Diet Rehab: Identify Your Mantra

We have to identify our problem with precision before we can do anything about it.

Our mantra tells us what we can expect from the world and from ourselves.  If we are going to change our behavior and get new results, we will get a lot further if we start by changing our mantra.  We cannot change our mantra until we identify our mantra.

Here are some "ravenous for dopamine" mantras:
* Something has to change
* I'm just not good enough
* I never really succeed
* I let people down a lot
* My life is not going the way I thought it would
* I cannot finish anything
* No one really understands me
* Is there all there is?
* I just cannot get started
* I cannot do anything right
* Something is wrong with me
* I just cannot get it together
* I feel helpless
* I wish I was somewhere else

If none of the above fit, take a few minutes and really get down the sentence or phrase that captures your core beliefs about who you are and how the world responds to you.  What words do you keep hearing (in your mind) that make you feel discouraged, unmotivated, and inadequate?

Mine:
- Something has to change
- I never succeed
- I cannot finish anything
- I cannot get started
- I cannot do anything right
- Something is wrong with me
- I cannot get it together
- Why bother?
- I'll start tomorrow
- I'll do it next time
- It won't make any difference, anyway.

I think my #1 is "I'll start over tomorrow", meaning I can do <whatever bad behavior/habit> now, because I can start over tomorrow.  Another way I tell myself this is "I'll do it later".  It's all about procrastination, banking on tomorrow.  There's always an excuse with me.

I need to STOP MAKING EXCUSES!

Diet Rehab, pgs 101-117 "Feeling Blue = Dopamine Deficiency"

Chapter 5: Feeling Blue: Ravenous for Dopamine

When you're feeling anxious and fearful, you're hungry for serotonin.  When you're sad, lonely or listless, you're ravenous for dopamine.  Dopamine is the brain chemical associated with thrills and challenges.  It comes mostly from the anticipation.  When our dopamine levels are healthy, life seems fun and interesting, and we are frequently tingling with excitement.  When our dopamine levels are low, we tend to feel listless and blue, trapped in a boring, dead-end life.  Lack of dopamine can also make us feel unmotivated.  It becomes harder to focus on long-term goals, to defer gratification, and to muster endurance.  Low dopamine levels can send us rushing for quick-fix foods and behaviors.  High-fat foods cue our brains to release unsustainable amounts of dopamine, giving us a chemical rush of excitement and pleasure, and setting us up for an addiction to food.

There are many reasons we might end up dopamine deficient.  Life circumstances might have been constricting or boring, lack of sleep, and stress can cause a dopamine deficiency.  You might have inherited a tendency to lower dopamine levels or developed them through a childhood marked by high-stress and high-risk situations, such as when children grow up in an environment of rage or abuse.  Any type of dopamine deficiency leaves us feeling low and listless.

If our dopamine levels are too low, we don't get the kick we seek from the high-fat food we turn to, and we continue craving fat until our dopamine levels finally rise.  If you are trying to overcome a craving for dopamine, be compassionate with yourself, because it may feel as though your entire body is conspiring to pull you back into the addiction.  Dopamine is the reward for any type of pleasure and it's hard to not want more and more of it.

A key dopamine stimulator is caffeine, which gives us a quick high followed by an uncomfortable crash.  Caffeine does suppress your appetite during the buzz, but you might feel hungrier than ever when you crash.  Lack of sleep lowers both your dopamine and your serotonin levels, and caffeine can interfere with your ability to get a restful sleep.

Dopamine booster foods are crucial for giving you the lift that you may now be getting from caffeine, nicotine, or high-fat foods.  You can also harness the power of your mind to replace pitfall thoughts, which generate discouragement, fatigue, and lack of motivation, with booster thoughts, which generate excitement, energy and determination.

Transform your mantra by adding booster activities is one of the most powerful thought- and mood-transforming tools you can have.

Diet Rehab, Dopamine Foods

Dopamine Foods:

Low-Fat Dairy:
-almond milk
-non-fat, reduced-fat cheese
-fat-free cream cheese
-nonfat, low-fat sour cream
-plain, low-fat Greek yogurt
-skim, 1% milk

Whole Grains & Seeds:
-flaxseed
-high-protein pasta
-quinoa

Protein: Unfried & Unbreaded:
-Animal protein
-chicken
-eggs
-lean beef (>5%)
-low-fat sliced ham
-pork
-turkey

Other Protein Sources:
-protein bars (>15%)
-protein shakes w/o added sugar
-whey protein

Seafood:
-halibut
-herrinng
-salmon
-shrimp
-tuna
-white fish
-trout

Beans:
-black beans
-black-eyed peas
-cannellini beans
-chick peas
-edamame
-great northern beans
-hummus
-kidney beans
-lima beans
-navy beans
-pinto beans
-refried beans (fat-free)
-soy beans
-split peas
-white beans

