Hidden in Plain Sight: Food Addiction Reset - Issue 48

far-tv new year's resolutions newsletter Jan 10, 2019

<img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/blogs/5076/images/uF4dhJKRNyN1PEGwSgyw_enjoyrelationships.png" width="242" height="313" /> <h2 style="text-align: center;">I Want to Enjoy my Relationships More. </h2> <p>We have a fascinating topic this week which is what do food addicts really want. We asked the members of the Addiction Reset Community to share their visions for 2019. Then, we asked our Facebook Group, Food Addiction Education, which ones of these they valued the most. The results were shocking to me. I've been following food addiction for 23 years, since 1996. We're going to review the top four picks starting with Number 4. is to Enjoy Relationships More. </p> <p>This touched my heart so profoundly. I grew up in a traumatic household where sarcasm and beltings were common. I was terrified of people. People were a source of pain for me, so I avoided them a lot. I had a few friends in the neighborhood but none from school. I was picked last for teams and not invited to birthday parties. </p> <p>In recent years, I've found a circle of people whom I really trust. I spend a few hours per day with them. Most of them also grew up with parents who might have been doing their best but were unable to nurture their children. </p> <p>We talk about everything except politics, religion, body image, and food. These limits have shifted the emphasis to kindness, compassion, patience, positive self-talk, and all things good. The group has been a gift.</p> <p>Food addiction takes away our relationships. We too tired to be intimate with a partner, or if we don't have a partner, we're too tired to look for one. </p> <p>We might be too ashamed of our body to be close to anyone physically or emotionally. </p> <p>It's also possible that we're so consumed with cravings that all we can think about is our next processed food fix. How can we focus on someone else when we're just wishing they would leave so we could eat? We can't really focus long enough to take care of ourselves, much less someone else.</p> <p>What to do to improve relationships? Get into a functional group that offers exercises in how to feel safe with other people by setting proper boundaries. Activities that help us show love and tenderness towards others are also really helpful in deepening a relationship. </p> <p>However, it takes practice and repetition with lots of examples. Make sure your support groups are filled to the brim with really patient understanding people. And make sure that you can get there often. An online group that offers video chats throughout the day is your best bet. We are here for you. We want you to have great relationships. </p> <hr /> <h2 style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/blogs/5076/images/FgJwdpQRFWPV53PApRKu_strongerinmymind.png" width="265" height="343" /></h2> <h2 style="text-align: center;">I Want to be Stronger in my Mind. </h2> <p>Resolution number 3. I want to be stronger in my mind. This is so spot on! Processed foods are associated with impaired thoughts. This includes being able to pay attention and learn. The harm is also found in decision-making and memory. Even impulse control and satiation can be affected. Emotional processing can be limited too.</p> <p>So it's a great resolution to become stronger in my mind. The processed food industry impairs our higher level thinking by overstimulating our craving pathways with lots of advertising and with putting processed foods in our path everywhere. Every time the craving pathway is stimulated, it draws blood flow away from the thinking parts of the brain. This is why we literally 'lose our mind' when we're faced with food advertising and availability. This is not our fault.</p> <p>What to do? I have read the research on Lumosity and highly recommend its brain-training games. However, I would only sign up for the three free games per day day because Lumosity can become addictive.</p> <p>Other ways to help retrain the thinking parts of the brain are to avoid food advertising and keep addictive processed foods out of your home. And, please, please, please turn off the TV. TV makes us dumb. Sorry I had to say that! </p> <p>With all your new time, get to work on a fun jigsaw puzzle. Turn on a recorded book while you're working on the puzzle. It may be hard to follow a book at first, but with time you'll find that you can pay attention for longer and longer periods.</p> <p>Of course, replacing processed foods with clean foods will help tremendously. Your craving pathways will calm down, and the blood flow can reach your frontal lobe where the higher thinking part of the brain resides. You can do this! A highly functioning brain is first defense against the neuro-marketers of the processed food industry.</p> <hr /> <h2 style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/blogs/5076/images/VwGm1f4gQRyUcWI9l73N_energetic.png" width="294" height="380" /></h2> <h2 style="text-align: center;">I Want More Energy to Play with my Children or Grandchildren. </h2> <p>Resolution number 2. Energetic with children or grandchildren. I was so glad to see this on the list. My own mother did not play with us. She drank a caffeinated, sugary drink all day every day. I mostly remember her lying on the sofa reading a magazine or being in bed with allergies and a headache. I so wish we had known that the processed foods in our house were sapping her of her energy as well as a good mood. I can't imagine how different my life would have been had she been able to engage positively with my sister, brother, and me.</p> <p>Processed foods interfere with our ability to play with children in so many ways. The joint pain alone can prevent us from moving around enough to keep up with kids. Brain fog can make it impossible to really converse with a child who needs us to figure out how to talk on their level and keep them interested. The groggy effects of processed foods can tempt us to put the child in front of a TV while we sleep. The excess fat tissue on our bodies can make it hard to get down on the floor and impossible to get back up. What a loss of an opportunity to help the child grow into a splendid person.