Aug 9, 2010
Diet
Today I didn't intentionally start eating healthy, but it just sort of fell into place. I had to work today which is going to be the best thing for me. YAY! So, today for lunch I had a 100 cal. pack almonds and then for supper I had grilled chicken, broccoli, and a salad. But, with a reg. Mountain Dew.
Aug 8, 2010
Weight Challenge
I have been so bad lately with watching what goes in my pie hole. It seems like every thing that changes throws me off. So, for the 1 billionth time I am starting over. I'm not sure when I will get started but I know it will be soon.
New Job
Well, I have succeeded at finding a job! YAY! I will be working at a Doctors office full time. I'm pretty excited to learn everything and to work with the people. Everyone seems super nice and funny! But, I'm not excited about getting up every morning. I have to be there @ 7:30 a.m. and my commute is about 30 minutes. YUCKY!
This job is going to be so much better than my last job I had. It is going to be less stress and co-worker drama. I absolutely hated going to work everyday. Also, my commute is about 30 minutes shorter to my new job. What a plus!
This job is going to be so much better than my last job I had. It is going to be less stress and co-worker drama. I absolutely hated going to work everyday. Also, my commute is about 30 minutes shorter to my new job. What a plus!
Wedding
Well, the wedding went really good. I had a lot of fun and everything was beautiful. The best part about it is that they served us a big new york strip steak meal. YUM! And, it was open bar. (what a lush!)
Aug 7, 2010
Joys of Life.............NOT!
I know I keep posting about the same dang thing. But, I just wanted to tell you that I got a new laptop and it sucks!!!! My new one has windows 7 and it absolutely is not user friendly. I'm not sure if it is me or they set the dang thing up wrong. I absolutely hate it because I keep getting error messages when I try to retrieve my documents and saved items. I also can not save pictures or copy and paste them off the Internet like I used to. I am sort of regretting buying this thing! BIG TIME!
WELL.............anyways just click on the picture to enlarge it so that you are able to see the prices and the fine print.
WELL.............anyways just click on the picture to enlarge it so that you are able to see the prices and the fine print.
Look What I Found............
So here is just an example of what I found for for a deal. Take a look. I also had to adjust my amounts because every time I use my DivaStyle rewards I get 5% off for being a qualified member. So of course that will come off before the promo code.
Aug 6, 2010
Torrid Deal
Wow! I just saw that Torrid has a coupon code out right now that if you spend $10.00 you get $10.00 off. Use code BTDM710 at checkout. You do have to sign up for a DivaStyle rewards account which is free and basically it is like any other perk card. Also, they have $8.00 flat rate shipping. Which technically you would be getting $10.00 worth of items for $8.00 + tax. Pretty good deal. I'm going to see what I can dig up.
Aug 4, 2010
CVS Deal
I have to share my last shopping trip to CVS with you! I got a Hamilton Beach drying rack and a Dove Dark chocolate candy bar all for ................$0.27. When I went in I was super pumped when the magic coupon machine spit out $4.50 worth of ECB and then a coupon for $0.79 off a Dove chocolate bar. Then, the dryer rack came up 4.99 which was 75% off. WOOT! WOOT!
Aug 3, 2010
Fuji Fritters
I made the Fuji Apple Fritters out of the Hungry Girl 200 under 200 cookbook. They didn't really turn on the way that I was hoping for. I believed I went wrong when I substituted flour for cornstarch. They were pretty runny. But, I did document some of my steps. This is what they are supposed to look like. All the stats and everything are through the link. Bummer! Go here for the recipe. I just found this when writing this post. She already did the work for me! YAY! If you do try this recipe, let me know what you think and how you made them. I'm curious to see what different taste buds think.
Pledge Giveaway
Right@Home is offering a great giveaway. This is where I got this great SC Johnson freebie last time. Right now if you go fill out this form, the first 7,000 people will get a Pledge summer easy gift pack which includes a a pack of pledge wipes and a Pledge fabric sweeper for pet hair. So hurry on over and try your chance at it.
Aug 2, 2010
Addiction or Survival
So I was googling around with "food addiction" and I came across some really interesting topics and articles. Go Here to read the first post that I wrote about this. I will be making two post because the article from WebMd is so long and I wanted to really dissect it. So, I am going to make the article another post. Well, these are just some food for thought. Hope you enjoy and look at them in "AWWW" like I did. So much of it makes a lot of sense.
Food addicts in recovery anonymous website - very interesting. I was thinking about calling and seeing what one would be all about.
