullness.  The old "you can't eat just one" with potato chips, or cookies, is true.  The taste is so outrageously good we go for way more than one. We cannot seem to help ourselves.  All the stuff we know in our heads isn't nutrititous we consume for the taste, we look forward to that taste, can't imagine living without tasting those cookies or whatever.

But what's the "taste" really?  (Here is where food manufacturers make idiots of us.)  Fat, salt, sugar and chemical enhancers, additives in recipes they created (in a laboratory, not your mother's kitchen!) to tempt the halo off of an angel.  Carrots, apples, tomatoes are real food - just plain old food.  They may scream "Boring!" to your palate but eat a few and you have some pretty happy cells!  Eat them often enough and you re-program your taste buds, and your mind.

I talk (and write) a lot about cells and here's why.  You know that bumper sticker "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy?"  It's the same with cells.  You mess around with those cells and you will pay for it - just like Mama giving you a good whack upside the head - those cells will only take so much before you will notice their collective power - then WHACK!  Weight gain, chronic pain, disease, a shot immunity system, a veritible plethora of "symptoms", but these cells WILL slap you back somehow or other, it is garaunteed.

To take back control of our eating habits we need to change how we view food first of all.  If we look at something and say, "That's going to make me feel good, I want that!" our brains become activated - they get into the reward seeking.  This is similar to what smokers go thru.  Just the thought of having another cigarette actually stimulates their brain.  And at one time we may have perceived smoking as a glamourous, sexy thing.  Look how our perception of that has changed to "That is deadly and disgusting."  A real mental shift indeed.  Perception is everything!

So picture yourself being able to do that with foods you know you shouldn't be eating, and just walking away from whatever it is.  This may be a lot easier than you think.  Your thoughts are powerful!  Being bombarded with advertisements for food from the food and restaurant industries make a clear association with THIS food or THAT place making you happy, it's a fun place, this tastes so heavenly you cannot resist.......and on and on. 

Dr. Kessler spent years putting interviews and research together for this awesome book.  It is not a diet book but then I don't think we NEED a diet or a book about dieting.  Learning how to handle the food cues and that reward system we all have is crucial.  And it can truly lead to the end of overeating!
Join me next week to learn more about emotional eating, unconscious eating, food addictions and more from the book The End of Overeating.

USDA - Can't "beet" em on Stupidity

Well, it may not be stupidity actually.  They (the USDA) has sold us out - AGAIN!  Is there no conceivable end to the control and manipulation by Monsanto?  (This is the same company that brought Agent Orange to the planet, and just about every other poisonous chemical contaminating our earth.)   With so many of their former employees (like their former Vice President) and legal counsels now comfy in high government positions, Monsanto is ruling what goes into your mouth and they don't care about your silly health problems.  They want all the power and all the money - period.  They are clever and sophisticated.  They contribute vast sums of money to candidates campaigns, so don't expect your Congress to speak against them and their shenanigans. 

The USDA abruptly passed a totally unregulated planting of GMO alfalfa for Monsanto.  Just when the Organic Associations were getting together to publicly condemn this move, the USDA raced forward to pass their blessing on Monsanto's destructive and poisonous plan.   You may not eat alfalfa but cows do.  If you consume dairy, you will get the same wonderful pesticides the cows get thru the alfalfa.   There are 23 million acres of alfalfa grown in this country.  93% of it that had no pesticides sprayed on it.  But with GMO alfalfa it will ALL get sprayed, continually, and eventually super weeds pop up that are Round-up resistant and they will then have to increase the spraying using more harmful agents.  What this does is destroy the very soil used for growing.  It's a vicious cycle and that is the pattern of what goes on with GMO crops. 

Consider this - the CFS (Center for Food Safety) has filed a lawsuit against the USDA for approving this.  It could potentially help delay this or quite possibly reverse this decision.  There ARE people in the know who, thankfully, really are watching out for us.

I know we are all busy with living our lives and we can't possibly stay up-to-date on all the shenanigans in Washington - some may avoid this altogether - which is why I try my best to keep you in the know right here on Today's Path.  Like it or not,  what happens in the halls of government will impact every one of us.

