How to Experience Body Euphoria

Have you ever heard of the condition "body dysmorphia"? Wikipedia describes it like this: "Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), sometimes referred to as body dysmorphia or dysmorphic syndrome, is a (psychological) somatoform disorder in which the affected person is excessively concerned about and preoccupied by a perceived defect in his or her physical features (body image). The sufferer may complain of several specific features or a single feature, or a vague feature or general appearance, causing psychological distress that impairs occupational and/or social functioning, sometimes to the point of severe depression and anxiety, development of other anxiety disorders, social withdrawal or complete social isolation, and more."

Yesterday on the blog Medicinal Marzipan, a blog about body image and unconditional self love, there was a guest posting entitled "Creating Bonds Around Self-Love Instead of Negative Self Talk" by Emilie Littlehales, of the blog I Came to Run and the Embrace: Me Project.

In it she makes an observation that is so true, so powerful, I just had to share it here: "From an early age, we [women] learn to dislike our bodies. There are a variety of factors that play a role in this, but we have to be careful not to underestimate the degree to which our interactions with other girls and women influence us in this regard. Sooner or later, negative body image becomes a common feeling over which we learn to bond, and a sisterhood that centers on sharing our thoughts on how much we dislike parts of physical selves develops. It’s a disturbing phenomenon when you take a step back to look at it: you can’t walk into a room one day and declare how good you feel about your thighs, doing so might result in you being the victim of silent, seething resentment. But say that you feel fat or disgusting, and you will find that the entire room knows exactly how you feel."

What Emilie is describing is pervasive in our society today. Just the other day a friend came up to me and asked me for advice on how to get in shape. I asked her what her current fitness program was and she said she was working out every day . . . every day! . . . doing the Insanity videos in her basement.

I said, "That's amazing! So what is it that you would like to improve upon?"

And she said, "Well, I'd like to lose ten pounds" and I was thinking "If you lose ten pounds you might need to be hospitalized." I told her flat out that she was suffering from Body Dysmorphia but she didn't seem to care. It's just like Emilie described. We are conditioned to hate our bodies when there is nothing wrong with them. We feel that we must vocalize this dissatisfaction or we won't be accepted into the club.

So afterwards, my husband, who was also present at the conversation, came up with a new condition that we are calling "Body Euphoria."

Here's our definition: It is the state of mind that you are in after treating yourself well for an extended period of time. Conditions include (1) participation in moderate exercise that you truly enjoy, (2) eating  nutritious, unprocessed, plant strong food and (3) achieving your happy weight, where even though your body has no resemblance to a model in a magazine and never will, you are thrilled with how you look, and more importantly, how you feel.

That's the state I am in today. Body Euphoria. Strong, balanced, healthy. Sure, I don't look like any model, but I'll take it! And I want to share it with you.

What is your current state of mind?

Do you think you can let go of your own negative self talk?

What do you hope to achieve?

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Addicted to Food Premiers on OWN on April 5th

Did you hear that on the new Oprah Winfrey television network there is going to be a show about food addiction?

Thanks to my friend Lisa M, I'm now anxiously awaiting the premier of Addicted to Food. Why? Well, because personally, I'm an emotional eater. I would hardly have qualified to be a subject on this show, even in my heyday, but I am certainly one of the zillions of emotional eaters out there. I would even venture to say that anyone who struggles with excess weight is addicted to food to some degree.



My disorder never got to the darkest place it could have gone, and I'm very grateful for that. I'd qualify more as an abuser than an addict. What I have found is that learning everything I can about why I emotionally eat and what I can do to combat it has been an effective healing method for me. Working with the people at http://www.peertrainer.com/ was key to my success.  It was there that I found answers to why I was using food in this way, both from the emotional perspective and the physical/nutritional perspective (it was there that I was introduced to Dr. Fuhrman's Nutritarianism).

Watching television shows like The Biggest Loser and You Are What You Eat (a British TV show on BBC America) taught me so much, about food, exercise and how to fight this addiction. I hope that if what I am saying here resonates with you, you get a chance to watch Addicted to Food.

Have you been helped in your recovery by watching any television on the subject? If so, what show was it and why did it resonate with you?

Are you going to TiVo or DVR Oprah's Addicted to Food?

