So in case you have not been following this blog closely I'm going to bring you up to date on the crazy cravings. First off, in order to beat the cravings and the power they have over me I started with a 10 day cleanse. Some evidence points to the fact that changing your "gut flora" or the bacteria in your gut from the old, bad bacteria to healthy bacteria will change your cravings. Your preference of one food over another is determined by the bacteria in your gut. You change that and you can change your preference. Doing a 10 day cleanse of either fruits and vegetables using recipes and programs like those on www.rebootwithjoe.com or going with a company that sells good clean products, the result is the same. The bacteria in the gut changes. You are on the way to getting the power back.
So you get rid of the internal, biological reason for your cravings and unhealthy options. You are cleansed from the past. Now what keeps you from going back to those unhealthy choices once the gut is changed? The rest is mental. Part of it is habit, part of it is emotional. Example every afternoon around 2:00 I liked to eat a handful of dark chocolate almonds. We had a good relationship. I didn't abuse the relationship...that often. Usually one handful was enough. And I can probably find scientific evidence to support that this is a healthy snack. The problem is that it's addicting and expected regardless of whether I'm hungry or not. It's something I wanted because it was 2:00. Suddenly chocolate was a part of my every day life and if I'm out of town and didn't think to pack the stupid almonds I'm like a druggie looking for the next fix. Any gas station who might have dark chocolate will do. Anything I have to do just give me the stinking, dark chocolate. THAT is the problem I had with my potentially healthy, little snack. It had power over me. The purpose of this journey is to take the power back. SO no chocolate since I started the cleanse. That's 26 days without any chocolate... not that I'm keeping track.
It was about day 3 of my cleanse that I started thinking about chocolate. Come 2:00 on Monday afternoon, sitting at my desk where I typically have my stash, I thought about my chocolate. It was a habit. Now I don't think about it much anymore. For the first 3 weeks I thought about a cheeseburger with the thought that I could really enjoy a cheeseburger right now. Not that I ate them all the time but occasionally I just really wanted a cheeseburger and my twisted thinking was that "this was my body's way of telling me I need red meat.." Yea, ok. Or it was my GUT bacteria! I noticed last week that it was the first week I had not thought about a cheeseburger with the true desire to eat one. I was at a gas station watching this guy struggle to free the double cheeseburger wrapped in Saran Wrap that he got from under the heat lamp in the gas station and was seriously grossed out. There were absolutely NO nutrients whatsoever in the meal he was about to eat. He was going to be dragging all afternoon from that burger and would likely need a coffee or some form of caffeine by 2pm so he wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel. I used to be that person. I know the drill. Only 2pm was the time to wake up to chocolate! What a vicious cycle and we wonder why we are so tired.
Your body is screaming for nutrients and you are cramming in empty calories and it keeps saying "that's not it" but your gut hasn't been changed so you don't know what you want. Your body can't be heard anymore because your mind is screaming for the food that it's addicted to. The food that you "deserve" because you had a bad day or a good week or a great workout. My relationship with food was keeping me from having a true relationship with my body. From feeding it what it really needed. Depressing right?
Now off to the the really cool part. Monday afternoon around 2:00... when just 3 Mondays earlier I was craving chocolate....I wanted a plate of grilled squash!!! I kid you not! Never in my lifetime have I craved squash. I didn't even like it all that much 3-4 years ago and here I was wishing I had a plate of grilled squash and zucchini. I was floored! Then last night I'm on my way home from a meeting and I think "I need some carrots and hummus when I get home". My body is telling me what it's been wanting to tell me all along. "I will take care of you if you take care of me. Please listen to me. Please give me the nutrients to take care of me and I will fight for you. Listen to me not your mind, not that commercial, not your habits, not your family and not even your doctor half the time (who, mind you, got an hour max of nutrition education in med school). I will tell you what you need if we can just work together."
So if you think you can't get where you want in your journey - consider who and what you are listening to. You don't have a problem, you just love food right? That's what I thought. It's way more complicated than that.
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