Food Addictions & Food Obsessions - This article is great! I will probably be posting it soon and going through it like the WebMD article.
Break Your Food Addiction - This article I found really interesting. I liked the Q & A format of it. I like how they gave an example and went from there.
Aug 1, 2010
Addiction or Survival #3
This article is from the WebMD . This is the article I was referring to in the last post. I have went through the article and highlighted some key points that I thought were pretty interesting and didn't want overlooked. My comments are in yellow and italicized and the points in the article are just plain bolded.
If the number on your bathroom scale seems to be rising faster than the national debt, and if you repeatedly find yourself piling food onto your oversized plate in an almost reckless manner at all-you-can-eat buffet lines, could you be captive of a "food addiction"? (haha sounds familiar)
Most people know that the physically addictive properties of caffeine can make giving up your first (and second and third) cup of coffee in the morning a harrowing way to start the day. But some doctors believe that people are also driven to eat foods like beef and cheese with just as much compulsion, and the reason may be an unrecognized food addiction.
Neal Barnard, MD, for example, says he believes that cheese, meat, chocolate, and sugar are addictive foods in the diets of millions of Americans. Barnard, the author of Breaking the Food Seduction and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, says that these foods contain chemical compounds that stimulate the brain's secretion of opiate-like, "feel-good" chemicals like dopamine, which drive our cravings for them.
Alan Goldhamer, DC, co-author of The Pleasure Trap and director of TrueNorth Health Center in Rohnert Park, Calif., agrees. "A large percentage of the population is vulnerable to the effects of this hyperstimulation [from foods that trigger dopamine production], and they get caught up in an addictive cycle," he says. But unlike the addiction to drugs, which is widely acknowledged, this problem remains largely unrecognized, according to proponents of the food addiction theory.
Food Addiction: Where's the Beef?
Not long ago, when ads for a potato-chip manufacturer were teasing consumers with the challenge, "Betcha can't eat just one!", they may have really meant it!
Food manufacturers have done an exquisite job of recognizing and tapping into our cravings, using persuasive ads and alluring packaging to keep their products tumbling into our shopping carts. "There are so many processed foods that are not only calorically dense, but they also stimulate dopamine production that makes us feel good," says Goldhamer.
On the other hand, many nutritional experts believe that there are more important risks associated with processed foods that have nothing to do with addictions. "The problem with processed food is that you digest it so quickly that it's out of your stomach in no time and you still feel hungry," says Michael Roizen, MD, author of Cooking the Real Age Way. "If you take the fiber out of food, you get a lot of empty calories." (So this is why they say processed food is bad for you. I thought it had to do with all the chemicals being in the foods. This is a much worse situation!)
While lobbyists for food manufacturers may minimize the risks of plates brimming with meat, cheese, and other high-fat items, Roizen says he believes that eating more than 20 grams a day of bad fats such as saturated fats and trans fats can contribute to breast and prostate cancers, as well as what he calls "arterial aging," which may lead to heart disease, stroke, impotence, memory loss, and even skin wrinkling.
The same goes for sugar, says Roizen, professor of medicine and anesthesiology at the State University of New York College of Medicine in Syracuse. "The main reason to avoid sugar is that it ages your arteries," he says. Add to that the recent lawsuits against fast-food chains for contributing to obesity and chronic illnesses, and the food industry may feel it is under a siege of supersized proportions.
Getting to Be a Habit
*** When words like "food addiction" are bandied about, there are plenty of skeptics who hesitate to put foods like cheese and chocolate into the same category as widely acknowledged addictions such as cocaine or alcohol. But Barnard asks, "What other term would you use for a woman who gets into her car at 11:30 at night and drives six miles to the 7-Eleven to get a chocolate bar, and does it every night? She's gaining weight, she feels profoundly guilty afterward, and though she resolves to stop this behavior, she does it every night, night after night? That's a food addiction."***
(This sounds very familiar w/ my late night Taco Bell or McDonald Runs. In a way I was sort of relieved that someone else did this to.)
The proponents of this food addiction theory point to possible differences between the sexes in their compulsions. Women may be more susceptible to chocolate, particularly in the premenstrual period. While some men may have a sweet tooth, many more say that the one food they're least likely to give up is steak. Barnard points to an April 2000 survey of 1,244 adults, which concluded that one in four Americans wouldn't give up meat for a week even if they were paid a thousand dollars to do so. "It sounds an awful lot like an addiction to me," he says.
