HOW I BEAT MY CRAVING FOR JUNK FOOD

I find that when we really love and accept and APPROVE OF OURSELVES EXACTLY AS WE ARE, then everything in life works…Our health improves, we attract more money, our relationships become much more fulfilling, and we begin to express ourselves in creatively fulfilling ways. All this seems to happen without our ever trying. – Louise. L. Hay

My ultimate weakness, POTATO CHIPS, in my piggy party bowl that squeals, "OINK! OINK!", when anyone dares to take a chip!

A few years ago, Dr. Gurevich recommended that I go on an anti-inflammatory diet known as The Gaps Diet. “So I bought the book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell-McBride, read THE INTRODUCTION DIET on line, said to myself – FUHGETTABOUTIT!!!”( quoting myself  here, lol! - See WHY I AM ON THE GAPS DIET for the background story.)

I closed the book and didn’t open it until two years later. At that time, I wasn’t mentally, emotionally and physically ready to change my life.

The Gaps Diet – which is considered one of the ultimate healing diets, would be the next step in strengthening my immune system since overcoming chronic Lyme and co.
But first, I had to conquer a huge problem that has been a thorn in my side since I was a teenager – my insatiable craving for sweet and starchy junk food.

And let me tell you, I was a teenage junk food freak! I could go through a box of  Cheese Tid-Bit crackers and wash them down with a can or two of diet soda and call it lunch. I drank regular soda or Hawaiian Punch  with dinner.  I ate Tollhouse cookie dough till I got nauseous!   Sugary sweet cereals, like Alpha-Bits or Frosted Flakes, were not only for breakfast, but were the perfect pick-me- up after school snack. Like the old Lays commercial, I could not eat just one potato chip, I vacuumed up the whole bag.  While in high school,   I developed the bad habit of talking on the phone and eating cookies, ice cream, or whatever junk food was in the house!  I was out of control! But maybe, my guts were trying to tell me something!*

After being diagnosed with Lyme in 1996, I eliminated sugar from my diet.  Sugar made my symptoms worse so taking that out of my diet was absolutely a must. I still continued to crave sweets. So sugar-free soda, candy and cookies were my new feel good fix. Big mistake! Sugar free substitutes,  like Sucralose, have been found to spike your blood sugar level  and cause side effects. As a result, these substitutes can also feed the  pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi, candida and parasites and damage the gut wall even further. “Aspartame…has been found to be carcinogenic and neurotoxic and most definitely should be avoided by GAPS children and adults.”  - Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. So, after learning this, I slowly weened myself off of all sugar-free food and to this day, only keep natural sugar substitutes, like stevia and honey, in my pantry.

Gluten, on the other hand, was a tougher challenge. Bread and pasta were my staples growing up.I was led to believe that whole grain wheat was healthy food and was good for you. Well, it wasn’t good for me!  It took me years to be completely gluten-free.       And since I couldn’t eat wheat, I switched to gluten- free foods. When I took gluten out of my diet, my cravings changed to what I believed was the perfect gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy- free snack food.

POTATO CHIPS!!!

Potato chips, sweet potato chips and corn chips became my new snack obsession.              I especially loved kettle potato chips! I craved the earthy, fried aroma and the salty, slighty oily but o’ soooo good  lip-smackin’ crunch of heaven. Just cradling the bag and dreaming about biting into that first burst of irresistible salty crispness made my mouth water in anticipation…. OK! OK!  I was addicted!  But don’t you see! I had to have my chips!

I needed to have my crunchy craving every single day! After all, I was already on a  sugar-free, gluten-free and dairy-free diet. I needed some kind of tasty treat that I could look forward to. And best of all, eating potato chips was FUN! Eating sweet potato chips was FUN! Eating corn chips (especially with salsa or guacamole) was FUN! Going on a diet that would eliminate the foods I craved would not be fun.  Going on a diet that would eliminate the snack foods I craved would be a  sacrifice. A sacrifice! It would be unfair.

I needed my FUN potato chips! I needed my REWARD! 

Or so I thought….

True.  I needed both an emotional and physical reward. But junk food wasn’t the answer.  My cravings were actually trying to tell me that something was wrong! My cravings were trying to tell me that my gut was loaded with pathogens that needed to feed.  By giving in to starchy foods, I was feeding the opportunistic bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites within me.

But there was another side to my insatiable cravings. The emotional side. I had to have an emotional fix of junk food every day. My teenage years were loaded with insecurity and angst.  Stuffing my face with feel good junk,  filled a starving void deep inside of me.  I associated junk food with happy times, parties, FUN,  and laughter. My emotional eating became an unhealthy and unfulfilling habit.

A bad habit,  that I had to break.

So, how did I beat the cravings?

Very simply.

I had to change.

And I did.

First of all, I was on the Allergie-Immun Therapy. As the holistic therapy corrected energetic disorders, my immune system began to function more effectively. As the pathogenic load decreased, so did my cravings. I was also taking supplements to help me to move and eliminate toxins from my body.

It was also at this time that Dr. Gurevich had been working with me to unblock past emotional traumas. (See The Holistic Dr.Goodsoul for his therapies.) Mental Field Therapy was part of my treatment. This was the time I was recognizing and releasing many past psychological fears. (See I Must Not Fear…Fear is the Mind-Killer ) I had continued to perform Mental Field Therapy at home in front of my bathroom mirror. Through tapping on my acupuncture points (MFT), I was able to dissolve fears, anger and resentment and recite positive affirmations of love, forgiveness and thanks. I was finally forgiving myself for all the years of self-criticism. And, most important, I was finally able to forgive others by  replacing years of criticism and disapproval, with love.

And guess what? I lost my craving for junk food. And the funny thing is I never once tapped and recited anything about fixing my addiction. It just happened. And my body found its way down to a 4 Petite – without feeling deprived and without trying. I was still eating starchy vegetables, beans and gluten-free grains.  I just stopped my insatiable appetite for unhealthy chips! Just like that!

So for the next year, I slowly started eliminating starch from my diet. This past January, I began The Introductory part of the Gaps diet.  I’m presently on the Full Gaps Diet ** and feeling better than ever.

I don’t mind setting aside the time to prepare freshly made food. I actually look forward to it. It is not a sacrifice. It is not a burden. And it is not a lot of work. You could say it's a celebration of love.

A celebration to my new life of good health.

And that is the BEST  reward. J 

*I was on months and months of antibiotics for acne as a teenager. No doubt this contributed to an overgrowth of abnormal gut flora.

**The Gaps Diet consists of eliminating starchy foods that stay in the gut, damage the gut wall and feed on bacteria, viruses, candida and fungi. This would include all grains, all starchy vegetables, sugar and anything made with it, starchy beans and peas, and lactose. Soy is highly allergenic so it is also avoided.  The diet centers around making homemade meat stocks, soups, stews out of (preferably organic, antibiotic and hormone-free) whole chicken, duck  and other fowl, meat (with bones and marrow),  and/or fish. Non-starchy vegetables are added to the stock to make soups or stews. Fresh  fruit, fresh non-starchy vegetables, freshly pressed juices, eggs, fresh nuts, nut flours and seeds, homemade ghee (clarified butter), homemade yoghurt, cold-pressed oils,  and honey are also included. (Certain  cheeses are permitted as long as they are tolerated.)