"The End of Overeating" cont.

I will backtrack a little bit, I've finished the book, and I've done a little review of some things I wanted to reveal about some of the studies done.

One of the tests involving mice showed they have a great need to do excess work to get food containing fat, when a small amount of work gets them nutritional food with no fat. But add sugar to the fat mixture, and their willingness to work to get a taste of the "food" increases dramatically, almost to the point of how hard they will work to get cocaine. Yes, cocaine. It activated the same "feel good" sensory system that cocaine activates.

There are several tests involving the rats and mice regarding food and cocaine and the releasing of dopamine, again, they have nearly the same effects on the system and the eventual "cravings".

Sadly, these tests are performed by some in the industry..not to keep us away from these habitual causing mixtures, but to know how to prepare food to cause us to crave these foods, much as one would crave cocaine or some other drug. Like I said, Pavlov's dogs, we are playing right into the food industries hands.

That is why I felt disgust with the industry, and with the American systems that allow these harmful mixtures to be marketed publicly...they should be monitoring this as much as they do the drug pandemic in America.

So, off my soapbox...like I said earlier, the book is a little rough to read, lots of info, but very enlightening.

Now to the solution, no pat answers, no easy out. One example given was, the desires for these foods have created pathways in our brain stimuli, much like pathways in computers are made by our use of them. there's no way to totally wipe these pathways out of the computers, or our brains. We must create new pathways and do them over and over until they are more dominate than the old ones. And we won't always succeed, but we can learn to control and eat healthier for the most part.

One of the main rules, do not allow debate in your mind. How many times have you looked at a food, pie, cake, cookie etc. and had a debate. I've been good, I can have this. NO, you don't need it. I'll only eat a little. A little will make you want more. This one time won't hurt. And on and on...when you debate, you usually give in to the desire, because then "willpower" gets into play.

When presented with a tempting food, simply say mentally (and verbally if it's being offered), NO. I can't have it. Then move on in your mind to something else. Don't haggle with yourself or someone else, it's simply NO. If you're alone and a food is tempting you, get rid of it. Trash, garbage disposal, whatever. Remove it from your temptation. If someone sets a tempting, off limit food in front of you, ask them to remove it, take it away. A true friend/loving relative will, don't worry about hurt feelings, the answer is NO.

If you're going out to dinner with friends at Diner X, on of your fav places to eat, and you usually eat something fat/sugar/salt layered, create that new pathway in your brain before you go. Tell yourself that this food has been devised by people without your best interest at heart. This food tastes good because someone spent millions to make you crave it. That it is going to make someone rich at your health's expense. You are going to order the grilled chicken with dry salad and vinegarette on the side. Or a small hamburger with no fries and water to drink. Or whatever is healthy/good at that place of business.

Do not think or use the word "diet" because that indicates deprivation and a temporary situation. This is your life from now on. As you get stronger and able to resist, nothing is off limits, per se. Just small portions, occasional dining out splurges, BUT, if, say, cookies are your weakness, and you can never eat just 1, then stay away from cookies. period.

If driving down your usual route to work, you pass a bakery, diner, whatever- that makes you think of nothing else but stopping there, find a new route to work.

Don't think about the foods you can't have...get your mind quickly on something else.

Another test with people...smokers...which, by the way, have the same cravings for a cigarette as we have for the fat/sugar/salt foods. Smokers were put in 2 rooms, one group was told they could not smoke for 2 hours after they had done a test. The other group was told they could smoke immediately after the test. They all had electrodes attached to the craving part of their brain.

Neither group was allowed to smoke for 2 hours. The group that had not expected to get to smoke registered very low on the cravings for a cigarette, because they were not expecting one. The group that was expecting a cigarette, their craving registered very high, and they were very agitated because they could not smoke. So our mental expectations have alot to do with our cravings.

I have paraphrased this book, and I have not covered nearly all of it, and if it seems like something that relates to you, I recommend buying it. I got mine thru Amazon.com. I am going to read mine again, and hopefully I have not misrepresented anything, I have honestly tried to say things as they were presented.

The Migration Back to Xanga ~~~~

Okay, I'm game!!  Today I want to give a book report, and I haven't even finished the book, but I have waded through most of it. 'THE END OF OVEREATING' by David A. Kessler, MD.

