Disease Proof : Emily Boller

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Radical changes produce radical results

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Emily Boller

For years I suffered from binge eating [aka Binge Eating Disorder]; usually after episodes of restrictive, deprivation dieting. I read plenty of self-help books and occasionally went to therapy for it. The standard advice given was not to have a radical, “all-or-nothing” mindset concerning food choices. The reason being perfectionism can lead to binge eating as a coping mechanism for dieting failure and resulting false guilt. I totally agree that perfectionism can produce a false guilt that can lead to eating everything in sight; however, radical changes are absolutely necessary for the food addict to get free!

cooked vegetables Anyone prone to binge eating can overcome it by focusing on eating high nutrient foods for optimal health. There’s no false guilt when one is actively nurturing and giving his/her body the best care possible. When ETL is viewed as a restrictive dieting plan, binge eating most definitely will result for those who have been previously entangled in deprivation/bingeing/guilt cycles.

Dr. Fuhrman strongly urges that moderate changes produce little to no results, but radical changes produce radical results. When one experiences radical improvements of health in a relatively short amount of time, it produces momentum; both psychological and physiological.

The standard American diet is radical and dangerous, and its popularity does not make it less destructive; it is slow suicide. Dr. Fuhrman likens making gradual changes with food to making gradual changes with cocaine. For both the food addict and the cocaine addict, merely cutting down just fuels an overwhelming desire to use more.

berries A nutritarian diet is sensible, scientific, logical, and produces great results. I encourage anyone struggling with bingeing to view eating a high nutrient diet as a boundary fence of safety and freedom to enjoy optimal health. The eating plan will enable anyone to successfully get through toxic food cravings and see and feel radical results relatively quickly. If one fills up on nutrients, the cravings for junk will eventually disappear. Guaranteed.

Abstinence, not perfectionism, is the key. Radical changes produce radical results, and radical results will produce motivation for life!

Previous posts related to this topic: Junk food – as addictive as smoking? / Your hunger can keep you healthy / Breaking up is hard to do / Abstinence is key / The powerful snare of compromise / What kind of glasses do you wear?

image credits: flickr - vegetables by ssimm1rg; berries by Lilia’s photos

Tags: Emily Boller, Inspiration, binge eating, freedom, radical changes

Optimal health is for life

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Emily Boller

In less than a minute, while waiting at many checkout lanes in America, one can be inundated with the latest women’s magazine articles about revving up metabolisms. Anything from stimulant pills, special foods and exercises, and even continual eating have been touted by the so-called dieting experts. One can also watch most any episode of a popular TV show and see fitness trainers screaming metabolism lectures in the faces of crying, obese contestants.

In a recent post titled, “Metabolic rate: the slower, the better” Dr. Fuhrman busted the metabolic myth. He stated that eating high nutrient, low calorie foods helps achieve a slower metabolism that has many health promoting and anti-aging benefits. Basically, a slower metabolism is highly favorable for optimal health and longevity.

For me personally, I can eat the exact same thing as I did the year that I lost 100 lbs and gain weight now. When I was obese, I could consume a whopping 3700 calories per day just to maintain that size. Now, because my body is well-nourished, closer to an ideal weight, and functioning at a slower metabolism, I require much less food. If I’m careless and eat when I’m not truly hungry, the weight can easily creep back on.

For example, this past winter, due to my slower metabolic rate and living in northern Indiana, I was constantly cold. I tried layering extra clothing and drinking hot herbal teas, but the only thing that genuinely comforted me was a bowl of warm oatmeal. I would eat it mid-afternoon when I was the coldest; not because I was hungry, but because I was cold. I would literally “hug” the hot bowl and let the steam warm my face! Ahhhh . . . .

However, the scales told me that that was stupid. Thankfully, when I listened to my body’s signals for true hunger and made wise choices again, the weight dropped off.

Again, this past summer, with longer days, the kitchen became “alive” about 9:30 pm when my husband and children gathered after evening activities. Again, I wasn’t hungry, but in the midst of my family’s “social hour,” I nibbled. Well, once again, the scales revealed my stupidity.

A well-nourished, healthy body really does require much less food than expected. There’s a learning curve to maintaining great health, but if one uses common sense in implementing:

eating healthfully

eating only when hungry

and stopping when satisfied

Optimal health is for life.

image credit - flickr: rockymountainhigh

Tags: Emily Boller, Inspiration, Weight Loss, optimal health, slower metabolism, weight gain

Food addiction is no joke

Posted on October 4, 2010 by Emily Boller

Emily Boller obese Many of us have come out of, or are in the process of, coming out of years of severe food addictions that have consumed our every waking thought and action.

My food addiction got so bad that there were times I couldn't even enter the kitchen to prepare a meal for my family . . . without eating from the moment I started the food prep to the moment the meal was cleaned up afterwards. I could’ve been miserably stuffed, but if a quarter of a pan of lasagna remained, I ate it.

Unfortunately, my children never developed the habit of doing dishes after meals, because I wanted to be alone in the kitchen to devour their uneaten food left on plates (I have five kids), and crusty, greasy leftovers in pans, etc.

Denial is the cloak of addiction. There's got to be a shift of one's mindset to accept the fact that food addiction is serious stuff; just as powerful and destructive as alcohol addiction or drug addiction. Food addiction and resulting eating disorders and poor health are also destroying relationships, breaking up marriages, draining finances, and ruining homes ~ every bit as much.

Our society recognizes the seriousness of alcohol and drug addiction, but food addiction is a joke. Addictive foods and overeating are downplayed and promoted everywhere: by the government, the school systems, the entertainment industry, the medical industry, and even at places that should be sanctuaries of refuge such as houses of worship; therefore, we don't take it seriously. If everybody is participating in it, it must be okay, right? Wrong. Right along with "Say No to Drugs," "No Smoking," "Alcohol Prohibited," and "Mothers Against Meth," should be "Say No to Overeating," and "Citizens Against SAD!"

The truth is, we cannot, we dare not, mess with food addiction. Period. Abstinence and sobriety are just as critical to the food addict as they are to the alcoholic and drug addict. We must accept this fact; if we don't, we are undone. There's really no choice in the matter if we want to get completely free and get our health and lives back.

Making baby steps of change may work for some, but for the majority of us who’ve been entangled for years, we need to throw internal wrestling and debate out the window and just follow Dr. Fuhrman’s basic high-nutrient eating plan that’s outlined on p. 179 of Eat to Live. It’s been successfully proven over and over again to be the way out of the food addiction wilderness.

Food addiction is no joke; it ruins lives.

Let's all follow the path of freedom and become everything that we were meant to be!

before and after images