Ruke # 2

Rule #2  Do not snack on sugar

This is so easy now.  Do not snack on sugar.  Day 16 of no sugar/honey/fructose in my diet…Well that’s the official day however I was very excited about giving up sugar so I did start a few weeks before.  Anyway a few interesting things have popped up.

I sometimes miss not eating between meals…but only sometimes as I have always enjoyed the eating process…the tastes, textures, smells of food.  It’s really interesting as I will look at the kitchen clock and think that it is morning tea time then concentrate on my stomach and I am just not hungry.  I just can’t eat for the sake of eating now.  It’s the thought: “Well where will it go?”  There’s no room for any more food.  Not that I have a huge breakfast.  Oh well I shall be happy with my cup of tea.

In the afternoons again I wait to get hungry.  That low at 3pm (or whenever).  I wait and wait and it doesn’t happen.  So I no longer wait.  Food just isn’t as important as it was a month ago.  Now as I say this I still enjoy my food.  I love going out to eat.  That hasn’t changed at all. I am more selective now and am always aware of the ‘hidden’ sugar that people quite often don’t know about or think about.  The sugar in sauces etc.  I love Thai food and can cook it at home safely however to eat at a Thai restaurant now is a no-no as they use lots of sugar.  Sugar is one of their main ingredients for cooking Thai in case people start emailing back telling me about how much sugar is in Italian food etc.  Chinese and Indian cuisine doesn’t use sugar as a rule.

Now when I do eat is around 4.30 -5pm just when my husband gets home.  By then I am a bit nibbly but only sometimes.  Sometimes I have gone a whole day only eating 3 meals which has been unheard of for me as I would eat every 2 -3 hours.  I would have to as my blood sugars levels would drive me crazy and moody.  Doesn’t happen now.  I don’t have to leave the house and have snacks to take with me or work out where I would be and what cafes were around for my sugar hit.

In fact I just looked at the clock then and was surprised that it is midday.  I thought it was morning cuppa time.

So if I eat later in the afternoon it is normally a couple dry biscuits with a bit of hommos and maybe a slice of cheese.  That lasts till we eat dinner.

Too easy for me now.  I am not bloated anymore.  Yes I still have roles of fat around my stomach and with some exercise that will decrease, but I don’t have to wonder what size cloths I will wear today.  No need.  I now know from day to day that what size I wore yesterday will fit today.

I am still a bit amazed at all of this.  I still think I will ‘test’ myself.  But it doesn’t work.  I don’t want any chocolate.  I don’t want any cakes.  I can walk past café’s with my husband and I know he watches me and waits however I just look past the cakes even the delicious gluten free cakes.

So anyway Rule # 2   don’t snack on sugar.  No need when there are so many yummy alternatives.  Home made dips with celery and carrot sticks.  Cheese on dry biscuits.  One piece of fruit (if you can tolerate fructose).  Some yummy bread with vegemite…oh I don’t know….there are so many non sugar snacks that we can eat so why load our system up with a toxin.

Remember diseases linked to fructose consumption so far;

Weight gain

Type 2 diabetes

Polycystic ovary syndrome

Heart disease

High blood pressure (this is mine)

Gout

Depression and anxiety

Fatty liver disease

Cirrhosis of the liver

Liver failure

Acute pancreatitis

Kidney disease

Tooth decay

Happy Healthy snacking folks

Rule # 1

The rules

#1

Believe you are not being deprived or Have the right attitude

For most people the first emotion they feel when they go on a diet is one of being deprived of food.  I felt it over and over again without defining what I was feeling and working through the emotion.  So it was just stuck there and kept coming back.

It could have very negatives effects if not dealt with.  This emotion is the one that will sabotage your eating plan.  Now where it comes from no-one knows.  It could come from early childhood; feeling deprived of chocolate or lollies when everyone else has some.  It could be feeling deprived of love and attention.  Or it could be you were one of many children in a family always making a grab for food before your siblings got to it and there was none left for you.  Who knows….it could have come from any situation.  It could be a basic need to be fed; to survive.  For some reason though even if we have cupboards and a fridge full of good healthy food some of us may feel that there is not enough to go round so I better get in and get mine.

But we feel it and sarcome to it.  There goes the diet yet and we don’t know why.  All we know is we have failed again. 

If we recognise this emotion straight away and actually delete it from our body and memory we will have a better chance of living a happier life.  If we feel deprived with food then I bet you also feel deprived in other areas of your life.

