Health Rehab!

[Lisa]

I've been watching "Celebrity Rehab" over the past few weeks and was hit with a sudden realization: I need health rehab! Diets are too rigid, they suffocate me, but haphazard attempts to change my eating don't hold me accountable and easily fade away. I need a structure that doesn't feel like a prison.

Watching that show I found myself wondering about mentally and emotionally putting myself into "rehab". If I looked at myself as an addict (which, when it comes to sugar/carbs, I am!), wouldn't I be kinder to myself? I might not have thought so before this show. But, sifting out the sensationalism, I found myself looking more kindly at these people and appreciating the extraordinary difficulty of what they had to deal with. And I realized I don't give myself the same compassion when "failing" at diets. I also probably try to do massive overhauls, changes that are much too big for my psyche to deal with all at once, so they don't work or don't last.

This is probably not a new concept. I wouldn't doubt that many others have had the same realizations. But I wonder if it will work... I'm excited to try!

[Pam]

Lisa, I'm not sure if this is the same type of thing, but I realized I was a diet rebel. I'd see those meal plans and feel like rebelling against it somehow. I signed up on several online diet sites. I liked CalorieKing because it allows me to enter what I eat (and then logs for me the calories, protein, etc) to give me an idea of where I'm lacking or overdoing. I do like the vegetarian meal plans I've seen on different online sites. Also, in the past, with every 'diet' I've been on, I had to figure out a way that would allow me to have a least a little bit of soda (pop) each day (regular, no diet pop for me).
About a month ago, I gave up pop. It was just one day I thought, this is not my friend (from the hypnosis cd I had) and I didn't miss it. It was the first time I really felt like I could come up with something I could live with. For three weeks, I didn't have any pop. Since then, I have, but not like when I felt like I really wanted it more than anything else. I'm fine not having pop...but I'm not trying to give it up forever, either.
I guess that was my realization...that I really didn't 'need' to have pop.
So what kind of 'self rehab' are you considering?
Pam

[Lisa]

Ooo, yes, a "diet rebel". I like that—and it certainly fits me! I love your story about giving up pop. Congratulations!! Have you substituted anything? Drinking lots of juice or water now? I understand that sometimes going through the same physical motions can calm the body down into thinking, "Ah, here comes what I need... It's going to be fine..."

I'm interested in the hypnosis CD you used, too. (I love those!) May I ask which CD it was and how you use it? (when going to sleep, as a meditation, etc.) Good job finding helpful tools!

What I've been doing so far (and it's been a week tomorrow—wow!) is staying completely away from candy, cakes, cookies, pastries...and especially chocolate. I swear, if you'd have taken a blood sample from me up until last week, it would have come out a sweet, rich brown. The abstinence feels different than times I've "dieted", though. (Which is very good for the Diet Rebel part of me...) This time I'm telling myself, "No, honey, that chocolate chip cookie is crack in disguise. You're an addict, remember? You can have all the strawberries you want." My ego-mind gives me a bit of talk about not "technically" being an addict, trying to convince me that because that's not true, this approach won't work, so why don't I give in now and have the cookie? My personal belief it that sugar is extraordinarily addictive, but whether it's technically true or not, this frame of mind is working for me for now.

Seeing people go through drug and alcohol rehab gave me a mental picture of the struggle. Giving up a substance, sugar included, can be extraordinarily difficult for some people. For those people, it's not a matter of willpower or personal strength; it's simply going to be hard. So I'm not getting dejected about how much effort it's taking or how bleak the "food horizon" can look. I notice that when those feelings come up, I think, "Oh, there it is, the addict part. Let's see, do I need to go to the library today?" I don't give it any more energy than that.

Marisa gave a great tip: "it's very important for me not to wait until I am really hungry, but plan and eat my snacks before I enter the craving mode." I've found that to really be true for me! So I'm trying to eat regularly, not waiting until I'm starving. I'm also keeping lots of fruit and some Luna bars around to stave off cravings that come up when I forget to pay attention to time.

I'm on my way to my 30-day "chip"... ;-)

[Pam]

I'm glad you can relate to the Diet Rebel!
The CD is called Lose Weight Now Listen & Let Go with Robert Fargo by New World Music. It's actually fairly old. I've used it both when I'm falling asleep and during the day. Sometimes when I listen to stuff when I'm falling asleep, I end up with bad dreams.
I like that you address the thought but then give it no more energy! That's great.
I started out with replacing my morning pepsi with a large ice tea that I'd stop for on the way to work. Now I've been drinking water (but I need to increase how much I'm drinking). I've had pop in the past week. But I love the feeling I don't 'need' it, especially in the morning like I used to.
Also, I quickly visited your site. It's great! The artwork is beautiful! Did you draw it yourself? What you do sounds wonderful.
Good luck on your Rehab!
Pam

[Lisa]

That's a new one (CD) to me. I Googled, but didn't find anything, so assume it's not available...which is actually okay. I think the universe is giving me one of those gentle nudges, "Um, Lisa, dear one, you have about 30 of those CDs, right...?" ;-)

Thanks for the compliments on my website. It's newly done, so I appreciate the feedback! I absolutely adore doing dream work with people. I'm continually amazed at the information that comes from them and how energized people feel about using that info. As for the artwork, nope, it isn't mine. But maybe one day I'll do a site with my own painting... Good idea!

Hang in there with the pop. Sounds like you're doing great. You remind me that I probably need to drink more water, too. There are conflicting schools of thought about how much people need, though, so I'm not exactly sure how much is "enough". The most recent I've seen is from the Mayo Clinic which says 9 cups daily for women (more if you're exercising), so I'm trying to go with that.

I'm doing really well with Rehab. (Although even typing the word makes me laugh!) I had some "oh, my gosh, for some cookie dough..." thoughts late last night, so I'm tagging that as a possible danger time for me. I'll keep observing and see how it goes. It's so helpful to identify those thoughts as the addict part of me making some noise and knowing that I can choose not to respond.

Here's to progress!

Lisa

[Pam]

My apologies! It would have helped if I had typed his name correctly! Robert Farago (I left out an A) and i found it on a site...
http://www.mindbodyspiritshop.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=htt...


Amazon has it as well http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lose-Weight-Now-Listen-Let/dp/190392653X
but if you have some you already enjoy, you may not need it. I'm looking for a good one to motivate me with exercising.
Pam

[Sonia Johnstone]

Hi there Lisa I soooo relate to your journey I am doing the 100 day challenge and one area of my intention is to " attract healthy thoughts healthy foods and eating habits" I've tried the diets and all the rest of it and found that the changes and high expectation get a biiiiit much for me similar to what you experience. I've tried the "Overeaters Anonymous " 12 step programme and found that I became more obessed with food but It does work for some people which is great, I've tried " weight watchers" as well.I became a non smoker 11 months ago and my reliance on sweets and food has really gotten out of hand a counsellor told me that emotionally I use food to help me feel ok which I am aware of, I have been to rehab 22 years ago for alcohol and drug addiction today I remain free from using any mind altering chemicals. i know that I need to make the committment to my healing I can't afford to eat feel good foods but I struggle to accept. I have my vision board in my bedroom and in my office with photo's of me at my perfect weight, healthy food and affirmations which I have been saying daily and feeling the feelings of being healthy and my perfect weight of 9stones, I read the pages about food and weight in the book "The secret" and listen/watch the secret Dvd frequently, today has been a struggle in trying to remain focused with my daily process so its encouraging to read comments from fellow cocreators like yourself thankyou warm thoughts and blessings coming your way. Arohamai SoniaJ