First the articles:

T H E   D A I L Y   B I T E S                      July 25, 2009

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=========== Break Fast Food Habit

To break the fast food habit, go to a new place to eat. Since many
are trying new menus now is a good time to try something different,
without the pull of your usual menu staring you in the face.

First thing you’ll notice is it doesn’t “feel” right, or it may not “look”
right, it may not even “smell” right. That’s okay. You’re uncomfortable
because you’ve stepped off your usual path. Stay with it. It takes
effort but it’s not super human. Anyone with the desire can succeed
at changing any habit.

Make a pact with yourself that you will not go to your usual fast
food places for one week; just one week, you can do that. During
that week, if you still want to stop at a fast food place, choose a
different one–not the same chain, a different chain entirely. Then
order differently. Make an effort to try the healthier choices,
assuming they have some.

Give this a chance before you decide it’s not working. Try the food.
Taste it. Rate it on a scale of 1 to 10. Do you like it, hate it?
Fill out one of the little “how are we doing” cards and hand it in.

Notice how uncomfortable you are doing this. That’s just your old
habit calling. It’s okay to be uncomfortable. It’s only while you
make changes from your usual routine that you experience that
sense that all is not right. If you persist, you’ll reach the point where
you no longer feel weird but instead you’ll feel exactly right.

~ Still time to snag that extra 5% lifetime discount. Whole food.s
buying club, Green Polkadot Box. Check it out, register, then
decide whether to join http://www.greenpolkadotbox.com/invite/omb/

Another idea is to wait until you’ve finished eating a meal, then
go to your usual fast food restaurant, enter, and just stand there
a minute, then leave. Don’t order anything. Just experience going
there without ordering. Sound weird? It takes the first person
stomping through the forest to blaze a new trail. Then the next
person and the next help, and pretty soon, there is a new trail. Be
that trail blazer.

When you break the usual habit of where you eat and what you order,
you can eventually go back and sometimes, for a treat, have your old
favorites. They aren’t going anywhere. Restaurants are not going to
stop serving burgers and fries anytime soon, so don’t worry. Just
because you say “No” today, doesn’t mean you can’t say “Yes”
tomorrow. It’s a choice for today, for this meal, this moment only.

It’s not a permanent, never again proposition. It’s the all-or-nothing
mentality that gets us into trouble. I still have burgers and fries
sometimes, but not once a week. For me now it?s more like two or
three times a year.

Other ideas? Bring a snack bag with you - I do. I carry fruit,
sometimes a small baggy of granola, maybe a meal bar or two
(I like Clif Bars and Luna Bars). I call it survival food, but I also
think of it that way. By that I mean that if I’m going to eat my
granola and nut mix, I think of it as highly concentrated nutrition
(which it is). A small handful is as much nutrition as my body
needs. It may not satisfy my desire for a full stomach - that
isn’t the purpose. The purpose is survival - make it last.

This is a mental game I play. Devise your game. If I were starving,
one bite would be so delicious and I’d be so thankful to have it.
One bite could keep you alive - it doesn’t take huge meals, double
servings, triple-dipped cones for us to be alive. Food is nourishment,
not just our entertainment.

EFT Ideas:

“Even though I’m too busy to play these food games, I deeply and
completely accept myself.”

“Even though I don’t want to eat anywhere else, I deeply and
completely accept myself.”

“Even though I don’t want to eat anything but a burger, I deeply and
completely accept myself.”

Make up your statements, depending on how this idea strikes you. Do
you think it’s stupid? Tap on that. Do you think you’d rather die
than change your eating habits, tap on that. Tap on what first comes
to mind, and you’ll often realize you’ve started at the right place.

Yours in good eating,
Kathryn Martyn, M.NLP

Can Eating Too Few Calories Stall Your Metabolism?

Learn why cutting out too many calories can keep you from losing weight.

By Krisha McCoy, MS

Medically reviewed by Christine Wilmsen Craig, MD

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If you’re like most people who want to lose weight, you want to lose it fast. So you may be tempted to make drastic changes in your diet to dramatically reduce the number of calories you consume. But what you may not know is that eating too few calories can actually backfire and sabotage your weight-loss efforts.

“It would make sense to stop eating [when you are trying to lose weight], but it actually works in the opposite way,” says Kimberly Lummus, MS, RD, Texas Dietetic Association media representative and public relations coordinator at the Austin Dietetic Association in Austin, Texas.

