Re: which 'diet' is best. (long)

[Guest guest]

>>>but i just want to be at peace and get off this whirlwind that is anxiety

ridden in my life: how should i eat? fit for life? radiantrecovery? Atkins?

Schwartzbein? WAPF? warrior's? and it's like a torment that goes on and on

with me changing my mind and my thinking every half hour. it's making me

NUTS!!!! ...I'm just not up the challenge to experiment. that just seems

overwhelming and impossible right now. right now, i just want to get some peace

about this, and put it all in God's hands, and maybe, i hope, He'll lead me.<<<

OK, back to basics, (grin)

Do you have PNP handy? I'd go and find mine if I didn't have a great need of

sleep (it's 11.30 pm here). What are the symptoms of seratonin and

beta-endorphins being out of whack? I know feeling overwhelmed is a big one. How

about going over the RR steps and checking everything is in order until you feel

a bit more balanced? Then you can work on different things one at a time - like

removing gluten, other grains, dairy, etc. and make good notes (written or

mental) about how each thing affects YOU. All those different diets work for

lots of people and don't work for plenty of others depending on all sorts of

factors. I think this would be the best way for you to work out what works best

for you.

HTH,

Tas'.

[Guest guest]

>but i just want to be at peace and get off this whirlwind that is anxiety

>ridden in my life: how should i eat? fit for life? radiantrecovery?

>Atkins? Schwartzbein? WAPF? warrior's? and it's like a torment that

>goes on and on with me changing my mind and my thinking every half hour.

>it's making me NUTS!!!!

OK, well, how about this: the " Diet " ! One of the best articles

I've read (long time ago in Health Mag) was about people making

their own diets. They just gave them a journal and a pen (and there

are online places you can track your diet too). EVERYTHING you

eat, write it down. Also write down how you feel.

If you want to use a menu from Atkins or Schw. or anyone else ... go

for it! See if it works for you. Your brain is a very, very sensitive

chem lab ... it's always testing your blood levels of this and that

and it knows how well everything is working, at some level. We

just don't pay attention.

I decided for myself that no diet will work if I'm counting the

days until I can be off it! I've been working to find the ideal

" Heidi Diet " that includes all the foods I LOVE and that don't make

me sick and doesn't make me work all day preparing food or

spend a bunch of money buying special stuff.

>

>p.s. Heidi, making it fun..I'm not there not. first i have to get rid

>of the anxiety over this. just thinking about it gives me agida. maybe

>i can do that in the future. but fun...i think not. I'm just not up the

>challenge to experiment. that just seems overwhelming and impossible

>right now. right now, i just want to get some peace about this, and put

>it all in God's hands, and maybe, i hope, He'll lead me.

Maybe just one note on that -- food allergies actually increase

anxiety levels big time! They make you produce cortisol, which

makes people feel stressed, even when there is nothing to

stress about. Last time I ate wheat, I swear I was sure the world

was about to end and the car was going to crash and I was in

a state of major anxiety. Many people report feeling really " peaceful "

on fasts or juice diets ... probably because they are avoiding the allergens.

(There might be opioid activity in there too, no one is quite sure what

happens, but it IS sure that some foods cause major anxiety!).

A quick way to tell is to eat meat/produce ONLY for awhile (no milk,

grains, etc.) but don't reduce the amount of anything you eat. You might

find you start feeling pretty good and your mind might feel more clear.

Aim for say, a week of eating that way and see what happens. Make sure

you include your favorite non-grain non-dairy foods so you don't

feel deprived. (Steak and potatoes is my fave, and bacon! When I eat

out it's hard to find GF food so one trip I lived on bacon, more or less (it

was a Vegas buffet, there was lots of bacon around).

Also, what exactly is your anxiety about? I felt major anxiety over the

thought of " not eating enough " when I went on one diet, the portions

seemed so SMALL. But I don't do that sort of diet anymore ... bodies

rebel when they are constantly starved. " Your diet " should be food you

like and ENJOY, not purgatory.

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

Heidi,

what a wonderful, good and wise post. thanks so much!!!

the anxiety may have come partly from the coffee i had this morning.

some times of the year I'm more sensitive to it. i think this might be

one of them.

I'm also wondering if all this daylight has something to do with it.

it's almost kinda annoying i hate to say.

Heidi, have you read the Yoga of Eating? a wonderful book. it's about

listening to your body and eating what you want and enjoying it intensely

and immensely and with attention so you don't overeat.

i like the idea of eating just meat and produce for a few days or a week

but i can never seem to go longer than just one meal. unless i have a

starch or a piece of fruit (hey, fruit is produce, isn't it...) i feel

like i haven't eaten, i feel unsatisfied, and i want to eat soon

afterward, and I'm feeling like i need to eat again or eat more. it's

frustrating.

I'm only 49. I'll figure this out.

thanks so much, Heidi! your post is a keeper.

laura

On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 12:33:30 -0700 Heidi Schuppenhauer

<heidis@...> writes:

>but i just want to be at peace and get off this whirlwind that is

anxiety

>ridden in my life: how should i eat? fit for life? radiantrecovery?

>Atkins? Schwartzbein? WAPF? warrior's? and it's like a torment that

>goes on and on with me changing my mind and my thinking every half hour.