In an animal study at Princeton University in 2002, researchers found that after rats binged on sugar, they showed classic signs of withdrawal (such as "the shakes," anxiety, and changes in brain chemistry) when the sweets were removed from their diet, suggesting that sugar may have addictive properties.
Yet many doctors and dietitians remain unconvinced that the drive to eat certain foods is a true food addiction. "People do crave three basic tastes -- fat, salt, and sugar," says Keith Ayoob, EdD, RD, associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. "Infants as young as a few days old do have a preference for sweeter foods. But when you say that a particular food is addictive, you imply that it's out of your hands. I don't buy that. I'm not aware of any evidence that chocolate is addicting. People like it because it tastes good.
"Yes, people do get into habits," adds Ayoob. "But the good part is that habits can be changed."
If food addictions are real, how difficult is it to break them? Clinical psychologist Douglas Lisle, PhD, says that at the TrueNorth Health Center in Rohnert Park, Calif., where he is director of research, patients have had the most success through "therapeutic fasting" -- in essence, rebooting the "hard drive" in their brain through a period of water-only fasting in a medically supervised setting, followed by the introduction of a diet emphasizing fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. (The process is described at TrueNorth's web site, www.healthpromoting.com). (Wow, this sounds interesting. From the outside it seems to make sense. Break all the habits then start fresh!)
But if your stomach is already growling at the mere thought of a total fast, try making a complete break just from the foods you crave -- a process that Barnard says works much better than trying to eat them in moderation. He argues that staying completely away from a food item for three weeks often resolves the problem. "At the end of three weeks, your tastes will have changed," he says. "You won't want the food as much anymore." (Isn't that Awesome.....3 weeks = 21 days to break a habit.)
When you get rid of the sugar or chocolate from your diet "cold turkey," don't expect any of the withdrawal symptoms that are often associated with other addictions. "Occasionally, a person does say to me, 'When I stop consuming sugar, I feel lethargic and depressed,'" says Barnard, an adjunct associate professor of medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine. "But withdrawal symptoms are not essential to the definition of a food addiction."
Also, don't be surprised if you backslide. "You can expect to fall off the wagon into the waiting arms of chocolate," says Barnard. "Just like an alcoholic, you may relapse before making the break permanently." ( Well, I guess I go cold Turkey.........YIKES! No more fast food)
Break Your Food Addictions
Are you driven to eat certain foods?
It could be an addiction.
WebMD Feature Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD
Are you driven to eat certain foods?
It could be an addiction.
WebMD Feature Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD
If the number on your bathroom scale seems to be rising faster than the national debt, and if you repeatedly find yourself piling food onto your oversized plate in an almost reckless manner at all-you-can-eat buffet lines, could you be captive of a "food addiction"? (haha sounds familiar)
Most people know that the physically addictive properties of caffeine can make giving up your first (and second and third) cup of coffee in the morning a harrowing way to start the day. But some doctors believe that people are also driven to eat foods like beef and cheese with just as much compulsion, and the reason may be an unrecognized food addiction.
Neal Barnard, MD, for example, says he believes that cheese, meat, chocolate, and sugar are addictive foods in the diets of millions of Americans. Barnard, the author of Breaking the Food Seduction and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, says that these foods contain chemical compounds that stimulate the brain's secretion of opiate-like, "feel-good" chemicals like dopamine, which drive our cravings for them.
Alan Goldhamer, DC, co-author of The Pleasure Trap and director of TrueNorth Health Center in Rohnert Park, Calif., agrees. "A large percentage of the population is vulnerable to the effects of this hyperstimulation [from foods that trigger dopamine production], and they get caught up in an addictive cycle," he says. But unlike the addiction to drugs, which is widely acknowledged, this problem remains largely unrecognized, according to proponents of the food addiction theory.
Food Addiction: Where's the Beef?
Not long ago, when ads for a potato-chip manufacturer were teasing consumers with the challenge, "Betcha can't eat just one!", they may have really meant it!
Food manufacturers have done an exquisite job of recognizing and tapping into our cravings, using persuasive ads and alluring packaging to keep their products tumbling into our shopping carts. "There are so many processed foods that are not only calorically dense, but they also stimulate dopamine production that makes us feel good," says Goldhamer.
On the other hand, many nutritional experts believe that there are more important risks associated with processed foods that have nothing to do with addictions. "The problem with processed food is that you digest it so quickly that it's out of your stomach in no time and you still feel hungry," says Michael Roizen, MD, author of Cooking the Real Age Way. "If you take the fiber out of food, you get a lot of empty calories." (So this is why they say processed food is bad for you. I thought it had to do with all the chemicals being in the foods. This is a much worse situation!)
