I write this as I enjoy my breakfast, a mango, lime, cilantro and filtered water smoothie. In this short journey I have undertaken to slowly phase out processed food all together I have hit some mountain sized roadblocks.

First to point out that although I did not have the best diet before I still shyed away from fried food, dont drink alcohol, coffee, soda. Very rarely ate fast food (twice a month maybe). I do have one vice, and that is chocolate chip cookies. As soon as I started to eat more whole foods, had green rich juices and as of a few days ago introduced smoothies into my morning routine. I have been fiending for sweets and fried food. The craving is so great that I sometimes don't know what to do with myself. Things I had cut out of my normal eating pattern before I started this journey I have been craving more than ever.

I have succumb to my tempetations sometimes and as a result have tried to pay more atention to it. One specific thing I have noticed is the way my brain starts to change when my cravings start. First I start picturing junk food and cookies, then my brain starts the worst part of the craving...it begins to rationalize. It begins to think that since I juiced and had fruit in the morning then I can get away with (enter any kind of junk food here). Now I speak about my brain in a manner where it is separate from me and the reason I do this is because of the feeling I succumb to. I feel like myself until this craving hits then I seem to have little to no control and it feels like I am not the one calling the shots, this craving is. In my mind I know better but this craving is far more powerful then I would have ever thought.

So I guess the question is, how do you overcome this feeling (though this is partly rhetorical) and these cravings? And any other support/info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening!

John

Hi John,
I can totally relate to your dilema.
Check out a book called"Rational Recovery" by Jack Trimpey.
It explains how we have a lower animal brain that calls the shots in satisfying our cravings.And gives practical tricks to overcome all of it.
It was written for alcoholics,but it can be applied to any craving.
vinny

Hi, John!

I am fortunate to crave mainly good things(Lebanese green bean and tomato stew--oooh, I'm a devil!) but have, on occasion, craved things I haven't eaten in twenty years--commercial animal-flavored crackers or cheap Halloween candy, say. I got through it by recognizing that I couldn't possibly want these things chemically, because they subtract nutrition rather than adding to it, and thus the craving was false and could be ignored. I suppose this was my higher brain kicking in and disciplining my limbic brain[the one Vinny mentions].

Eventually, I found that I could simply observe my cravings, as an interesting physiological phenomenon, without feeling controlled by them. It is hard, at first, and requires that you not have those craving objects anywhere they could be gotten to easily, but with step-by-step, instance-by-instance denial of the validity of the craving, it can be done. I should add that a big help is making sure one is getting all nutrients from the best sources possible.

For example, if you are eating enough fruit, you aren't really craving the sugar in the cookies, and if you are eating enough magnesium rich greens, it isn't the chocolate you are craving either. That is, your healthier diet is giving you anything that your body might, might, be legitimately craving in that "bad" food, and being mindful of this can quell a craving quickly, because you realize it's fleeting and false.

It is possible, also, that you are detoxifying physically, or have some lingering psychological attachment to chocolate chip cookies. Craving things during detox is common, but temporary. If you keep eating well, it passes. Psychological cravings for foods, from childhood, for example, is also common, and should be honored. But there's a good way to honor these feelings and a bad. The bad way is to resort to eating the junk. The good is to recreate the junk more healthily. You could try making a raw chocolate chip cookie for yourself; the time and effort you put into it could give you great satisfaction and keep you from feeling physically deprived. Here's one recipe that looks good:

[ohsheglows.com]
Note: I would stick the formed cookies in a dehydrator for a day or so to render them more crunchy. Good luck!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2012 05:28PM by Tamukha.

I'll possibly get crucified for suggesting this, but here's a really good recipe for raw cacao superfood balls. [www.youtube.com] I see no good reason for some chocolate lovers to give up chocolate. I've been eating raw cacao in moderation for a long time and have never felt anything but great as a result. Some battles are worth fighting more than others. Over the years I've quit smoking cigs and weed, alcohol, plus all the stuff that goes with being raw vegan, and many other things. The puritans who expect me to give up chocolate (and honey) need to back off. You don't want to stand between me and my chocolate.

Peace

i agree with Heavenhands ... if you like it find ways to incorperate it in your diet .. raw chocolate is awesome for lots of people ..some cant handle ..there is a ton of raw chocoalte recipies out there ..TONS ..

there are certainly worse things you could eat !

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Thanks for the responses. I have been out of town with no internet. Things are a little better I am slowly overcoming these urges but it is not easy.

I like protein for breakfast.

I always recommend fats and minerals to control cravings.

In addition to eating good quality raw fats, I also take Terramin clay and sometimes dolomite as well.

Between getting enough fat, and eating enough minerals, your cravings will reduce tremendously.

Fat at breakfast is very helpful. It puts a damper on cravings for the whole day.

Transitioning is a huge struggle. I always felt like my body was keeping tabs on the foods it was missing and then it would try to "catch-up" by making me binge. I once went to the cupboard and pulled out pasta and made it with as much self control as an addict to more serious substances might have.