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Pure, White and Deadly, Part II

ON THE FREQUENCY OF DESSERT INDULGENCE, THE QUESTION OF HEALTHY SWEETENERS AND THE RAW/VEGAN BAKING CRAZE

I just want to say that this subject is very controversial, and there are a wide range of opinions on it. When it comes to desserts, there are really three components/ingredients that pose the problems--sweeteners, flours and oils. For the most part, I believe we can get away with healthy substitutions for white flour (whole wheat and many, many other whole grain flours as well as oats) and for oil (apple sauce, pumpkin). Where the sweetener is concerned, however, things get more complicated.

When it comes to the question of "Is there such a thing as a healthy sweetener" you will get a wide range of complex answers. But is this really so complex? Might it be that the answer is really all very simple and that we (humans) are making it such a complex issue because we want to justify eating sweet food? I know that is the case for me personally. I try to make it okay in my own head because it's what I love, that sweet taste. Some say that the term "healthy sweetener" is an oxymoron. And I'm not even talking about the artificial sweeteners here, just the "natural" ones.

I decided to go to the vegan baking/raw dessert experts for some input and healthy debate. Here's what a few of them had to say:

Chef Aj (http://www.ajsrockinfoods.com/)

Me: "Chef Aj, I am loving your book! I am very interested in your thoughts on a blog posting that I did. I know that you only make desserts with dates, and I am wondering about the healthfulness of them and also how often should a person struggling to be healthy "indulge" in one of your treats? Daily? A few times a week? Once a week? Once a month? Please contribute your opinions and experiences to this discussion.'

Chef Aj:  "I can't really say how often a person SHOULD eat dessert. In reality, probably never or only on their birthday. But that probably ain't gonna happen for most people. I stopped eating dessert, even the date sweetened ones (which at least are made with a WHOLE FOOD that contains fiber, etc.). I am now bananas for bananas!

 I think my desserts are like the meat substitutes, a great transition food. And for people who eat dessert, the best choice out there. I don't know if you read my book, but I have been a sugar addict most of my life. And I have found the only thing that really works for addiction is TOTAL ABSTINENCE. I have eaten many lifetimes of desserts for the first 50 years of my life. I'm gonna try something different for the next 50 years. What I like about my date/nut desserts is that the are actually made of FOOD, whole food. Sugar, oil, flour - NOT FOOD! (Dr. Campbell says 'That's a donout'. Would you like to blog the recipes in my book?"

Fran Costigan (http://www.francostigan.com/)

Me: "Fran, I am very interested in your thoughts on a blog posting that I did. I would love your input on how often a person struggling to be healthy can "indulge" in one of your treats? Daily? A few times a week? Once a week? Once a month? Please contribute your opinions and experiences to this discussion."

Fran: "Hello! . . . In my former life, days (this was days) like these, would ...have had me running to the fridge or freezer or pantry for a slice of cake, a pint of ice cream, a 3 ounce piece of chocolate. These days are different. While I am constantly testing and writing about one kind of sweet or another, and tasting bites, since I must, I tend to run more for a veg juice, a smoothie made with greens and berries, a piece of fruit. In the days before I became a vegan (over 20 years ago), I ate sweets like everyone else in my family did-which meant, full= no more left. I tell the real story in both of my cookbooks, Great Good Dairy Free Desserts and More Great Good Dairy Free Desserts Naturally.

Wendy, your original question: how many times a week, a month, a whatever, can a person struggling to be healthy indulge in sweets has no one answer. It is personal.

Desserts are discretionary. We do not need to eat them to be healthy. BUT,... we do need them in other ways. I made a no fat added (that's no oil) chocolate cake with a low fat cocoa glaze for Dr. McDougall's Celebrity Chef Weekend. I prefer to steer people to some of the naturally wheat free, sugar free recipes in my books, when fat or wheat is an issue.

For VIP reception for Forks Over Knives, I served mandarin orange segments dipped in bittersweet chocolate and The Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse in small cups (all Engine 2 approved).

I know what you all mean. I was not fat, but I struggled with too much weight and yo-yo - you know up, down, eat a lot, eat nothing until I started eating whole foods-plant based. Organic, delicious. At some point, when my son was about 14, he said, mom, don't think you can put a candle in a sweet potato and call it my bday cake. And so I began to look into vegan desserts made with wholesome real ingredients that taste great. I had worked for many years as a traditional pastry chef. It took a long time, but I cracked the code.