FasterEFT will help eliminate it for you.  Tap it away.  While you are tapping though, do think about other times in your life you have also felt deprived and tap them away too.

Now having the right attitude.  Well you need to want to make changes for yourself not anyone else.  Certainly not for approval or acceptance.  You have to want to give up sugar because you believe it is a toxin and your body doesn’t need it.  It’s really like any toxic thought we have.  We think about it so much it becomes entrenched into our daily life.  We keep it active by re-runs of the thought and situation over and over again.  We embrace it like a long lost friend.

So you have to be clear about what you want for your body and mind.   Your attitude needs to be one of enthusiasm and excitement to make permanent changes.  You need focus.  Thinking about what you want isn’t enough.  Believing you already have it helps.  Really living and feeling the changes each day and turn it into a habit while seeing sugar and all sweet foods as a toxin that will cause health problems for you.

Remember if you are new to tapping book in for a Skype session with me.

Rule #3

Rule #3
Once a sugarholic always a sugarholic: you can't afford to have even a little.

So I  am a person who likes to test herself occassionally.  Like yesterday.  I still have till 1 Jan 2012 to play around with sugar (yeah right)....so I had a good morning.  Went to check out a house to buy; which I wont, anyway it's behind a terrific shopping centre where we do out weekly shop so I popped in to post off the last of the xmas cards.....which will be a bit late........and just thought I'd see if any of the cafe's has gluten free Xmas Mince Pies.....well none of them did however I did notice this gluten free cranberry slice so I bought it.  Went home had lunch then later remembered about the slice so got it out to eat...well......my taste buds went into overdrive...the pastry melted in my mouth.  The tartness of the cranberries covered in a white chocolate sent me into raptures of delight.  It was delicious.  I started working out how many I could eat before 1 Jan.  Then it was gone.  Just a memory.  I felt flat.  Then I felt this tingling going through my body.  It was like when I haven't had a gin and tonic for awhile and as I rtake the first mouthfull I can feel the gin going all the way down my body, normally stopping at the knees for a few extra seconds then travelling down the resr of my body.

Well that's what I felt yesterday.  The sugar rush.  What else could it be?  Could be my imagination who knows.  Then I noticed for the rest of the day AND evening all I craved for was sugar.

Now sometimes I am a slow learner.  This time it stops here.  No more 'testing' myself.  I didn't like having the cravings again.  I did not feel in control.  I felt quite desperate again.  I had considered getting a gluten free Xmas pudding to share on Christmas day as my husband would have a slice or two however after yesterday there is no way I will have anything like that in my house again.

Easy peasy. 

I was 'talking' to a friend  on Facebook yesterday who jokingly put in a subtle suggestion about me not being attracted to sweet foods anymore.  Now this woman is a hypnotherapist and she wasn't being so subtle really....it is a great idea and one to consider;  If you have a sweet tooth and really want to do someething about it and feel you can't do it all youself, then ask for help.  Go see a hypnotherapist if that is what it takes.  If you live in Cairns then book in to my 8 week workshop on "Healthy Lifestyles". 

If you live in Brisbane go see my mate Mandy or Bernice in Adelaide.  I have their details.  I know people in Melbourne who can help.  There's no need to try to fight addictions on your own.  You can book in for a skype session with me or anyone of these terrific practitoners to help you with whatever your issue is.  With addictions I honestly believe that people (like me) need that ongoing support.  It's not just "getting over" the addiction it's learning to live with it.  Being aware that there are temptations espcecially if it's about food.   We have to shop, prepare and eat food each and everyday.  It's in our face.  There's no seperation with food however I think it's realising it's a day by day committment to do the best we can.

I just went back and re-read my 5 rules;

1.  Believe you are not being deprived or Have the right attitude

2. Do not snack on sugar

3.  Once a sugarholic always a sugarholuc; you can't afford to even have a little

4. Don't concern yourself with fat content other than to steer clear of low-fat foods (they increase sugar content for flavour)

5.  Party food is for parties

Some rules are meant to be broken but not these.  Not if you are serious about your health.

Speak soon xoxoxo

Hello again...

Yes it's been days since I last wrote a blog.  It's been interesting though.  I have been sleep deprived, only getting a couple of hours sleep each night for a few weeks now.  There's no real reason why it happens.  Been happening since I was 18.  I tried many things including a Sleep Disorder Unit where I was told I was part of the 5% of clients they cant help....Bugger.....it comes and goes.  I put this 'bout' down to the last year which I wont bore you with however has had some major stressors and the fact that I made a big move recently joining my husband in Cairns.