>it's making me NUTS!!!!

OK, well, how about this: the " Diet " ! One of the best articles

I've read (long time ago in Health Mag) was about people making

their own diets. They just gave them a journal and a pen (and there

are online places you can track your diet too). EVERYTHING you

eat, write it down. Also write down how you feel.

If you want to use a menu from Atkins or Schw. or anyone else ... go

for it! See if it works for you. Your brain is a very, very sensitive

chem lab ... it's always testing your blood levels of this and that

and it knows how well everything is working, at some level. We

just don't pay attention.

I decided for myself that no diet will work if I'm counting the

days until I can be off it! I've been working to find the ideal

" Heidi Diet " that includes all the foods I LOVE and that don't make

me sick and doesn't make me work all day preparing food or

spend a bunch of money buying special stuff.

>

>p.s. Heidi, making it fun..I'm not there not. first i have to get rid

>of the anxiety over this. just thinking about it gives me agida. maybe

>i can do that in the future. but fun...i think not. I'm just not up

the

>challenge to experiment. that just seems overwhelming and impossible

>right now. right now, i just want to get some peace about this, and put

>it all in God's hands, and maybe, i hope, He'll lead me.

Maybe just one note on that -- food allergies actually increase

anxiety levels big time! They make you produce cortisol, which

makes people feel stressed, even when there is nothing to

stress about. Last time I ate wheat, I swear I was sure the world

was about to end and the car was going to crash and I was in

a state of major anxiety. Many people report feeling really " peaceful "

on fasts or juice diets ... probably because they are avoiding the

allergens.

(There might be opioid activity in there too, no one is quite sure what

happens, but it IS sure that some foods cause major anxiety!).

A quick way to tell is to eat meat/produce ONLY for awhile (no milk,

grains, etc.) but don't reduce the amount of anything you eat. You might

find you start feeling pretty good and your mind might feel more clear.

Aim for say, a week of eating that way and see what happens. Make sure

you include your favorite non-grain non-dairy foods so you don't

feel deprived. (Steak and potatoes is my fave, and bacon! When I eat

out it's hard to find GF food so one trip I lived on bacon, more or less

(it

was a Vegas buffet, there was lots of bacon around).

Also, what exactly is your anxiety about? I felt major anxiety over the

thought of " not eating enough " when I went on one diet, the portions

seemed so SMALL. But I don't do that sort of diet anymore ... bodies

rebel when they are constantly starved. " Your diet " should be food you

like and ENJOY, not purgatory.

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

>I'm also wondering if all this daylight has something to do with it.

>it's almost kinda annoying i hate to say.

>

>Heidi, have you read the Yoga of Eating? a wonderful book. it's about

>listening to your body and eating what you want and enjoying it intensely

>and immensely and with attention so you don't overeat.

I haven't read that one ... you can tell I DO pay a lot of attention

to what my body says though. ly I do love to overeat,

which is one reason I like the WD. However I've found that now

that I CAN overeat I don't particularly do it much, in fact my

food consumption is way down.

Basically what has worked for me is: " Heidi, you can eat anything

you want. You choose to eat only after 5, most of the time,

but you don't have to. " Then, after pigging out on all kinds of

stuff, I notice I don't feel very good after *some* stuff, which

makes me start disliking that thing. So, for instance, I *can* eat

a chocolate croissant if I want, but when I think about doing

that, I also get this ghost sense of the pain I'll feel a couple

of hours later and that makes me mad at the croissant (and

certainly not feeling like eating it!).

Also what works when I'm craving something like, say,

chocolate (which doesn't make me sick but it gives me

the jitters on an empty stomach) then I say " Well, I'll eat

this chocolate but first I'll have a steak and hash browns " .

After I eat the steak and hash browns, I really don't feel

much like chocolate and usually forget about it. But if I STILL

crave it, then I just eat it.

A few times I ate a lot more than I usually do ... like a whole

steak (16 oz) instead of half (8 oz). I just felt too full. So

next time I didn't do that ... I tell myself if I really am that

hungry, I'll cook some more, but really I never am.

And then I log all the food for the day ... and you know what?

Whether I eat chocolate or hash browns or steak or fruit

or whatever, it always seems to be within 300 calories

per day. So my body pretty much knows what it wants.

>i like the idea of eating just meat and produce for a few days or a week

>but i can never seem to go longer than just one meal. unless i have a

>starch or a piece of fruit (hey, fruit is produce, isn't it...) i feel

>like i haven't eaten, i feel unsatisfied, and i want to eat soon

>afterward, and I'm feeling like i need to eat again or eat more. it's

>frustrating.

How about potatoes? I count potatoes as produce, and they

fill me up just fine. I really don't feel good with just greens

and meat and fruit, tho I do that sometimes. I need a big

batch of hash browns to feel content usually, or a baked

potato. Sometimes Chebe bread (tapioca) or a big bowl

of rice, but I like crispy hash browns more than most

anything.

Low carb doesn't work for me, never has. I don't want to

lose weight on a diet that I'm going to have to WORK

to stay on.

>I'm only 49. I'll figure this out.

Hee hee. Me too ...

>thanks so much, Heidi! your post is a keeper.

Thanks!

-- Heidi Jean