A lot of the foods in the SAD diet are very addictive (Wheat has gluteomorphine, meat has oxypurines and milk has casiomorphines) these substances both give us a short term "high" and have mild pain-killing properties (notice the "morphine" part of the words). People going off these substances can go through a period of detox as strong as someone detoxing from more serious substances.

This is my favorite link about wheat withdrawl. It's the observations of a doctor who has advised some of his patients to stop eating wheat.

[crossfitfire.com]
"Having asked hundreds of people to completely remove wheat from their diet, I witness 30% of them go through such emotional and physical turmoil, not uncommonly to the point of tears. For about 10-20% of people who try, it is as hard as quitting cigarettes."

"I wouldn't have believed it, but after witnessing this effect countless times, I am convinced there is such a phenomenon: Wheat withdrawal.

You'll recognize it in someone who previously ate bread and other wheat flour-containing products freely, then eliminates them. This is followed by extreme cravings, usually for bread, cookies, or cake; profound fatigue; shakiness; mental fogginess; blue moods. The syndrome can last for up to one week.

Then, bam! Sufferers of wheat withdrawal report mental clarity superior to their wheat-crazed days, improved energy, decreased appetite and cravings, heightened mood, and, of course, fantastic drops in weight."

I don't know. I mean, their is such a thing as wheat allergies, right? What's next, rice? Then there's different kinds of wheat too. I think wheat is practically necessary, but then look at the Asian population. They seem to do well with rice. Maybe different people need different things. When I think of a SAD diet I think boiled wheat, overcooked vegetables, processed junk like ho hos and stuff. (Sorry.)

Sounds like a classic case of not eating enough fruit.

Next time cravings hit, try downing a good 8 banana smoothy. Guarenteed to quash those cravings. Ive also found that a handful of nuts after a salad will help satiate me.

I used to smoke in my student years. I managed to stop using a method - I would forever stay a 'former addict' and never become a 'non-smoker'. This means, I am not allowed to ever have as little as one smoke. This has worked for me. I am using the same method for food. I can see, clearly, how food is an addiction. My family is on a SAD diet and I crave most of the food they eat...even though it is not really hard to resist any more. The learned behaviour will never go away.
Bread is the symbol of the culture of my people. It is so important for everything. We used to be a 90% farmers country, based on wheat and corn. My people have eaten processed foods for many generations, I have read that our teeth now have smaller roots because of that. I used to think about this in such a romanticized way, as if this was a 'pure', natural life. People had acres of wheat and corn and a little bit of land around the house with fruit and veggies and some cattle and chicken. Thankfully, there were plenty of fruit and veggies, naturally grown, to keep people healthy. But if you told them that fruit and veggies should be their main food, they would not accept that. The tradition is too long, too deeply rooted.
So, this addiction, a pure chemical addiction, runs in generations. Industrialization does the next step - removing naturally grown fruit and veggies from the picture. Now, all we are left with is artificial food. The scenario is ideal for the total decline of humanity. Maybe that is the plan.





Ifeelgood Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Transitioning is a huge struggle. I always felt
> like my body was keeping tabs on the foods it was
> missing and then it would try to "catch-up" by
> making me binge. I once went to the cupboard and
> pulled out pasta and made it with as much self
> control as an addict to more serious substances
> might have.
>
> A lot of the foods in the SAD diet are very
> addictive (Wheat has gluteomorphine, meat has
> oxypurines and milk has casiomorphines) these
> substances both give us a short term "high" and
> have mild pain-killing properties (notice the
> "morphine" part of the words). People going off
> these substances can go through a period of detox
> as strong as someone detoxing from more serious
> substances.
>
> This is my favorite link about wheat withdrawl.
> It's the observations of a doctor who has advised
> some of his patients to stop eating wheat.
>
> [crossfitfire.com]
> "Having asked hundreds of people to completely
> remove wheat from their diet, I witness 30% of
> them go through such emotional and physical
> turmoil, not uncommonly to the point of tears. For
> about 10-20% of people who try, it is as hard as
> quitting cigarettes."
>
> "I wouldn't have believed it, but after witnessing
> this effect countless times, I am convinced there
> is such a phenomenon: Wheat withdrawal.
>
> You'll recognize it in someone who previously ate
> bread and other wheat flour-containing products
> freely, then eliminates them. This is followed by
> extreme cravings, usually for bread, cookies, or
> cake; profound fatigue; shakiness; mental
> fogginess; blue moods. The syndrome can last for
> up to one week.
>
> Then, bam! Sufferers of wheat withdrawal report
> mental clarity superior to their wheat-crazed
> days, improved energy, decreased appetite and
> cravings, heightened mood, and, of course,
> fantastic drops in weight."

this may sound gross, and I appologize in advance What helps me to kill my cravings as they start, is the knowledge what eating that particular food will do to my body. "Inspiring" pictures to google are what comes out from colonic cleaning, or deformed colon pictures in people on SAD diet. Don't want to have THAT in my body! This does work for me to stay high raw and not to cheat, so might help someone else.

ha ha! thats great littlemermaid!

I like that idea mermaid...haha

WanderRA hit on a good point. If you're hungry, then that's when the cravings are the worst. Force yourself to fill up on good food (and a banana smoothie is great) and those cravings will be easier to manage