What I have found this time is the fact that I almost went back to old patterns.  When I am sleep deprived I feel sick a lot of the time, I am abviously very tired, have a headache, cant drive a car or even walk straight, I cant concentrate and that is why I haven't done any writing, and through all this I lose the ability to know when I am sleepy and ready for bed or just plain exhausted.

So what I normally would do is 'treat' myself.  The first time was when I have dragged myself up to
the shopping centre for the essentials (food) and as I was leaving the supermarket I have to walk past a bakery and there were my all time favourite xmas treat; Christmas Mince Pies..............oh how I love them.  I found myself changing route and making a beeline to buy just one...or maybe 2.  Then I stopped and asked myself what the heck I was doing.  "What am I doing this for Pamela?"  To make me feel better about the fact that I am sleep deprived and have gone into victim mode.  OH POOR ME.....

So not only is it covered in sugar (and I am now sugar free), it is filled with dried fruit (high in sugar) and it is made from gluten flour...oh wow.....everything I have eliminated from my diet.

I kept walking, however I had to stop and think what exactly would be the result of eating these scrummy delights.  I would feel absolutley in raptures while I ate them (as I would have bought 2 as 1 is never enough).  Then I would have felt sick, guilty and eventually bloated.  Hello......wake up Pamela.....do I really need this after the work and effect I have put into ridding myself of these toxins.

NO....Not this time.  So what if I am feeling like crap....I don't need to feel crappier, if that is a word.  I wasn't even hungy.

So I staggered home (a bit of an exaggeration) by which time I was actually hungry and made myself a very yummy salad with lots of avocado and tasty food like homous and spent the rest of the afternoon in bliss.  No bloated stomach and no guilt.

So do I think about those yummy xmas mince pies?  You bet I do.  Do I need to eat them?  Heck no.  Not interested.  It's not so much having will power this time, it's more about listening to my body....really listening to it and thinking about the consequences which is somthing new for me.  I am one of those people who (use to) eat for instant satisfaction/gratification.

I am really proud of myself.  These are lifelong changes I am making and it's not going to be this easy everytime.  All I can do is to remember to stop, think whether I really need this food, think about how bloated it will make me feel then make a decision.  Then use my FasterEFT and tap it away........

Another day another meal with sugar

David and I drove from Cairns to Port Douglas on Sunday as we love this small beachside villiage.  They have great Sunday markets with many beautifully made local produces.

We found a cafe to have lunch in.  One we haven't been to before.  Lovely location overlooking the sea with the boats just cruising past.  As we checked out he menu we discussed the possiblity of sugar being in some of the sauces but as I said, I still have till 1st Jan before eliminating all sugars.  Se we went ahead a ordered Spare Ribs.  I must say they were the best spare ribs both David & I have ever tasted.  They were delicious. Tender, scrumpious with a yummy sauce.

Later in the afternoon when we had got home and were sitting and relaxing I noticed my stomach was actually hurting then not long after I noticed it was bloated.  Not again!  I haven't felt bloated in a few weeks now.  After checking that day's food list the only thing we could decide was causing the problem was the spare ribs and the sauce.  Well I was hopeful I would be ok but obviously not.

My stomach is obviously very sensitive.  It may have been before giving up sugar and I just didn't notice, apart from the bloated feeling.  I can't eat sugar.  It's that simple and this example of eating just a bit in a sauce proves it to me once and for all.

Sugar is in nearly everything we eat.  I know I have said this before but maybe it needs reinforcing. Maybe I need reinforcing.

"Kicking sugar and white flour and substituting whole grains, vegetables and natural fruits in season, is the core of any sensible natural regimen. Changing the quality of your carbohydrates can change the quality of your health and life. If you eat natural food of good quality, quantity tends to take care of itself. Nobody is going to eat a half-dozen sugar beets or a whole case of sugar cane. Even if they do, it will be less dangerous than a few ounces of sugar. Sugar of all kinds-natural sugars, such as those in honey and fruit (fructose), as well as the refined white stuff (sucrose)-tends to arrest the secretion of gastric juices and have an inhibiting effect on the stomach's natural ability to move. Sugars are not digested in the mouth, like cereals, or in the stomach, like animal flesh. When taken alone, they pass quickly through the stomach into the small intestine. When sugars are eaten with other foods-perhaps mThe sugar in the bread and the Coke sit there with the hamburger and the bun waiting for them to be digested. While the stomach is working on the animal protein and the refined starch in the bread, the addition of the sugar practically guarantees rapid acid fermentation under the conditions of warmth and moisture existing in the stomach. One lump of sugar in your coffee after a sandwich is enough to turn your stomach into a fermenter. One soda with a hamburger is enough to turn your stomach into a still. Sugar on cereal-whether you buy it already sugared in a box or add it yourself-almost guarantees acid fermentation.eat and bread in a sandwich-they are held up in the stomach for a while."