While lobbyists for food manufacturers may minimize the risks of plates brimming with meat, cheese, and other high-fat items, Roizen says he believes that eating more than 20 grams a day of bad fats such as saturated fats and trans fats can contribute to breast and prostate cancers, as well as what he calls "arterial aging," which may lead to heart disease, stroke, impotence, memory loss, and even skin wrinkling.
The same goes for sugar, says Roizen, professor of medicine and anesthesiology at the State University of New York College of Medicine in Syracuse. "The main reason to avoid sugar is that it ages your arteries," he says. Add to that the recent lawsuits against fast-food chains for contributing to obesity and chronic illnesses, and the food industry may feel it is under a siege of supersized proportions.
Getting to Be a Habit
*** When words like "food addiction" are bandied about, there are plenty of skeptics who hesitate to put foods like cheese and chocolate into the same category as widely acknowledged addictions such as cocaine or alcohol. But Barnard asks, "What other term would you use for a woman who gets into her car at 11:30 at night and drives six miles to the 7-Eleven to get a chocolate bar, and does it every night? She's gaining weight, she feels profoundly guilty afterward, and though she resolves to stop this behavior, she does it every night, night after night? That's a food addiction."***
(This sounds very familiar w/ my late night Taco Bell or McDonald Runs. In a way I was sort of relieved that someone else did this to.)
The proponents of this food addiction theory point to possible differences between the sexes in their compulsions. Women may be more susceptible to chocolate, particularly in the premenstrual period. While some men may have a sweet tooth, many more say that the one food they're least likely to give up is steak. Barnard points to an April 2000 survey of 1,244 adults, which concluded that one in four Americans wouldn't give up meat for a week even if they were paid a thousand dollars to do so. "It sounds an awful lot like an addiction to me," he says.
In an animal study at Princeton University in 2002, researchers found that after rats binged on sugar, they showed classic signs of withdrawal (such as "the shakes," anxiety, and changes in brain chemistry) when the sweets were removed from their diet, suggesting that sugar may have addictive properties.
Yet many doctors and dietitians remain unconvinced that the drive to eat certain foods is a true food addiction. "People do crave three basic tastes -- fat, salt, and sugar," says Keith Ayoob, EdD, RD, associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. "Infants as young as a few days old do have a preference for sweeter foods. But when you say that a particular food is addictive, you imply that it's out of your hands. I don't buy that. I'm not aware of any evidence that chocolate is addicting. People like it because it tastes good.
"Yes, people do get into habits," adds Ayoob. "But the good part is that habits can be changed."
If food addictions are real, how difficult is it to break them? Clinical psychologist Douglas Lisle, PhD, says that at the TrueNorth Health Center in Rohnert Park, Calif., where he is director of research, patients have had the most success through "therapeutic fasting" -- in essence, rebooting the "hard drive" in their brain through a period of water-only fasting in a medically supervised setting, followed by the introduction of a diet emphasizing fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. (The process is described at TrueNorth's web site, www.healthpromoting.com). (Wow, this sounds interesting. From the outside it seems to make sense. Break all the habits then start fresh!)
But if your stomach is already growling at the mere thought of a total fast, try making a complete break just from the foods you crave -- a process that Barnard says works much better than trying to eat them in moderation. He argues that staying completely away from a food item for three weeks often resolves the problem. "At the end of three weeks, your tastes will have changed," he says. "You won't want the food as much anymore." (Isn't that Awesome.....3 weeks = 21 days to break a habit.)
When you get rid of the sugar or chocolate from your diet "cold turkey," don't expect any of the withdrawal symptoms that are often associated with other addictions. "Occasionally, a person does say to me, 'When I stop consuming sugar, I feel lethargic and depressed,'" says Barnard, an adjunct associate professor of medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine. "But withdrawal symptoms are not essential to the definition of a food addiction."
Also, don't be surprised if you backslide. "You can expect to fall off the wagon into the waiting arms of chocolate," says Barnard. "Just like an alcoholic, you may relapse before making the break permanently." ( Well, I guess I go cold Turkey.........YIKES! No more fast food)
Originally published April 19, 2004.
Medically updated September 2006.
Medically updated September 2006.
OH NO!
This Saturday is that wedding I have to go to. O jeez. I have no idea what I'm going to wear. If I can't find something I probably won't go. Even when I did RSVP.
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