From Mark ...

I hope you ALL read this AND I hope you all turn in a list to San so she can post it of the many things you can do (in place of eating or snacking) that will generate positive brain chemistry and reduce your cravings.

Great questions and points Kate.
In the future, it would be awesome if you could bring things like this up during our meetings; I can talk faster than I can write; plus my time for writing these blogs is very limited.

As for bread and butter… you crave the butter because it’s fat; we crave fat because of the feel-good brain chemistry it releases; also because our bodies keep wanting to store up fat for the ‘lean’ times… but there ARE no lean times for most Americans, so the fat never gets burned up. And you can get the feel-good brain chemistry in other ways.

You crave the bread because it’s a carb and our bodies crave carbs because they give us instant energy…. The biggest problem with carbs is that if our bodies are getting their energy from there… they can’t burn them from our fat stores. Do you see how it works? It’s like wanting to clean out your closet but you keep buying new clothes faster than you can get rid of the old ones… and since the new clothes get put at the front of the closet, all you do is keep throwing out your NEW clothes and you never get back to the old ones. At best… your ‘closet’ won’t get any fuller… but it won’t get any leaner either.
You could then say… ‘But I’ve lost weight anyhow.’… to which I would say… ‘Just imagine how much you would be losing if you cut way back on the carbs!!!!’.

Next… when you asked if you’re allowed at least a few ‘indulgences’… that’s actually a trick question: It assumes that poisoning yourself should be considered an indulgence just because poison tastes or feels good. You might than ask ‘Do you mean that bread is poison?’ To which I would reply ‘Healthy, whole grain breads are not poison … they are in the fuel family (processed white bread IS poison)… however… if they are getting in the way of getting your body to a healthy weight, they must be placed in the ‘temporary poison’ family. Temporary poisons are things that are not good for us at certain times… for instance you need to cut back on foods that create mucus when you have a bad cold… and spicy foods when you have the stomach flue… and carbs when you are trying to lose weight.

So… lets look at it this way; you ARE allowed to have ‘indulgences’… but who says they need to be in the area of FOOD? You need to see food in a different way than ever before if you want to permanently win this battle… as a healthy-fit person you need to see food as nothing more than a form of fuel. You must begin looking elsewhere for pleasure. It’s just like with alcohol; when a person becomes an alcoholic and wishes to change their life, they aren’t allowed ‘a few indulgences’ in the area of alcohol… they can’t just cut out the hard stuff and keep drinking beer and wine for instance; they must see alcohol for what it is: poison… ALL poison. In the case of food it isn’t ALL poison but it isn’t all fuel either.

No you don’t want to ‘demonize’ food… only the food that is destroying your life. And any food that keeps you from being a healthy-fit person weighing your ideal weight and loving yourself in every possible way… is… well it certainly isn’t your ‘friend’.

The bottom line here is that you DO need to get that happy brain chemistry… but you need to get it from other sources. If you haven’t done so yet, make a list of every healthy way you know for feeling good… dancing; sex; going for healthy walks in beautiful parks or along beaches or with friends; window shopping; writing; reading (while you stand or even walk if possible)… better still, listen to ALL your books or personal growth materials on CD so you can ‘learn while you burn’ by walking at the same time… etc. Chat with San about this… she has a great list… and it’s working. The next thing you do is to begin substituting… every time you feel a craving for a certain food immediately distract yourself by doing one of the ‘healthy’ things you can do for your brain chemistry; train your brain to look elsewhere and eventually it will happen automatically.

And if you keep yourself filled up with healthy foods like vegetables and water and Arbonne products you won’t have nearly as many cravings.

This transformation won’t happen overnight and JAWZ will fight like crazy at first, but as you stay with it jawz will back down and eventually wonder off (as it is doing with San), and you will find this new lifestyle becoming easier and easier until one day you find yourself surrounded by people asking ‘How did you do it? Can you help ME do it? Where do I sign up?’