I got all these from the internet.  Interesting reading...Well I think so.

I suffer from a condition that effects the muscles called Fibromyalgia.  Painful.  I have suffered from it for 20 years.  Recently I went to see a chiroporactor and when I told him I had given up sugar he became very excited and started to tell me how it effects the gut and dysgestive system etc then said my fibro would now start to go when I eliminate sugar.  Well that really surprised me.

I am constantly surprised at the negative effects sugar has on the body.  How many other conditions do we suffer from that are because of our consumption of sugar.  The list gets bigger and bigger. 

I guess I will be constantly amazed now as I look for this type of information.  If sugar effects you please let me know as I am very interested.  If you can't leave a message it may be because you dont have a google account.  You can change that by setting up a gmail account.  Easy peasy.  I hope to hear from you soon.

See ya

To tap or not to tap (my journey)

I have a background in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programing).  Great for 'counselling'  people if I am to use such a word.  I did my first NLP course over 25 years ago.  It was interesting and it was fun and you could do good things with it and help clients.  It just wasn't 'doing it' for me.  I did however use aspects of it throughout the years.

When I lived on Christmas Island I would occassionally go back to the mainland (being Perth cause that's where the plane from CI would land).  I would always get a couple of the ulternative newspapers to read to keep up with complimentary medicines etc.  On the back page there was always an ad for an American guy called Eugene something talking about phobias and fears and I was always drawn to the ad and what he had to say.  It really did sound interesting talking about how you can tap on your body and get over these phobias and fears.  I didn't understand it however it resonated with my thinking style.

When we finally left the island after 6 years we went back to Adelaide to live and again the first week back I got one of these newspapers and it advertised a course using this technique to release phobias, fears and a few other things......it was being run in Adelaide and it was being run by an Australian (bonus) so I enrolled.  The technique was called Thought Field Therapy.  Now you must understand that I went along to learn this technique to use in my business not to use on myself as hey.....there's nothing wrong with me right?

So I did the training and loved it.  On the last day a woman approached me and told me that if I enjoyed this method so much that I should log onto this website and download a free manual and learn this other technique which was even better than this one.  I thanked the woman and went on my merry way combining both NLP and TFT into my business and doing well thank you very much.

Then after a few months I came upon the website address I had forgotten about and looked it up and it blew me away.  Yes it was Gary Craig's EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). WOW obviously the time was right to do somehting a bit different.  It was a shortened version on TFT and I loved it and bought all of the DVD's, went to whatever courses I could find in Austalia and become a level 2 practitioner. 

You see these techniques unlike NLP were all about the emotions and that's my passion.  Helping people to work through their emotions.  I am such an emotional person myself it only figures that I would want to work in that area.  And so I did. 

Now when I moved to Brisbane I worked in a groovy clinic in groovy West End.  Business could be better.  I was doing everything I could possible think of to advertise however the clients weren't knocking down the door as I thought they would.  Hey I was advertising myself as an EFT Practitioner.  Stating I could help with all these negative emotions (which was all true) however business was slow.

Then one day after an accupuncture session that obviously shifted some energy cause I was crying a lot......for quite awhile.....I realised that as much as EFT was my passion no-one knew or really cared about the technique I used and that was why people didn't want to come to see an EFT Practitioner.

So I thought long and hard....after I stopped crying af course.....about what I could call myself to reflect exactly what I do.  That's when I came up with calling myself an Emotional Health Practitioner.  I made it up (as far as I know) as I am working with emotional health.  So I changed all my advertising including new business cards and changed my advertising strategy completely.  One of the things Gary Craig use to say was to specialise.  Now I thought that was very difficult as I wanted to help everyone with every problem.  It was too broard though and I knew I had to hone in on what I was really interested in so I started targeting weight and body image.  Straight away I got clients.  From there I got clients with other issues as well like stress, anxiety etc.

