TERMINATION LETTER TO SELF-SABOTAGE

Have you been in a pattern of devouring health advice and going in full force only to crash and burn, back where you started or worse? I know the feeling. Once we look at the amazing cards in our hands, we go all in. We dive off the cliff of uncertainty and pick up speed as we implement positive changes. But eventually we fall. Hard.

Nope. Not this time. You are about to be armed with powerful tools and strategies that will prevent you from playing tug-of-war with your cravings. You can become the unstoppable force, the capable-of-anything-I-set-my-mind-to rockstar superhero you envision yourself to be.

It's time to say goodbye to self-sabotage. You are about to implement your new business plan. Take out your favorite colored pen and a piece of paper (pink works) — it's time to write the termination letter, boss.

Dearest Self-Sabotage,

It has come to my attention that your contributions to my life have inhibited my personal growth potential. Your efforts to disrupt and distract me from reaching my annual goals are no longer needed. You have worthlessly served me for [insert age] years. In fact, I've taken personal pay cuts in order to continually allocate funds that only benefitted your expanding power.

I no longer need your services. Your position has been terminated, effective immediately.

Your spot has been filled by a new, awesome force called Self-Respect.

I understand that being replaced by a super-intelligent awesomeness is going to totally crush you, and I am prepared to deal with your scheming ways to crawl back in. Take comfort in the knowledge that you, too, have great transformation potential.

I encourage you to sign up for the training sessions with Self-Respect.

All my best.

No longer yours truly,

[insert your name here]

POTENTIAL DANGERS OF OVEREATING

When I was pregnant and lived in New York City, the guy behind the counter at Häagen Dazs ice cream shop knew not only my name, but also my order. Weekly trips to that little corner shop led me to gain extra weight in my last trimester, and my doctor, beloved Jacques Moritz, threatened me with the possibility of gestational diabetes. Fortunately, my daughter was born a healthy 9 lbs 4 oz, and I quickly forgot about the threat of diabetes and carried on with my life. But I continued to indulge myself for years without thinking. I wish I had known then everything I know now.

The fact is, most of the time cravings lead to overeating. In fact, physical cravings- those that are triggered by imbalances in the body's physiology- often lead to serious food addictions. According to the Food Addiction Institute, "There is now more scientific verification for physical craving as a part of food addiction than there was for physical craving with regard to alcoholism and other drug addictions when they were first designated as substance use disorders."

Wouldn't it be great (and ultimately cheaper and healthier) if we instead had cravings for exercise, vegetables, or even drawing mandalas or watching squirrels? Once our bodies are reset and cleansed from candida, unhealthy gut bacteria, inflammation, it is possible to start having healthy cravings for green smoothies or certain vegetables or fruit.

The topic of food addictions still causes a lot of controversy among scientists, and the information presented in chapter "THE MANY CAUSES OF CRAVINGS and HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM" has been compiled from my research and observations. What I have learned is that each person's experience is truly individual and is based on factors such as age, gender, and individual biochemistry, among others.

Scientists have established that overeating can lead to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, fatty liver, heart disease, and many more serious conditions. That includes spending too much money on a larger-sized wardrobe and the pain of knowing that you're wearing your fat jeans, or something glamorously baggy. "Oversized sweaters are in, haven't you heard?"

Just like medications come with side effects and warning labels, so should food packages and commercials. Instead of the usual warnings in commercials, "If you are concerned about your ability to perform in the bedroom, talk to your doctor about [insert impotence medication here]. You may experience headache, stomach upset, back pain, dizziness, or an erection that lasts for days, etc.," why not a warning on food packaging and advertisements? "Consuming one serving of cookies may lead to impulsive feelings that cause you to devour the entire package at night when your family thinks you're in bed sleeping, leading to high blood sugar, diabetes, and possibly cardiovascular disease. Consult with your doctor before eating these cookies to determine whether you might be at risk."

Many functional medicine doctors today believe that food is medicine. Functional medicine addresses the underlying causes of disease, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both patient and practitioner in a therapeutic partnership. This form of integrative medicine is poised to change the way medicine is practiced. But most of us weren't raised to believe that food is medicine. How were you raised to think about food?

Food is just food. It keeps hunger at bay and brings families and friends together at the dinner table. Sometimes it comforts us after a stressful day, or maybe helps us get over a painful breakup. You've seen the all-too-familiar movie scene: "He broke up with me," says the woman while sitting in her living room in pajamas at three in the afternoon eating ice cream out of the carton, the room an explosion of pizza delivery boxes and tissues. This is hardly food as medicine.

While manufacturers spend millions of dollars creating foods that continually make us crave more and coming up with clever marketing campaigns to keep selling so-called "energy" foods, we are left to deal with our addictions and health consequences. Some commercials make foods look so good that you end up eating three bars in a row, only to crash an hour later.

Years ago I thought I had perfected my method of dealing with cravings: talk to myself sternly, make empty promises to not do it again, spend thirty extra minutes on the treadmill, work a lot from home, or not work at all, avoid seeing friends or putting on a bathing suit, and when all else fails, shop for larger sized clothes! It didn't occur to me back then to look at exactly what my cravings were or why they were happening.

This book contains a great deal of wisdom that I have accumulated over the years and have learned through my clients' and my own...