Break Sugar and Food Addiction in 48 Hours

We are on Week 2 of The Daniel Plan. This week Dr. Mark Hyman talks about food as medicine and says that we can change the way we think about food in 48 hours. 48 hours? That's doable! I can do 48 hours of eating clean. No sugar, no processed foods, just whole plant-based foods. I've done it before and I am sure I can do it again. If you think about it, it makes sense, if you go without eating sugar or junk food for 48 hours, you have technically broken the addiction. All we have to do is string enough 48 hour breaks together and we will be on our way to living addiction free!

I love in The Daniel Plan on page 36 where it states, "Every bite you take is a powerful opportunity to create healing or infirmity" and on page 37, "Take the junk out and let the abundance in." That's what I want to do! I want to create healing within my body and I want abundant health and energy so that I can live the life God intends for me to live.

We also learned about the fitness connection this week. Pastor Warren and his team of experts state on page 42, "Moving your body even just a little bit on a regular basis impacts not only your physical health, but also your intellectual, emotional, social, financial, and spiritual health." That's what I'm talking about! Every aspect of our life is affected by moving our body "consistently." I'm on a two-week workout streak. I decided last week to start looking at working out as a "job" that I love to do with the pay being energy. It's already paying off in additional energy. Every hour I workout seems to add an hour back, so it's never an hour wasted. I usually read a book on my Kindle and listen to music on Pandora while I'm on the treadmill, elliptical and stationary bike, so it feels like I'm getting twice as much done. I ALWAYS feel better after I workout. It makes me wonder why consistent exercise has ever been an issue. I think it's just the effort it takes to get to the gym, but if it's my "job" I'm not going to miss it. I'm going in to "work" Monday-Friday. I get weekends off to go hiking or whatever other exercise sounds like fun, but during the week, I'm sticking to my work routine. So far, it's working like a charm. I have committed to working out at least 30 minutes, but more often than not it's an hour, sometimes longer if I go for a swim. Getting paid to get fit, I could get used to a job like this!

Kathy


Here is a video of Dr. Mark Hyman talking about how food can be the strongest addiction or the most powerful cure of what ails us. I am looking forward to breaking my sugar addiction by giving my body the right food information and updating my biological software!

Floss One Tooth

I'm reading Choose Yourself by James Altucher. In one section he is talking about habits and makes a great illustration of how his friend's wife made a radical suggestion to floss one tooth. By flossing one tooth, you are sending a message to your brain that it is important and you are more likely to floss all your teeth. I love this concept and plan to use the "floss one" idea to get consistent with my exercise routine. Inconsistency has been my biggest roadblock to success! I am committing to doing one minute of exercise every day. Seriously, who can blow off a minute of exercise? ONE MINUTE! It's amazing how often I have skipped exercise all together, but when I look at it with the "floss one" philosophy, I doubt I will ever miss an exercise session again. How about you? Do you exercise every day? Do you do strength training? I challenge you to do one rep. Just one...and see where it leads.

Kathy

"You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. 

The secret of your success is found in your daily routine." ~ John C. Maxwell

Early Bird

This morning I woke up at 5 a.m. I love waking up early before the hustle and bustle of the day kicks in. It's a peaceful time that I can focus on prayer, devotionals, meditation, visualization, writing, and exercise. Most of the time when I get up early, I feel like I accomplish more in the first couple hours than I accomplish the entire day when I wake up late. It's nice to have my priorities taken care of before noon! I also find that I'm more likely to get my exercise in and stick with my clean eating routine when I get up early. I have more time, I don't feel rushed. It makes me wonder why I ever sleep in!

What time do you like to start your day?

Kathy

OCD Impulsive Behavior

Do you have OCD?

I think you know whether you have impulsive tendencies and/or obsessive compulsive disorder or not. I have never been diagnosed with OCD, but I know I have impulsive tendencies. It's almost a joke in my family to turn the canned food upside down to see how long it takes me to notice it. I can tell you it's right away and to leave it upside down bothers me on some level I do not understand. I cannot leave it that way. It must be ordered. I started doing the same thing with hand sanitizer several years ago, where everything I touched made me think of germs and I used hand sanitizer if I couldn't wash my hands immediately. I got a grip on that and don't have to use the hand sanitizer anymore, although I still carry it and/or baby wipes in my purse. Even though the OCD has subsided, I still struggle with impulsive behavior sometimes, especially when it comes to food. I cannot have junk food around me. Chips, cookies, candy, any of those things seem to call my name and the temptation to eat it becomes too great. Impulsive behavior has caused much grief in my life and contributed greatly to my becoming 150 lbs overweight.

I used to have an issue with impulsive spending too. If something was 50%-75% off, I would buy it just because it was such a good deal, even if I didn't need it. I cannot count the number of times I have went shopping for one or two things and came out of the store with a cart full of merchandise, sometimes forgetting to get the very thing I went into the store to get.

I realized that the behavior was not helping me, so I set out to change it. I still struggle with impulsive behavior from time to time, but nowhere near the level that it used to. I read somewhere that OCD is common in creative people. I would like to think that's it. It is more likely due to feeling I had no control as a child. Either way, impulsive and compulsive behavior does not benefit me and is something I deliberately set out to change about ten years ago. Like everything to do with getting healthy, it is a work in progress complete with momentary setbacks. It takes determination and patience to change any negative behavior.

Awareness is the first step in changing any behavior that you want to change. A willingness to change is the second step. Sometimes our impulsive behavior brings us a false sense of security. In order to change it, we have to separate the behavior from our identity. That is where I am at now. I love Joyce Meyer's message about implusive behavior. She says that thoughts will creep up, but a "tadpole doesn't have to become a frog." I agree! I believe that what we focus on expands and what we resist persists. For me to turn off the impulsive behavior, I have to focus on something that benefits the greater good. That is what I am doing now. I am focusing on turning my health around, focusing on helping myself and those who want to join the journey to live a healthier and happier life. That is what I want to expand. Thank God for people like Joyce Meyer who have faith, strength, and bold courage to not only change their own life, but to help others along the way. She inspires me to want to do the same. That's an obsessive compulsive behavior I can live with.

If you struggle with impulsive or compulsive behavior or even if you want to understand a little more how lift yourself up and live a healthier, happier life, listen to Joyce's messages and apply what resonates with you!


Kathy