What's next?  Sugar beets.  With the public getting outraged about the dangers of high fructose corn syrup (made so cheaply from corn!)  they found the costs of making sweeteners other than HFCS cut  into their profit margins.  So voila!  Make sugary sweeteners from sugar beets - but make sure we OWN them first, right?   So pending, but sadly almost a given, is legislation to give good old Monsanto the green light to take over sugar beet production in the same way they do all their GMO's.

Tom Philpot writes this on Grist:

Sugar beets provide about half of the sugar consumed in the United States -- and Monsanto controls 95 percent of the sugar beet seed market with its Roundup Ready genes. The company's stranglehold over the beet market demonstrates its insidious market power. When a federal judge demanded in August 2010 that farmers stop planting Monsanto's GM beet seeds pending an impact study, farmers quickly found out that virtually no non-GM seed was available. Between 2005, when the USDA first green lighted GM beets, and 2010, Monsanto had essentially driven all competition out of the market.


Did you get the fact that the farmers couldn't find regular seeds?  It is happening more and more.  I was happy enough eating conventionally grown food,  as compared to organically grown, until I realized more and more of the food was becoming GMO.   If you haven't seen the movie "The World According to Monsanto" I encourage you to watch it and see the history of how Monsanto started taking control.  They already own our government.  They are slowly taking over the food supply in the US.

NOT in European nations though.  Those consumers paid attention.  Most of their crops are organic.  And they refuse our exports of GMO's as food, but have been strong-armed into accepting GMO feed for their animals.  I'm sure Monsanto has a plan for them too!

Would you like to see foods labeled?  Would you like to know if the cereal you buy is made from contaminated, pesticide ridden crops (GMO's)?  I can guarantee you if it doesn't say organic, it's GMO.  I keep linking up to the non-GMO shoppers guide for all of you.  I'll keep on doing  it because it is important!  I know in the past eating strictly organic was considered "elite" or "snobby" but we need to get over that image and realize that only by eating organic are you going to limit the toxins that cause disease.

I encourage you to join the Millions Against Monsanto at the OCA -   http://organicconsumers.org/monsanto/index.cfm
Step up to the plate or what is ON your plate is poisonous chemicals!
http://nongmoshoppingguide.com/

Are You Nuts?

What would a health oriented blog be without addressing nuts?  Do you want the good news or the bad news first?  Well, it's not Bad, bad but rather cautionary.

I'm talking about peanuts.  It's like the all-American nut and I'm about to  sort of trash it.  Peanuts, because they grow underground unlike tree nuts, can contain more mold than tree-grown nuts.  A certain mold called aflatoxin is deadly in large amounts.  Trace amounts have been found in tested peanuts and peanut butter too.  Of all the nutty things, eh?  I strongly suggest switching nuts.  There are other nuts out there with a better offering of nutrients than peanuts. (And I secretly wonder if all the peanut allergies could be hyper-sensitivity to trace amounts of aflatoxin?)

Now walnuts - look at one (unshelled) and tell me it doesn't look like a brain? I almost giggle at this but  the Creator made this one bimbo easy for us - yes, indeedy, walnuts are great brain food.  Walnuts are  a good  source of fiber, B vitamins, Magnesium, antioxidants (especially vitamin E) and walnuts also have Omega 3 fatty acids (the "good" fat).  Walnuts are a good natural way to reduce cholesterol (the "bad" one) and improve cardiovascular health all around.  Toss them in salads, cereals or eat  as a snack -10 a day.  They are filling, full of fiber and REALLY good for you on so many fronts. 

But they are fattening you say!  Yes they are - so count them!  You may not believe this but your brain NEEDS fat!  This is the best kind you can give it.  I figure my brain is worth the best - how about you? 

Almonds are another excellent choice and even though they don't look like a brain, the health benefits of eating them - or drinking almond milk, which by the way is delicious - are terrific. Almond butter is delightful! More expensive but no worries about aflatoxin. I love almond butter on toasted cinnamon raisin bread and hubs eats it on crackers. Cashew butter is another choice - it's good but mighty rich. You won't be (or shouldn't be, haha) eating too much of it - well, especially at the price! I made peanut butter cookies with almond butter instead and they were wonderful. Picky moms chose Jiff, or so the commercial goes, but informed moms know better!