Nuts & Seeds: (10-15, unsalted)
-almond & other nut butters
-almonds
-brazil nuts
-cashews
-hazelnuts
-macadamia nuts
-peanut butter (natural)
-pecans
-pistachios
-pumpkin seeds
-sesame seeds
-sunflower seeds
-walnuts

Vegetables: (Raw, Grilled, Sauteed, Steamed, Juiced, unlimited)
-asparagus
-avocado (half)
-beets
-bell peppers
-broccoli
-brussels sprouts
-cabbage
-carrots
-celery
-collard greens
-corn
-cucumbers
-eggplant
-garlic
-green beans
-kale
-leeks
-mushrooms
-mustard greens
-onions
-popcorn: air-popped, low-fat, stove-popped/canola oil
-romaine
-spinach
-squash
-tomatoes
-turnip greens

Fruits:
-acai berries
-bananas
-blueberries
-cranberries
-goji berries
-lemons
-limes
-olives
-raspberries
-strawberries

Oils & Dressings:
-Canola, Olive
-Mustard
-Smart-Balance
-vinegar

Spices & Herbs: Flavoring
-Black Pepper
-Cayenne Pepper
-Chile Pepper
-Cilantro
-Dill
-Ginger
-Hot Sauce
-Low-Fat Mayo
-Mustard Seeds
-Oregano
-Thyme
-Turmeric (mustard)
-Vinegar

Drinks, Desserts, & Sweetners:
-Unsweetened tea: green or black
-Unsweetened Iced Tea
-Stevia-Sweetened soda or juice
-Stevia
-Xylitol
-Vegetable Juice
-Dark Chocolate (>70%)
-Frozen plain bananas
-Frozen plain berries

Diet Rehab, Dr Mike Dow (pgs 36-43) Addiction, Yo-Yo, Reward Response

Continued From Previous Post:

How Stress Can Make You Fat:
When we're stressed, our adrenal glands produce cortisol.  Cortisol is intended for the times when we have to jump into action...part of the "fight or flight" response.  It raises our blood pressure.  It tells our cells to store fat, to create fat reserves.

If we combine the rush of cortisol with sugary, starchy foods we crave under stress, and we have a recipe for insulin resistance.  This is is a condition where our bodies stop efficiently metabolizing blood sugar.  As a result, more calories are stored as fat.  We have trouble losing weight and we start gaining.

Cortisol and other elements of our adrenaline rush speed up our metabolism initially, which suppresses our appetite so we can focus on the task at hand.  When the rush wears off, we're super-hungry because our body expected us to burn off all that extra blood sugar and fat.  It creates hunger to compensate for this supposed activity.

If you've had some "pitfall" thoughts that have created additional stress, your stress and subsequent hunger-- will increase. 

Cortisol also suppresses our immune system and deplete our serotonin and dopamine levels, sending us into a state of anxiety and eventually send us toward depression.

The fat cells around our body are particularly sensitive to cortisol and to high insulin levels.  This area of our body is also very effective at storing energy.  This is why when we stress, it leads to weight gain on our bellies. (pgs 36-37)

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Addiction and Yo-Yo Dieting: (pg 37)

We need to maintain healthy serotonin and dopamine levels to feel good, and if we are not eating the right foods or engaging in the right activities, our levels will fall too low.  We may force ourselves to forgo our "medication" for a few weeks or even months.  Unless we genuinely learn to replace it with something healthier, we will always be tempted to come back.

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Getting to Know Your Hunger: (pg 39)

When Do I Feel Hungry?
x_after something upsets me.
x_after something wonderful happens.
x_because I am bored.
x_when I feel like I deserve a reward.
x_based on a cue: after a TV show is over, when I get home, etc.

How Do I Feel Hungry?
x_suddenly I am ravenous
x_gradually, my hunger goes from being small, to a pressing one.
x_I crave particular foods or types
x_I feel desperate
x_I feel calm and pleasant anticipation
x _I am constantly hungry.
x_I am constantly looking forward to my next meal.
x_I look forward to the food itself
x_I look forward to some other aspect of the  meal: the break, the time with family or friends, the chance to get away from work or out of the house.

If you are hit with constant hunger, there could be a huge emotional hunger in your life that is not being met.  If you are eating healthy meals and snacks filled with booster foods, usually we will feel gradual hunger every two or three hours.  If we have stuffed ourselves with a big meal, we may not feel physically hungry for at least six hours, as physical hunger usually comes on slowly and gradually.  Eating when you are bored, to give yourself a break, on a set schedule, or in response to a cue might mean that you're eating food you do not really need.

Just restricting your access to food does not change the reasons that you were eating excessively in the first place.  If your brain chemistry remains unbalanced--if your brain is still looking for dopamine and serotonin--keeping yourself from eating too much at one time will not change the dynamic.

