Disease Proof : Inspiration

Are you continually fatigued?

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Emily Boller

Do you find yourself grabbing a cup of coffee to make it through the morning?

Do you reach for a pastry when you need a quick boost of energy?

Is food a stimulant to keep you going?

Emily Boller when she was a young mother For years food was my stimulant to combat fatigue. As a young mother it was my drug of choice to make it through a stress-filled day of caring for a three-year-old, an 18-month-old, and a newborn. Fatigue was temporarily overcome with morning donuts and a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. Nap time for the babies meant *down time* for Mom; a bowl or two of caramel praline ice cream and corn chips. Nine o’clock bedtime for the kids began my happy hour of processed cereal, milk, and crunchy peanut butter.

I didn’t know at the time that my overwhelming fatigue was an addictive withdrawal symptom from eating poorly. In fact, Dr. Fuhrman says that fatigue is one of the chief withdrawal symptoms mistaken for hunger and an excuse to eat for more stimulation. When a person eats healthfully, he/she no longer feels fatigue; although tiredness may be experienced when more sleep is needed. There’s a big difference.

My addictive cycles continued for years.

When those babies got older, I had to keep up with the rat-race of soccer practices and games, wrestling matches, dance practices and recitals, 4-H meetings and projects, sleepovers, birthday parties, thrift shopping for kids’ clothes and shoes, and the never ending mountain of laundry that five children produced. Because I continued to eat poorly, McDonald’s drive thru was a necessary, mid afternoon pick-me-up when my fifth baby was asleep in his car seat in-between an older sibling’s dance practice and music lesson. Then I desperately needed that late night bowl of cereal and milk to calm my shakiness before crashing in bed.

Food temporarily enhanced my alertness; it kept the shakiness and cravings of withdrawal at bay and boosted my motivation when I was down-in-the-dumps. Food had nothing to do with nutrition, but everything to do with stimulation and moment-to-moment survival. In fact, I had been incorrectly taught that shakiness and cravings were signs of low blood sugar and that I needed to eat, when actually they were symptoms of withdrawal.

Perhaps today is the perfect time to hit the “pause” button of life and ask:

Is food a stimulant to temporarily energize the symptoms of fatigue due to addictive withdrawal?

Or is food a source of optimal nutrition to keep the body functioning at its very best?

The former will produce a sub par life of disease and continually feeling blaahhh.

The latter will produce a disease-free life full of health and vitality!

Tags: Inspiration, McDonald's, fatigue, junk food, small children, withdrawal symptoms

Compromises are the seeds of addiction

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Emily Boller

cookies

One doesn’t just wake up one day suddenly caught in the entanglement of an unhealthy addiction. Unhealthy addictions are formed by repetitions of small, seemingly insignificant compromises of what we know to be good for us. The danger of little compromises is they easily turn into bigger ones.

Typically, rationalizations spark the fire of compromise:

“It’s late. I’m tired ~ just a piece of toast with almond butter before bed won’t hurt me.”

“It’s the Super Bowl. Everyone is eating. Even though I’m not hungry, I’ll snack just this one time with everyone else. I’m not addicted to salt anymore so I can start over tomorrow; no problem.”

“Woah, I made way too much smoothie, and I only like to drink them when fresh. Oh well, just this one time won’t hurt to drink all of it. I hate to waste anything.”

“I know that I should only eat when truly hungry, but those homemade cookies left on the countertop were calling my name. I couldn’t help myself.”

It takes commitment to intentional choices, a solid plan, to keep one off the radar screen of addiction.

Commitment is an action of the mind; a promise that’s based on knowledge. Commitment is hard at times. It’s never the easy way in the heat of a tempting moment.

Compromise is an action of the emotions; based on feelings, excuses and rationalizations. Compromise is easy. Any little thing is an excuse to give into impulses of the moment.

Perhaps it’s time to honestly evaluate our commitment or lack thereof. Are we committed to eating for optimal health, or are we eating according to feelings?

One produces freedom from addiction. The other produces captivity to it.

In the heat of the moment, follow the plan.

Freedom to all!

image credit: flicr by Kimberlykj

Tags: Inspiration, addiction, choices, commitment, compromise, habits

Supporting a loved one through food addiction

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Emily Boller

Thirty years ago this Valentines Day my husband and I became officially engaged. We were young, naïve, and deeply in love. Little did we know about the dark prison that lie just ahead for both of us with my budding food addiction and resulting binge eating disorder and obesity. While we were dating, I had confided that I had a “food problem,” but neither of us had any clue whatsoever how powerful it was, or how severely food addiction would take over and practically destroy my life. [Back in 1981 food addiction was not openly discussed or understood like it is today.] Since today is a special day for sweethearts, I want to focus on those who are supporting a spouse or significant other through food addiction by inviting my husband, Kurt, to share his thoughts on the topic. Welcome to Disease Proof, Kurt.

What was your initial reaction when I first told you that I had a “food problem” when we were dating?

I thought it was no big deal. After all, in my mind I thought, “Who doesn’t have an extra piece of cake once in awhile?” Besides, you were so special to me that I couldn’t believe there was anything that was a problem.

From your perspective, what was it like to discover and see first-hand the seriousness of my food addiction / binge eating disorder after we were married?

It was hard, especially when it seemed like you were out of control. I could see that you wanted out of the addiction, yet seemed helpless to help yourself. My first reaction was to try to control things, and being a typical guy, I thought it was something that I needed to fix. Unfortunately as I tried unsuccessfully to “fix” it, usually in an unproductive way, it only made the addiction worse.

How did it make you feel?

I felt disappointed and cheated. I realize now that I had very unrealistic expectations and views on life, but unfortunately, my perception was my reality at the time.

What was the turning point for you?

I don’t think there was one point as much as a series of turns. I was so frustrated and disappointed that I got honest with God about how I felt. Then I just didn’t care anymore. For awhile I did my own thing, and found ways to detach myself and emotionally escape. It was just easier to give up and not care or try to help anymore. Eventually God pointed out my own “stuff” that I needed to deal with; and even though the food addiction was a terrible situation, He used it to burn up some of my own crud that was an issue as well. We went to a professional counselor, and I learned the only person that I could change was me. That was a huge turning point in the process because I finally stopped trying to change you. I worked on dealing with my own garbage, and then I started to believe you when you’d say, “Someday I’m going to get free.”

What has it been like to see me get free from food addiction and get my health back?

It was like a light came on and good things started happening immediately when you committed to Eat to Live ~ beyond anything either one of us had ever dreamed. It was amazing. To see someone go from getting beat up mentally, emotionally and physically with food addiction to being healthy, confident, and free; and helping others to do the same is indescribable. It’s like watching the movie “Rocky” for the first time; witnessing someone that you love and want the best for finally winning in a war they’ve been fighting for years.

What are your thoughts to share with others who are supporting a loved one through food addiction and resulting eating disorders and diseases?

Be honest with yourself and acknowledge your feelings. Stuffing your frustrations and anger only makes it worse.

Be committed to the relationship. Everyone needs someone solid and a good influence in their life.

Realize you can’t change them. The only person that you can change is yourself.

There may be times when you’ll need to pull back so your “boat” doesn’t sink. A person drowning in addiction can pull others down with them so maintain your own mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical health; just don’t abandon them.

Seek professional counseling for the person as well as yourself. Not all counselors are equal. If a counselor doesn’t help, then keep looking. The key is being willing to be totally honest about the underlying root problems and cut out the destructive issues that psychologically fuel addiction.

Don’t quit. Never give up. Never give in. Never, Never, Never. Like the old adage goes, “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on!”