Calories and Your Health

The most effective way to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than you expend, creating a calorie deficit. But if your calorie intake dips too low, says Lummus, your body could go into starvation mode. “Your body will start to store fat because it thinks it is not going to get anything,” says Lummus. “You will be at a point where your body is kind of at a standstill.”

Lummus says that when your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism slows to a crawl, burning calories as slowly as possible to conserve its energy stores. This is why people who cut their calories too much may reach a plateau and stop losing weight.

Eating too few calories can be the start of a vicious cycle that causes diet distress. When you cut your calories so low that your metabolism slows and you stop losing weight, you probably will become frustrated that your efforts are not paying off. This can lead you to overeat and ultimately gain weight.

“It is so hard to sustain cutting calories and eating too little. What typically happens is that the person will go in the opposite direction; they will just become too hungry and go into a binging mode,” says Lummus. “Because you are getting frustrated by not seeing any weight loss, you just sort of throw in the towel.”

In addition to sabotaging your weight-loss efforts, eating too few calories can also harm your health. When your body goes into starvation mode, you are at increased risk for the following:

• Abnormally low blood pressure and slow heart rate
• Heart rhythm abnormalities
• Electrolyte imbalances, especially potassium deficiency
• Gallstones
• Hair loss
• Brittle fingernails
• Loss of menstrual periods in women
• Soft hair growth over entire body
• Dizziness
• Trouble concentrating
• Anemia
• Swelling in your joints
• Brittle bones
• Depression

Coming to Terms With Calories

Remember that calories are not your enemy. They are a vital part of a healthy and energetic life. “Your body needs a certain amount of calories just to sustain proper function,” says Lummus. This is why fad diets that force you to cut out too many calories leave you feeling lethargic, shaky, and ready to give up.

Instead of opting for a fad diet, find a reasonable eating and exercise plan that allows you to lose one-half to two pounds per week. There is evidence that people who lose weight at this rate — by making better nutrition choices, eating smaller portion sizes, and exercising — also have the best chance of keeping it off. Make a plan to adopt new healthful habits that you will be able to stick to indefinitely, and always allow yourself a little wiggle room for special occasions.

Last Updated: 04/03/2009

This section created and produced exclusively by the editorial staff of EverydayHealth.com. © 2009 EverydayHealth.com; all rights reserved.

Hey all. Some good news: My daughter did get her cat. She had to have the police assist her, and when she went to the apt with them, the cat “magically” turned up. But at least she is out of there, and the cat is ok. She is right now staying with some friends till she gets a place.

Well, I went to Nicole’s mom’s service on Friday, was a beautiful service, and yes it brought up some issues for me. I have to say though  how proud I am of Nicole, she was awesome, and at the dinner, she did so well, better than me even using her own salad dressing that she made, she is someone I really admire and respect!!

Anyways, as for me, I am in a slump, been real tired lately, and at  the advice of my good friends, took the weekend off to recup. Plus, I had my second go around with the dentist, and my mouth is more sore than the first time. I did however try the idea of taking the premeds with milk, and that did seem to help.

I wanted to go to Sprouts yesterday so bad! But by the time I got done at the dentist, and some other errands, was just too hot to keep going, the bus takes so long. So I cam home. We did do laundry last nite. Today I am going to Walmart when it is a bit dark, since the bus ride is hot.

I know, I am whining. I just really miss having a car. But most of all, I am hitting the part of my grief that they told me would come. I finally realized in my heart on Friday that mom and dad are really gone. They are not just on some trip, and will not be home soon. I knew they were gone in my head, but did not feel it in my heart. But they played “Ave Maria” at the service and it hit me like a brick. Really hard.

So I am depressed, i admit it. Getting hard to do my workouts, and eat right, but I must. Can someone kick me in the butt? I simply cannot go back to my old ways, mom and dad were so proud of me.

I miss my mom and dad so much, they were truly my best friends. I have been in denial and trying to get thru without really feeling.

Sorry this blog is so long, but I needed it. I could feel it.

I tell the world to you guys. I love the feedback I get.

Not sure what to do with myself. I just want to crawl in my daddy’s lap, and I can’t.

I miss the mom who used to go shopping with me, helped me with recipes, showed me all kinds of crafts to do. She was my best friend and I called her nearly everyday.

She helped me raise my daughter, and my dad showed her what a good strong man should be.

God, I miss them. I really don’t know how to do this, I am crying as I write this.

Sorry buddies, not sure where I am going with this, but I needed to vent. If you don’t want to read this, I understand.

But to all of you who do, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You all mean so much to me. more than I can say, and I love each and every one of you.