The Reward Response: (pg 42)

Sugar and starchy foods relate to our hunger for serotonin and the high-fat foods feed our need for dopamine.  Whenever anything pleasurable happens to us, we get a little shot of dopamine, a tiny burst of Yes!  That little bit of dopamine serves as a reward for anything we do that feels good.

This dopamine reward is one of the reasons addictions are so hard to give up, even when we have physically detoxed from them.  Even when the physical addiction is broken--when there are no more withdrawal symptoms and our body is back to normal--that dopamine reward beckons and it can be very hard to resist.

End of Chapter 2.  To be continued.

Diet Rehab, Dr Mike Dow (pgs 1-35)

I decided to begin another book, and I'll be doing it slowly, like TCE.

Introduction:
"I'm going to make a confession: I used to have a food addiction.  Although I've since kicked the habit, every so often I want one of the foods I used to be addicted to."  Dr. Mike Dow

From me:
"I have a confession to make: I have a food addiction.  I crave different foods and haven't figured out how to get control over it yet."  ~ Me

Introduction:
Self-medicating (with food) is not just a metaphor.  Anti-depressants like Wellbutrin lift dopamine levels, as do nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine, bacon, potato chips, and other high-fat foods.  Serotonin and dopamine are helped by Prozac and Zoloft and street drugs.

We do not want to feel as bad as we feel, so we turn to our addiction to self-medicate.
Just as you can form an addiction to alcohol, nicotine and drugs, so can you become addicted to food.

When your life is full of serotonin-and dopamine-boosting activities, and when your thoughts trigger big doses of serotonin and dopamine and the self-esteem, optimism, and energy they bring, you will no longer crave the fix of different foods.  (This is a "light-bulb" moment for me.)

Part One:  Understanding Food Addiction
~Willpower is not the problem.

If your life is stressful or if you feel chronically anxious and unsafe, your serotonin levels probably have been low for a while, making you all the more vulnerable to the power of sugar and carbs.  Like wise, if your life feels boring and restricted, if you chronically feel blue and lethargic, your dopamine levels have likely dropped even before you started worrying about your weight. (pg 25)

When you do weight-loss surgery, if you do not address the patients' brain chemistry, they'll continue to feel miserable and deprived.  They'll still crave the foods that make them feel good--that did, actually, generate the brain chemicals that we all need to feel good-and then, as happens to most people who have weight loss surgery, they aren't able to stick to the recommended behavioral changes for one year after the procedure.  (pgs 25-26)

We all have to feed our brains with the right foods and activities or we'll never be able to be free from the addiction.  (pg 26)

Two: How Food Addiction Makes You Fat:

~Discover Your Food Habits
01- Is there at least one unhealthy food that you consume every day?
Butter, Salt, "White" foods.
02- Do you panic if you think you might not have access to this food everywhere?
No.  I do, however, think about when & how I will get it next.
03- Have you ever felt you might need to cut down on this? Yes.
04- Has anyone suggested you change your eating habits? The doctors.
05- Do you ever feel guilty after eating or drinking? Yes.  I also feel a lot of discomfort.
06- Is this unhealthy food on your mind within an hour of waking up? Yes.
07- Do you feel powerless when you have a craving? Yes
08- Have you tried, but failed, to cut back on this item in the past? Yes
09- Do you turn to this food when you're feeling low or high, or when you're not even hungry? YES!
10- Have you felt as though your self-esteem and relationships might be better if you didn't have these cravings? YES!
11- Do you seem to think about eating most of the time? Yes
12- Is there a difference between your private and public eating?  Yes
13- Do you tell yourself you could quit consuming this item whenever you want, even though you've never been able to?  Yes
14- Do you look forward to the time when you can eat this item?  Yes
15- Are you envious of people who have a casual attitude toward food?  Yes
16- Do you sometimes enter a translike state when you are eating?  Yes
17- Does most of your eating occur late at night?  Yes

The Dangers of Tolerance:

One of the key hallmarks of an addiction is tolerance: when you keep needing more to get the same high. (pg 32)

* First you enjoy "something".
* Then you need the "something".  You still enjoy, but it "hurts" not to have it.
* Finally, you need "something" desperately, just to feel normal.  You feel lousy without it.

Making It Through Withdrawal:

The other hallmark of addiction is withdrawal--the pain of giving up an addictive substance that the body has come to rely on.

Withdrawl symptoms:
* Problems with memory
* impaired concentration
* changes in sleep patterns
* anxiety
* depression
* fatigue
* increased reliance on other addictions
* moodiness
* irritability
* headaches

Because of tolerance and withdrawal, food addiction is not a stable solution to the problems of unbalanced rain chemistry.  You are always going to keep wanting more--and you're always risking withdrawal symptoms the moment you cut back.  It is hard to revel in the pleasures of food when food feels like your jailer.  (pg 35)


To be continued.