Those of you who have been a reader of my blogs for the last few years (and definitely those who know me personally) know I have a weight problem. I have been on numerous diets, I've had lap-band surgery...which, I still have weight-loss from, but I did not lose all my excess weight. You can eat around the "band" and I have become an expert at that. I have a library of books on weight loss methods, always searching for the "magic" solution...and slowly realizing there isn't one. ~~BUMMER~~

Dr. Kessler's book was written about in a senior magazine I read at my arthritis Dr.'s office. It wasn't an advertisement, it was someone suggesting it to the reader's as, finally, a solution?

It is a very hard read to someone like myself who hasn't read a biology book in quite a while, it gives extensive information on studies with rats, humans, mice, rats, and yes, rats. Yawn...I was thinking I might have blown yet another 20 bucks..  Dr. Kessler gives excerpts from interviews with food experts who work for the fast food folks and the sit down and order folks, ie: McDonalds, Wendy's, Chili's.....the "eating out" industry.

Amazement, anger, disgust....these are some of the feelings that arose in me as I read about the millions of dollars spent to make us a nation of "Pavlov's" dogs, so to speak. France, England, Italy...the folk's in these countries can't figure out why we are so obsessed with "our food" here in America, and why we are getting bigger and bigger. We are being conditioned by the highly tested, minutely devised amounts of "fat, sugar and salt" layers and layers to make us want more and more, and keep coming back to the same places for the same types of food. No, this has not affected everyone, but it has affected a large percentage of America.

So, I am getting to the part of the book that deals with "breaking the conditioning effects" of food. I have tried some of the methods, and have been able to choose better foods for the short term, I have about 50 more pages to read.

Example: think of a special place you like to eat. A place you like to eat on vacation. A place you like to eat when you go visit friends/ relatives in another town.....you have them, right? It seems everywhere we go, there is a certain amount of our "looking forward to going" that regards food.

When I go to CA, I know I will try very hard to eat at Me and Ed's Pizza, I will definitely try to get by one of the malls that has a See's Candy store. If I go to Three Rivers, there's a candy store there which used to be called Huffaker's Candy, now it is something else, but I definitely will have to stop for some of their english toffee. At Pismo, there are the food related places there I think of. Pavlov's dogs, I am one! This is how I've been conditioned. Even if you're not hungry, when you're out driving and you turn down a street that a favorite restaurant is on, do you start thinking about what you could eat there? I'm not saying you will stop and eat right then, but it has entered your mind, later in the week you're making plans to go eat there with someone, aren't you?

Millions and millions have been spent to get that reaction from us, here in America. Why? Greed, pure and simple. Someone, somewhere is getting richer because we (the public) have been conditioned to crave fat, sugar, salt..in it's specific layers and proportions. Sit out in the car for a few minutes in front of a Wal-mart store, you can see clearly that America is getting bigger.

I cannot count the number of times I have been told that I just need to use "willpower".  I don't need to tell you how that can make you feel, thinking you're just a weak person with no gumption or self respect.

Dr. Kessler says "willpower" doesn't stand a chance against the "power's that be" marketing today's food.

THANK YOU DR. KESSLER!!!!!

So, let me finish the book and get the gist of "reconditioning" one's self to eat healthy, and I'll finish this post.

Le Entertainment Center

I live in a tiny space, so storage is a premium. I was looking for a pretty piece of furniture that would double as storage...I found this entertainment center on Craigslist for $200.00. It is a heavy (real wood!) oak piece sitting on a separate base. The TV area and all the other spaces afforded lots of storage space.

When I started putting various tubs, blankets, etc in all the spaces, they just shined thru the leaded glass doors, of course. So I painted the glass

They all have 3 coats of white, the first tall panel is totally dry so it looks the best, the other 3 panels I just did this morning so they still look a little streaky..but if they don't dry solid, I will just put on another coat.

I really like the look of the unpainted best, but the whole purpose of buying it was for storage...since the glass is leaded it prevented me from sticking something to the back..so I opted for the paint..

Cloudcroft.....Day 3

 We had planned to get up early today and go back to Alamo. because there were numerous yard sales today...can you tell we enjoy yard sales?  But as we were driving back to the cabin last night around 11ish pm with our tiredness getting the best of us...we decided to make today a very lazy day. Sunday we have a big day, church in the morning at El Paso, a couple of touristy things there...then driving along the Rio Grande Valley to Las Cruces..then back to the cabin....so ..we slept in as best we could today.

