If you have an eating disorder, and are thinking about Whole30

There's one line in the Whole30 materials that are probably the most famous/infamous:

“It is not hard. Don’t you dare tell us this is hard. Quitting heroin is hard. Beating cancer is hard. Drinking your coffee black. Is. Not. Hard. You won’t get any coddling, and you won’t get any sympathy for your ‘struggles’.”

But some folks who had food addiction took them to task for that language. And the Whole30 official response was this compassionate post: Sometimes, it is hard.

While I have struggled with mildly out of control eating from time to time, I have not (and through no credit of my own) had the long-term, serious struggle that many do. So reading the comments was very educational for me. Might be for you, too. Here are a few:

"I’m in tears because your re-write showed a kindness in reference to my eating disorder that I do not usually come across. I’ve tried to explain the same thing to people, but no one ever seems to understand. The chemistry in my brain and in my body does not work the same way it does for other people."

"Having watched my Mom battle food addiction as long as I’ve been alive, I commend you for your re-write aimed at those with disordered eating. Even for me, I’ve been struggling with starting a Whole30 because I needed to understand it perfectly before I could begin... I’m so relieved to know it isn’t just me. Thank you for being compassionate enough to frame it in a way the rest of us can utilize as well."

"Anyone who.has been to an AA meeting can attest to the fact that recovering alcoholics are usually carb addicts. Whether it is just a.symptom of an addictive personality or whether it is the same ...problem creating both sets of cravings is a question worth studying. This speaks to how food affects the addict, and how much determination there is required to resist temptation. They deserve our respect and congratulations for continued determination."

"Then I... realized something big. I eat paleo. Not just some of the time – all the time.... I actually cook almost every meal at home and don’t even think twice about it anymore. I stand up for myself in restaurants and make sure I’m eating what I want to put in my body. Better still, I don’t count calories, I don’t starve myself, and I love my body even though it isn’t perfect. That’s the best thing in the world – loving myself....
"When I accidentally ran across this website many months ago, I never imagined all this. But, it wasn’t just learning to eat in a much better way, it was about learning to forgive myself and get right back on the horse when I fell off. Thank you."

"I am a recovering addict and an addictions counselor. When I first heard about The Whole30... I thought it sounded ridiculous and dangerous for anyone prone to addictive behavior. After reading through much of the site, and even before today’s rewrite, I have come to appreciate how balance and perspective are a theme throughout the program."

Interested in Whole30? I could just give you a quick link to the "About" page, but the first time I did that, I read about halfway through and thought, "These people are nuts!" and clicked back out of the site.

But I keep hearing stories about people's lives being changed by this way of eating, so I kept reading more and more, finally reading It Starts With Food. Then it began to make sense.

Do I buy into all their assumptions and theories? No, but I think there's something to it, so we're trying it. I hope to start blogging about our journey soon.

A solid resource for info on sugar and health

Check out SugarScience.org: an authoritative source for scientific evidence about sugar and its impact on health. Organized by a team of doctors and researchers from the University of California, the goal of SugarScience is to take the latest research out of medical journals and make it available to the public, to help individuals and communities make healthy choices.

The site reflects an exhaustive review of more than 8,000 scientific papers that have been published to date, with a focus on the areas where the science is strongest – specifically, on diabetes, heart disease and liver disease.

In addition to publishing information, the site also has free resources for others to use, such as graphics for print or online use (like the one shown above), and videos. Here's a sample:

.

Visit SugarScience.org

Food cravings: Why you have them; How to beat them

Why do you have food cravings? Not genuine hunger, signaling that your digestive tract is ready for more, but craving for a particular kind of, or a very specific food.

If you've struggled with weight issues, you may be quick to blame yourself and your "will power" -- after which you will probably beat yourself up, and/or say "that's just me; I'll never change."

USA Today health reporter (and nutritionist, fitness expert, and health coach) Yuri Elkaim explains that there are actually a few different reasons for cravings. He posits that "everyone is different – cravings can be caused by one factor or multiple reasons." And here's the good news: One type of craving is a healthy signal from your body, and all of them are changeable.

Here are the three types of cravings he addresses:

1. Simple conditioning. This is where you associate a certain kind of food with a certain event or setting. He uses the example of pizza being associated with home movies. For me, road trips trigger expectations for junk food. (New Year's Eve and summer vacations being the only times in my childhood when my mom freely gave us junk food.) "Once you know the 'why' behind your food cravings," he says, "you can begin to actively fight them. Remind yourself, 'My body doesn’t need this food. I have conditioned myself to crave this food, and I can condition myself to stop.'”

2. Physiological craving. This the type that may actually be your body crying out for more of a certain nutrient. For example, craving salt after a workout may be a signal that your body isn't processing sodium correctly. He recommends testing to get to the bottom of this issue.

3. Food addiction. Yes, here's the uncomfortable truth: we can be emotionally addicted to food. But sometimes, it goes deeper than emotions, actually involving the same areas of the brain that respond to drugs like cocaine and heroin. This topic deserves more explanation, but his summary is accurate: "This isn’t easy, because you will go through a withdrawal process, but it’s critical you stick to it if you want to kick the habit. The good thing is that you only have to do this for about two weeks. "

Those two weeks can be brutal! I can personally testify that after you make it through the withdrawal, cravings subside substantially and it gets much easier to pass up sweets. If, however, you give in and eat something sweet, you're basically setting yourself up to be like this guy:

Don't be that guy! Here's one of the most important things you need to know when you're trying to kick the sugar habit.
.

The original article at USA Today: This Is Why You Have Food Cravings