I do not believe in the holy grail of sweeteners. But some are better than others.

My criteria: real, not processed, or processed less and w.out chemicals, organic, fair-traded. And used historically as sweeteners. I don't use fake sugars.

I don't believe in agave as low glycemic. It is fructose, metabolized in the liver, can be harmful, and it is not fruit. I like maple and organic whole cane sugars, sorghum, coconut sugar, rice syrup and a few more, but-in moderation, what ever that means to you. My whole foods diet is what keeps my cravings at bay so I do not binge. If I did, it would be a disaster, with 25-30 lbs of chocolate in my apt meant to taste. For work.

Use your heads and be a smart consumer. Too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing. And remember, marketers love to market.

Today and for many years, I have been satisfied with a smaller piece of dessert, vegan, often chocolate made from a recipe in my book. My cupcakes are smaller, my cake slices are thinner, my gels and creams are loaded up with fruit.

And that's my take. I hope it helps! Deprivation does not work, but eating healthy whole foods plant strong does create a balance. So if you are healthy, eat green and save room for a healthy vegan desserts, sometimes, and in moderate size. If that sets up a bad situation for you, drink water, take a walk, don't eat any sweets. I'm happy that I can indulge many days of the week. But again, it might be 1-2 cookies, a chocolate truffle, a small slice of cake."

Kathleen at Kats Health Corner (http://www.katshealthcorner.wordpress.com/)

"Hey girlie! I got your comment, and I just "explored" the post.

Hehe, I love that Lecture: Sugar-The Bitter Truth (I think there is a link on my blog to it already)! I watched it last year (one of my health-mother-friends sent me the link). I when I watched it, I took so many notes! I think I need to watch it again when I get the chance. When I watched it, I hadn't had Chemistry yet, but since I am taking Chemistry right now, I'll be able to understand more the the Chemistry that he talks about. Have you watched it?

I personally don't drink anything but water. Fruit Juice is just sugar. If I do drink juice, I want it whole, like homemade orange juice with the pulp! :) That lecture has changed my life! :)

That's why I use fruits (apples, bananas, dates) in my baking instead of sugar. I don't use date sugar -- I use the dates-the whole fruit. I use stevia too when I can. If I have to have some sweetener, I use maple syrup or molasses because they actually come with nutrients. I also use honey because it has anti-oxidants. :) I avoid HFCS, "corn sugar," and I myself don't eat cookies and cakes that have sugar in them. Since I have cut out sugar from my life, everything tastes better, and thing with sugar in them are too sweet for me. I also check the ingredient list on foods and avoid as much added sugar as possible."

Nutritional data on maple syrup:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5602/2

The truth about Agave syrup:
http://veganascent.blogspot.com/2011/03/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to.html A must read!
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/agave.html

For a comprehensive guide to ALL sweeteners:
http://www.splendaexposed.com/articles/2005/03/your_healthy_sw.html

I guess I'm not ready to give up on dessert just yet, 'cause here's what's going on in my kitchen these past few days:

An amazing, creamy, chocolaty dessert if you are looking for something that has no sweetener other than the real fruit.

Healthy Girl's Double Chocolate Raw Banana Soft Serve

serves 1, if you would like more than one serving, just multiply the ingredients

1 1/2 ripe frozen bananas, broken into chunks

4 walnuts

1 tsp cocoa

splash of almond milk (or soy milk)

1 tsp cacao nibs

Place first 4 ingredients into a high powered blender or food processor and blend until mixture becomes the consistency of soft serve ice cream, tamping down/scraping down the sides of the container as needed. Add cacao nibs and blend for a few more seconds. Serve immediately.

Kat's Pumpkin Pecan Pie Oat Squares

Kat's Pumpkin Pie Oat Squares are my first real attempt at uber-healthy vegan baking. Want to see how to make these? Take a peek at that recipe here. I'm not sure if they would qualify as a dessert. They have the slightest hint of sweetness and are extremely moist, but might leave many people looking for that sweet desserty quality. They would make a great breakfast on the go if you don't have time to make a green smoothie. Kat's Squares are full of really healthy ingredients, like apples, pumpkin and loads of oats, but do call for a little maple syrup (the jury is still out on that one!).