When you eat all the right foods you don't go hungry. And when you consume the right healthy foods, your cells are happy.  We have trillions of cells in our bodies.  I would rather have my cells happy and saying YAY for what food I'm giving them than have them groaning and hyper trying to use or dispose of toxins.

Want happy cells?  Eat walnuts!  or Almonds!  Go Nuts! (remember moderation)

Boy Oh Boy, What About Soy?

Yes, this is Erasing the Bored - a new look to blend with the new focus on health and wellness.  Please check out the new website too!  http://www.todayspath.com/

And now for the blog..............


I get asked about this all the time - is soy really good for me?  I know the information on soy is often quite conflicting.  There are some natural alternative and holistic doctors who are either all for it, or absolutely not.  Since I tend always to be a flexitarian, I tend to believe you go with what works best for you.  Many people these days are claiming to be allergic to soy products, which may certainly be true.  It could, however, depend on the soy.

Unless your soy product clearly states it is ORGANIC, do not eat/drink it.  Period.  Soy crops in the U.S. are predominantly all genetically modified.  I know you've heard me repeatedly saying that GMO's are a danger to us and this one product affords me the opportunity to spell it out. 

In the process of engineering seeds to genetically modify them, first they put in a gene from something else entirely.  They have to add a chemical gene to make this seed "Round-up ready", then  they add an anti-biotic resistent gene, along with an accelerator to turn these genes on.  It is the process of all this combined that forever change the DNA of the plant - and when you eat it, you get a lot more bad stuff than you have bargained for!  It's not a plant but it was MADE in a plant, not in the natural world.

If you have experienced an allergic reaction to a soy product (non-organic) it could well be that your body is reacting to all the "stuff" that made this product a GMO.  Thank your body for this!  Certainly you do not want to pursue consuming this despite whatever claims you may have heard that soy is good for you.  If you want to continue eating/drinking soy switch immediately to ORGANIC soy.

Where this gets really hairy is that soy is put into soooo many of our other foods.  Check all the labels of things you have in your pantry for :
soy lecithin
soy bean oil
soy anything
If the product doesn't SAY it is 100% organic you are seriously gambling with your health.  I may gamble at the horse races, but not with anything I am eating. 

Then there is the Hexane issue with non-organic soy - here's a video with the details - bottom line is, soy - if it is NOT organic (i.e. Eden soy with organic labeling) contains chemicals you do NOT want in your body!




I know what a pain in the butt all this label reading and switching out previously consumed every day foods can be, believe me!  It took me a while to purge out everything in my pantry and replace it with non-GMO or organic.  But ask yourself if you really want to take the chance of eating pesticides, anti-biotic resistent, (seriously!) chemically laden foods?  We all have this stuff in our bodies from consuming foods without knowing all this information - why continue adding more?

What do you think YOUR tipping point will be before you develop symptoms?  Perhaps you have some symptoms already that you haven't been attributing to what you are eating?  Headaches, sluggishness, allergies out of control?  If you aren't feeling tip top on a daily basis it is time to really look at what you are eating.

There is a non-GMO shopping guide available from The Institute of Responsible Technology - get your download free before you make out the shopping list.  You may be really surprised to see how GMO's have totally invaded the foods you eat regularly!  I sure was!

We vote on this issue with our wallets.  Don't buy these foods/food products.  That is what it took in Europe for the food companies to say, ok, we get it, you don't want GMO foods and it took them only MONTHS to do this.  Why?  Because nobody was suppressing the truth there like they are here.  Help get the word out so we can reach our tipping poing and make a difference in our country's health!

You can also go to the Organic Consumers Association site to vote on Truth in Labeling.  Great association that is working hard to help us all!  This is ALL a grass roots movement and we are so so close to reaching the tipping poing necessary to effect a change in labeling which, by itself, will eventually cause the GMO's to fade into the scientific hell from whence the came!

YOU can make a difference!  Collectively we WILL win! 
http://www.organicconsumers.org/

http://www.nongmoshoppingguide.com/