We went into town to see what was going on there, stopped at the grocery store...

checked out The Lodge in Cloudcroft. Local saying goes that The Lodge is haunted, a beautiful green eyed, red headed chambermaid roams the halls at night....hmmmm...fact..or fiction? I need to ask the guy in Alamo. at the visitors center...he's probably worked here also

Then back to the cabin.....

with it's wonderful views

and our dirty car in front...

up the stairway...isn't the wood beautiful?

into the spacious open aired living area..kitchen...dining area. High ceilings with open beams

The upstairs has two bedrooms and one bath, my pic of the 2nd upstairs BR wouldn't upload, but it has a queen size bed in it...the master has a king.

The downstairs has a bunk room with a hide-a-bed couch, bunk beds, a twin bed and behind the double doors is the washer and dryer

another bedroom with a queen bed

and another full bath. Like I said earlier, a very roomy "cabin"...but isn't it cute! So many nice touches..and the kitchen and bar is one anyone would love to have. So you see we're really "roughing" it here.

Cloudcroft...Day 2

 We were up and on the way to Alamogordo by 7 am, wanting to sightsee, but also hoping to find a yard sale or two on the way. No luck with yard sales, we looked at some second hand stores....the one on White Sands Blvd. called King's Treasure was by far the best...a little higher...but so clean and their merchandize was very good. Of course I bought a watercolor there. Alamogordo (Alamo. ) was desert again, although it's over 4,000 elevation, it's still dry and barren looking. We weren't too impressed until we did a little looking around. The Scenic Drive that goes around Alamo. takes you to some very pretty scenery..and there's a hospital on there that's very southwestern with lots of palm trees, it didn't look like a hospital, more like a resort. Alamo. has a lot of attractions, a Toy Train museum, The Space Museum, University of N.M. If you go to Lowe's grocery store, they make flour and corn tortillas right there while you watch...you buy them warm and they're very good.

I went to the visitor's center to get maps, brochures, etc...and there is an older gentleman working in there that is a fount of information, probably more than you want to know...but...I learned something very crucial...the UFO's at Roswell were a hoax!!! I know...hard to believe...but that's what he told me!!! Honest!!!

I picked up a brochure for Roswell, and he said if I was going there I had to see this, and he handed me the brochure for the UFO Museum at Roswell. I stated I wish I knew the truth about that, if the Gov't covered something up, or what... he said he worked for the City of Roswell in the 1960's when this was going on. People found the items of interest, they were written off as  unusual, but that was all. Then Roswell got a new City Manager (or some such official) who saw this as a gold mine for the city, and off he went with it. He helped Roswell grow, put money in the city coffers from all the tourism, oversaw the movies and documentary's, and Roswell made it's name in history. Simply because of a good PR man!!! Now you know!!!!

I also grabbed some info on the White Sands Monument, it offered a walking tour the hour before sunset so you could see the colors on the sand. Also, since last night, May 8th, was the full moon, it offered the first moonlight program of 2009..a must see!!! We came back to the cabin to rest up awhile..and about 6pm headed back down the mountain...I missed the sunset walk by 10 minutes...so if you want to do this...leave early enough!!! I did walk the boardwalk and along alot of the dunes at sunset, so I still got to see what I wanted to, I just didn't get to hear the Ranger's comments. On the boardwalk were a couple from Germany...and of course I'll talk to anyone, even a frog if it'll croak back!!! So the german fellow and I conversed awhile, his wife was busy taking photos. They were on a 6 month vacation touring the US and Canada..can you imagine...and they even had their motor home shipped over here from Germany...it was a strange looking motor home, very boxy...it must have been something to make them want to pay shipping over here and back.

Then we headed to the moonlight program, very interesting. A professor from the UNM portrayed a spanish officer from the late 1800's, he was dressed in character and told the story in first person. I forget the name of the spanish person portrayed...but it made the history lesson very memorable.He told of the Spaniards who had been beaten by the Indians and were starving and thirsty..their horses, when they got close to the white sands, could smell the water underneath. With their hooves they dug down the two feet where the water was, and still is, and drink the sandy liquid..and survived. Also the story of how the white gypsum sand comes down from the mountains is very interesting, but I'll let y'all google that and read it for yourselves.