What are you using as healthy substitutions for oil and processed wheat flour in desserts? So far, I know of applesauce and pumpkin for the oil and whole wheat and other whole grain flours for the white flour. Can you contribute more suggestions?

Or are you able to eat dessert in moderation and just go for either a standard vegan dessert or a standard nonvegan dessert?

Do you not give a damn because sweet food holds no interest for you?

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Pure, White and Deadly, Part I

THE REALITIES OF SUGAR AND THE HEALTHY VEGAN BAKING CRAZE

Sorry that I've been in communicado for the past 5 days. I've missed you and I'm excited to be back. I took a girls' trip, just me and my two daughters, to a big Northeast Ohio indoor water park/hotel called Kalahari. While I was there I had more time to myself than I've had in years, just me and my laptop, surfing the net, while my daughters were having a ball in the lazy river. Me? I'm not the biggest fan of public water.

I had time to think. And mull some stuff over. And it wasn't lost on me that the majority of the patron's of said water park were overweight. No, not overweight. Obese. Call in "The Biggest Loser" on NBC obese.

That kinda thing gets my heart breakin' and my brain workin'. Just what the heck is going on here? No one wants to carry around extra weight, I'm totally convinced of that!

It took some serious creativity on my part to find food at this place that would even remotely qualify as plant strong. We did our best, it wasn't my most proud food moment. But we were there for the fun, not the food, and the time away to think . . .

One thing I've been thinking a lot about lately is what appears to me to be an Internet phenomenon: "Healthy" Vegan Baking and Raw Vegan Desserts. Simply put, I'm very confused by this phenomenon. We've got all of these seemingly healthy, mostly women, bloggers spending countless numbers of hours concocting, photographing and writing about baked or raw, rich and sweet goodies. All in the name of good health.

It's very easy for someone like me, someone with a sugar addiction, to get sucked in by the promises of "healthy" desserts. Here's what really went on in my mind, "Maybe that's where I've been wrong all along . . . my sweets weren't the healthy sweets, they were the run-of-the-mill old fashioned kind . . . maybe that's why I have this extra weight. If only I had been eating these raw or vegan treats all along I wouldn't have gotten fat in the first place. I should start making lots of raw and vegan goodies instead."

But it didn't work like that at all. Raw and vegan desserts packed on the pounds just like the old-fashioned kind of desserts did. I was puzzled. How do the raw/vegan dessert bloggers "indulge" in these treats (yes, they are "treats," because even though they are made from many wholesome ingredients, they are still very high in calories and not at all necessary for human survival!) in what appears to be a regular fashion and not get fat? Or are they making all of this food just for show and not actually consuming it themselves? Pawning all of the baked goods off on some unsuspecting coworkers or family members (munching by proxy)? Are they eating these treats every day, as it appears from their blogs, and maintaining their svelte figures? What is going on here?

Then, as if right on cue, Debby at Happy Healthy Long Life did a very interesting blog posting about sugar. More specifically, the evils of sugar. I certainly recommend reading her post here if you haven't already. I did, 'cause you know I love me some sugar. And like I said, I had a lot of time to myself on this vacation.

I had the time to watch Dr. Robert H. Lustig's 90 minute YouTube video (I did fall asleep once in the middle, but then picked up again the next day), which Debby turned me on to and which I have embedded below. If your food issue isn't somehow connected with the over consumption of sugar or sugar+fat, you are officially excused from this post. But if you, or someone you love, can't put down the cookie, this is worth your while.

"A high sugar diet is a high fat diet."

Yes, that's what Dr. Lustig said. But I was confused. I thought a calorie is a calorie is a calorie and it's a simple equation of calories in and calories out? Don't tell me now that my favorite calorie, the sugar calorie, is even worse for me than I had ever imagined!

Yep folks, it just might be the worst thing that you can feed your body. Eat sugar, get fat.

Dr. Lustig argues, very specifically and scientifically, that fructose (the sugar in fruit, refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup and yes, the healthy blogger's beloved agave syrup) causes obesity. He details out how the body metabolizes fructose in a very unusual way, by turning it directly into stored body fat. Not only that, sugar overrides the body's natural hunger regulation signals, so when you consume sugar your body sends off signals that it is hungry even though it has plenty of calories to burn.

Yuck. A vicious cycle of consumption, weight gain and, inevitably, disease. Sugar turns into fat and makes you want to eat more food? Kinda explains how I got fat to begin with, doesn't it?