</p> <p>Once we're off the processed foods we get the great gift of the skills we use to connect with children. We get our energy. We get our focus. We get our affection. We get our creativity to do fun craft projects with them. We get our approving nature so we can give them tons of self-confidence. When we get our lives back, we also get back the lives of our children. The gifts of recovery never stop giving huge benefits. </p> <hr /> <h2 style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/blogs/5076/images/OmDtHLqGTZuc0ojLaPLk_healthybody.png" width="345" height="447" /></h2> <h2 style="text-align: center;"> </h2> <h2 style="text-align: center;">I Want to Live in a Healthy Body. </h2> <p>Resolution number 1 is to be in a healthy body. This option took three times the number of votes for the next closest choice. I think we're all so sick of being sick. We're tired of the colds, the infections, the skin outbreaks, diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, stomach aches, joint pain, headaches, and the extra fat tissue. And we're tired of being prescribed medications with extensive side-effects that sometimes seem worse than the original complaint. So we're ready to go to any lengths to get the processed foods and the sickening cravings out of our lives. We're ready. That's what New Year's Resolutions are for. To draw a line in the sand and say, 'I cannot go on the same way I've been going.' I admire this so much. Breaking away from the culture around us is hard. It's hard to say, 'OK every friend, colleague, and family member! You can go on eating sickening processed foods, but I'm not going to be joining you anymore. IT'S SOOOOO OVER. No more processed foods between us.' </p> <p>People will fight you on this. They'll push processed foods right into your space and then some. So stay strong, OK? Find new friends. Find a super healthy support group that will break the process down into super easy steps and cheer you on with each tiny bit of progress. It takes many, many small steps to walk out the illnesses associated with processed foods. Your group needs to be very steady and very positive. As Stacy Abrams says, 'Don't let a setback set you back.' We always look at every experience as a valuable discovery event. We need a lot of space in which to evaluate what is working and what needs to be dropped. You need a group where you can discuss openly what happened when you tried a new approach. What part of the new approach helped, and what part tripped you up. We need to make dozens of small changes to leave our sick culture behind. The right circle of friends will make all the difference. We can do this together.</p> <hr /> <h2 style="text-align: center;">Why This is NOT Your Fault</h2> <p>You know what surprised me the most and for which I'm down-on-my-knees grateful? No one added lose weight to the options. We are so beyond thinking that our severe cravings are going to be fixed by losing weight. We're so into fixing our thinking, and the weight will take care of itself. </p> <p>I care about you so much. I'm working night and day to make it even easier for you to recover from the devastation of processed foods. Together we can find the miracles that escape us when we're alone. </p> <hr /> <p> </p> <p><strong>Whenever you are ready here are some things you can do:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Take our FREE quiz: Am I a Food Addict? <a href="https://www.foodaddictionreset.com/p/quiz" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here to Take the Quiz</a></li> <li>Take our FREE quiz: Why Should I Try Recovery? <a href="https://www.foodaddictionreset.com/store/D5WXMdou" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here to Take the Quiz</a></li> <li>Join the <strong>Home Addiction Reset Program (HARP)</strong> <a href="https://www.foodaddictionreset.com/p/home-addiction-reset-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here to Join the HARP </a></li> <li>Join the <strong>Addiction Reset Community (ARC) </strong><a href="https://www.foodaddictionreset.com/p/daily-addiction-reset-community" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here to Join</a></li> <li>Subscribe to our Newsletter: <strong>Hidden in Plain Sight</strong> <a href="https://www.foodaddictionreset.com/p/newsletter" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here to Subscribe Now</a></li> </ul> <h4><strong>Here are some written resources you might be interested in:</strong></h4> <ul> <li><em><strong>PROCESSED FOOD ADDICTION:</strong> Foundations, Assessments, and Recovery </em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Processed-Food-Addiction-Foundations-Assessment-ebook/dp/B078RMYPBY/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518292896&sr=8-1&keywords=joan+ifland" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here </a></li> <li><em><strong>The Food Addict's Meal Prep Manual:</strong> Save Yourself from Food Addiction in Only 2 Hours A Week</em> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Food-Addicts-Meal-Prep-Manual-ebook/dp/B0791JZ3JN/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1518292896&sr=8-4&keywords=joan+ifland" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here to Buy on Amazon</a></li> <li>Connect with us on Facebook:</li> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1806154526275515/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here to Join the Food Addiction Education Facebook Group</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/foodaddictionreset/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Like our Facebook page Addiction Reset Community (ARC)</a></li> </ul>

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Hidden in Plain Sight: Food Addiction Reset - Issue 48

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