I ran lots of workshops on weight loss and healthy lifestyles, saw people in individual sessions and I also ran workshops teaching Level 1 & 2 in EFT.  In one workshop a client mentioned another technique and the name of the man and like before I put it to one side as honestly people were always telling me about the newest and greatest technique as there is so much out there and for me I was content using traditional EFT.  Months later, well probably months and months later all in one week I had 2 emails from women I knew and trust who also did EFT telling me about Robert Smith and FasterEft.

One of the women virtually told me I should do the training as Robert was coming to Australia and since I knew her I enrolled without even looking at any of the Utubes this guy has posted.

The training was fabulous.  I've done more since and will continue to do more.  Why do I like FasterEFT?  Well because it is a conbination of TFT, NLP, EFT and a few others AND it is all about the emotions...back to my passion.

Now I will stop here as I have a few other things to do.....being the busy practitoner I am....

More about the tapping stuff next time....Enjoy your day xoxoxo

The Rules.....Do I have to follow them?

I am not good at following rules as such.  I'm an adult so I don't have to however put a diet with rules in front of me and I'll follow it....to the "T".  No problem.  Why?  Because I believe that for some reason if I follow this set of rules I will end up with a fabulous body that I can have for the rest of my life.

I bet some of you reading this are relating to this.  How many rules have we followed believing it is the answer to all of our problems.  Is weight really the problem though?

I want you to try to remember back to the first time you were rewarded with some form of sugar whether it be chocolate or lollies or icecream.  Can you take a minute to do this?

Can you remember how good you felt.  Perhaps how special you felt or perhaps how loved you felt?

Now can you remember who was giving you this treat?  Someone you loved or perhaps someone who's love you really wanted?

There were probably many times before this memory when I was given something sweet as a treat, however this particular time when I was given chocolate I wondered why my mother did not ever share her chocolate with us kids.  I loved the taste no matter what flavour it was as it made me feel good inside.  It made me feel happy and special as I felt that this woman loved me.  Of course every time we knew this woman was coming over we knew she would bring us something sweet as she loved us and I felt special.

So as I grew up and I wanted to feel loved or special or perhaps safe I would eat chocolate.  I did love the flavour and texture however I subconsciously loved the feeling better.

It becomes comfort eating.  It becomes an addiction.  And it's only sugar.  I crave it.  Well up until recently I craved it without knowing what was happening.

Do you know what sugar can you to you?  It makes you fat, can give you diabetes, clogs your arteries and can give you Alzheimers.

Do you still want to eat it?  Well I don't. 

So rules.....what are the rules I live by now?

1.  Believe you are not being deprived so have the right attitude about giving it up
2.  Do not snack on sugar
3.  Once a sugarholic, always a sugarholic and you can't afford to have even a little
4.  Don't concern yourself with fat content other than to steer clear of low-fat foods (They contain increased amounts of sugar to substitute the flavour)
5.  Party food is for parties

They are my rules.  I like them and I am sticking to them. 

I mentioned yesterday about  having gluten free cake and some coffee as it was 'morning tea time' however I listened to my body and it said firstly that I wasn't hungry and secondly I didn't want sugar.  Well this morning I took a chocolate chip crisp bar out of the fridge as I thought it would be nice to have it today.  It's only got .4 gram of sugar in it so that's nothing.  Well it's now almost 3pm and it's still sitting on my kitchen bench.  I can't even FORCE myself to eat it.

When I read the Sweet Poison Quit Plan book David said after eliminating sugar we would stop having sugar cravings.  Yeah yeah right....who is he trying to kid?  I have given up sugar before and never felt this good.  However I hadn't totally given up sugar as it was still in some of the processed food I was eating.  I was also going out to dinner and having a dessert as a treat.  This time I am having an entree then mains and then I don't want dessert. I dont need that treat.

Also my attitude is that I am healthy.  I am going to live a long happy healthy life.  That is my reward for kicking this habit.  I am not feeling deprived as I have a box full of these Atkins Chocolate Chip Crisps in my fridge.  I can have one WHENEVER I want one.  It's just that at the moment I can't force myself to eat one.  And that's ok with me.  A part of me says this wont last.  Next week I may eat the whole box.....oh no even the thought of eating a whole box makes me almost gag.....but it could happen as it has happened before.

So I just take one day at a time.  I am relearning everything about myself and how to eat.  I could stuff up....hey I am only human and if it happens I'll just get on with life and not give myself a hard time as I have in the past.

I love my rules.  My rules ROCK......................