Luckily for us, this is not the case when the fructose is consumed with fiber, the way nature packaged it--in real fruit (not fruit roll ups). Fruit juice=really, really bad. Whole fruit=safe. Here, you can watch the whole thing if you've got 90 minutes and you're not sleepy:


I know what you are thinking. Moderation. Yes! Moderation! All of these "healthy" treats the bloggers post about are being consumed in moderation. Perhaps they are. But somehow I suspect that if you are here reading my blog, moderation is not your strong suit. So what's a sugar addict to do?

The only thing we really can do, I say. Educate. Yourself. You know that 90 minute video embedded above? Watch it. It just may be the thing you need to see today.

Peace out!

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Cultivating a New Level of Awareness: Trigger Foods

Salty or sweet? You know the answer. (If you're not a compulsive overeater, go read some other blog and come back here tomorrow! We love you too, but this just ain't for you.)

For me, it's sweet. Take some good old refined sugar, pair it with fat, and I've got me a big old problem. Take birthday cake for example. If it's in my house, it's all I can think about, but only after I've tasted it. Put a big bag of potato chips in front of me and they will sit there untouched. Salt has no power over me. God help you if you say both!

Is that a vegan birthday cake I see?

Why yes, it is! Not only that, it's tasty. But I only knew that after I had a small slice (er . . . two) last night. Before that it was just sitting in my basement refrigerator and I might have even forgotten it was there. Now that it's half eaten, all I wanna do this morning is have some more. What does that mean? It means I need to THROW IT AWAY.

So here's what I want to talk to you about right now: Your level of awareness when it comes to your problem, a.k.a. trigger, foods.

That vegan birthday cake, it was good, but no where near as satisfying as Mama Pea's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (hint-the only ingredients are dates, nuts, vanilla and chocolate chips). I ate one of those yesterday and it was enough. They are sitting in my refrigerator right now and I don't want one desperately. What does that mean? It means that for me, these are a safe food. Surely not something that I want to eat all of the time (they are very high in calories and fat), but something that is perfectly appropriate to make and serve once a week at our Friday night dinner.

Want the recipe for Mama Pea's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls? Get it here.

You're probably wondering why I even brought the birthday cake into my house. I wonder that too. Here's what I was thinking: It's my son's third birthday. This compulsive overeating thing is my problem. It may end up being my children's problem too as they get older, but me being super crazy strict and not having any sugar in the house ever is not going to . . . to . . . what?

Am I scared that not having junk in my house is going to contribute to having kids that can't control themselves around junk when they are older? Being a compulsive over eater, I know that if my mom had been filling our house with sugar when I was young (which she wasn't) I would not have been able to control myself any better back then or today. My taste buds and psychology were determined before she had any shot at shaping them. No amount of intervention by her could have saved me from this disorder. I believe you either have it or you don't and there is a certain amount of genetics involved. I definitely see patterns in families.

So what should you do if you want to be healthy, lose weight and not let this compulsive overeating thing take you down? You could develop a set of tools for yourself that if used, would make the situation a lot better. The following are a list of ideas that have worked for me:

(1) Remember the motto "Plant Strong, Not Plant Perfect." Let go of the expectation that you are never going to compulsively overeat again. Just forget about it. It ain't gonna happen. The key is to be aware of it when you do, and then to make the necessary adjustments so that you don't keep repeating the same behaviors over and over again. What's the definition of insanity? Not making mistakes, but making the same mistake over and over again.

(2) Know that just because it's vegan doesn't mean it's healthy or a safe food for YOU. Again, you have to know yourself and really observe how you react around that particular food or food group. You could compulsively eat brown rice. You certainly could compulsively overeat "healthy" vegan desserts, baked or raw. If you try it and have a compulsive experience with it, make it either an "off limits altogether food" or develop rules about eating it like "I will only have that food when I am with other people" and "I will not have that food in my own kitchen/pantry/freezer/refrigerator but I can have it in a restaurant or at someone else's home because in that situation I don't overeat it." Again, you have to really be aware of your own behaviors and develop a sense of what is safe for you.

(3) Eat a whole foods, plant based diet, high in volume and low in calories. "What does that have to do with it?" you ask. I'll share with you my experience. When I was eating whatever I wanted to, attempting to control portions and choose foods that I thought were healthy, I was overweight and unhappy. Eating was a colossal battle for me. I wanted to eat enough to feel full, but I knew that if I ate enough of those foods to actually get full I was eating too much to lose weight. It was a mess!

Fast forward to now. I've been eating a whole foods, plant based diet, high in volume and low in calories for over a year. My taste buds have COMPLETELY changed. I am not making this up. A green smoothie tastes better to me now than a hamburger and french fries. An apple is so sweet it's criminal. Nuts and beans are the new foods that I have to be careful not to overeat. I'm laughing at myself as I write this. It's amazing!

The foods I used to eat taste like garbage to me now. It's not even a struggle to eat this way or to say no to processed food. It tastes like s#*!, why would I eat that?

(4) When your trigger foods make their way into your house, which they will, no matter how hard you try, get rid of them. As soon as you become aware of the situation, throw them out. You have no power over them. That's why they are YOUR trigger foods at this particular time. And they will change over time, that's why you can never rest. When foods that once would not have been a big deal to you suddenly become a big deal when you have eliminated all of your other trigger foods. Just tell yourself that it is normal for this to happen and get rid of the new trigger food.

It's either trash in your body or trash in a landfill. Where do you think it belongs?

Don't feel sorry for yourself. Get excited that you have a new level of awareness that will make you life much more manageable and happier. Never dwell on your past mistakes. Don't let a slip up become a give up. That's your old heavy person's mind doing the thinking for you. Let your new thin person's mind take over. Thin people slip up, they never give up. That's how they remain thin.

(5) The big one. The doosey. Here it is: When you are eating, do nothing else.

Oh boy, I know this is true, but I struggle with it. Have you ever tried just sitting at a table by yourself with food on a plate and a fork and knife and just eating? I thought so. If this were your regular practice, you wouldn't have read this far into this post! It's not something that I am proud of, but I love to eat and read, eat and watch TV, eat and talk, eat and do anything!!!!!

When it comes right down to it, it is almost impossible to compulsively eat if you are sitting down and doing nothing else but eating. Why? Because eating this way is BORING. It's the opposite of numbing yourself. It brings you into the moment. Whenever I do this I can barely eat what I have served myself. It really is that simple. Most of the food that I have eaten in my lifetime I never would have eaten if I wasn't distracting myself at the same time. That's the drug effect of food--the distraction from feeling and emoting.

Are you aware of your trigger foods?

What types of adjustments have you made or are you trying to make regarding these foods?

What happens to you when you sit down to eat without doing anything else?

Could you commit to just eating for one meal? One day? One week?

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What I'm Reading Now: Skinny Thinking by Laura Katleman-Prue and Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Sometimes writing blog posts is difficult. I have so many thoughts running through my brain that I find it hard to begin. Especially when my brain is being flooded with interesting ideas from the books that I am reading. One thing that I have found on my weight loss/health journey is that my learning NEVER stops. I usually have 5 or more books that I am reading at once--ranging from pleasure fiction to healthy vegan cookbooks to the psychology of weight loss to dieting advice. I like it all and I like it all at once. I know, it's a little weird.

Anyway, what all of this reading makes me think is this:

What if you made your health the top priority in your life?

Because that's how I feel right now. My health is my top priority. And I don't feel guilty about it either. The old me would have. I would have been thinking, "Oh, that's so indulgent! My husband and my kids and  my business and my ______ need to be my top priority." But guess what, if I'm not in tip top shape, than not only do I suffer, but my husband and kids and business and ______ all suffer along with me. And that's no good at all.

So for those of you here reading this blog who have issues with compulsive overeating and emotional eating, I recommend Skinny Thinking by Laura Katleman-Prue. You may know that I am a HUGE fan of The Beck Diet Solution by Judith S. Beck as a system of altering your thought patterns from those of a heavy person to those of a thin person. This stuff works. If you haven't read Beck, what are you waiting for?

If you have read Beck than you know how powerful the system is, but the journey doesn't end there. It's a lifelong process and we need all of the support we can get. That's where books like Skinny Thinking come in. Katleman-Prue's thoughts and ideas are right in line with the mental work that I have done with The Beck Diet Solution, they just provide another person's insights into the same recovery process. It's actually really exciting to read Skinny Thinking and to see how far I have come mentally with my relationship with food. I highly recommend reading it if you struggle with emotional eating or compulsive overeating.





The other book that I am very enthusiastic about right now is Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite for Reduction. For those of you who don't know who Isa is, she's a very successful vegan cookbook author, who wrote, among other things, Veganomicon and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I own a copy of Veganomicon but would never purchase a copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Why? Because I know myself, and vegan or not, those cupcakes would take over my body and mind. Who needs that?

But back to my copy of Veganomicon. I picked it up in the beginning of my vegan path, knowing how immensely popular it is, hoping that I would discover a world of healthy food in it. NOT! I quickly realized that it was just vegan food, probably delicious, but no better for my waistline than spagetti and meatballs. So it sits on my shelf to this day.

Imagine how shocked I was when I found out that Isa has just published a new cookbook entitled Appetite for Reduction. It seems that all of that "vegan" food she had been cooking up for years developing her cookbooks got her into some trouble, if you know what I mean. Now, from the introduction, it appears she got herself a copy of Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live. "My decision was a personal one. My knees were achy, my periods were irregular, and my energy levels were low. I needed to change what I was eating--less fat, less sugar--and I needed to get more active . . . when I eat low-fat, plant-based meals I feel better, weight does come off, and unless I skip breakfast or something, I never feel hungry. It's become a sustainable way of life for me!"

What's her new mission? Nutrition! Nutrient dense, low calorie, low fat recipes. A whole new book of them. How cool is that?! I was rooting for you Isa! She has hit it out of the ballpark with this one. To everyone reading this blog: GET THIS BOOK NOW.



And because I don't have a recipe to share with you today, I leave you with this:
The Wannabe Chef's Snickerdoodle Dessert Hummus
Couldn't wait to get home and make it after I saw it on a blog this morning!

How do you think it tasted????

Have you read any books about the psychology of weight loss? Do you recommend any in particular?

Or is emotional eating not an issue for you at all (luck out!)?

What are your thoughts on "vegan cooking" vs. "healthy vegan cooking"? What does "healthy" cooking mean to you? Has reading any particular book influenced your thinking on these matters?

Peace and love folks!

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Love Yourself/Love Food if You Wanna

THAT NUMBER ON THE SCALE

I don't know if you noticed but it wasn't one of my resolutions this year to weigh a certain number on the scale. I didn't even realize it until a few hours after I had written the resolutions down. I mean, what's going on here? Is something happening to me? I then I realized it.

This is not a blog about being thin for thin's sake.

This is not a blog for people who are Pro-Anna. Or Mia, or any other f-ed up sh&#.

This is a blog for people who love food. And themselves.

So make no mistake, my purpose here is not to be the skinniest I can be nor to wear a size 2. My purpose is to find my groove, and part of finding my groove is finding peace with food. Because I LOVE FOOD and I want food to love me back. I want to feel my best every day. I want to live an extraordinary life. That, and I really don't want to get diabetes, heart disease, or the dreaded cancer that runs so rampantly in my family. I want to be healthy for health's sake. And if I need to lose weight to be at my best health, then that's important for me.

Do I care if I gain weight? Heck yeah! The reality is that for me to be my best version of myself, I could lose a few. It's taken me a LONG time to learn the following thing: the scale can be my friend. For years I have alternated between weighting myself every day and then not weighing myself at all for long periods of time. And guess what happened when I wasn't weighing myself? But now I look at the scale a little differently--it's FEEDBACK, not failure.

The following video is not me (I do not have these kind of cahones!), but this is important for everyone to watch:

Tell me you don't feel good after watching that!

I grew up loving food. Healthy food and unhealthy food. It didn't matter which. I wanted to eat more than I needed to eat. Why? I don't know and I don't care. It is what it is. And I believe that food should be enjoyed. Otherwise, we would have been created without a need for food to survive, maybe a pill that we could take once a day to keep us going. Sounds awful, right? But we weren't created that way. We need food, regularly.  So it shouldn't be a struggle, it should be a blessing to shop and cook and enjoy beautiful meals.

Do you struggle with your body image? WHO DOESN'T???? Than the following blog is for you: http://medicinalmarzipan.com/. Just reading Mara's words brings me peace.

What is on your New Year's Resolutions list? Or do you not have a list?

Do you want to lose weight? If yes, why?

If not, why is eating healthy important to you?

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