Showing posts with label eating. Show all posts

The Other Addiction

Food Addiction - A behavioral addiction that is primarily characterized by the compulsive consumption of palatable (e.g., high fat and high sugar) food items which markedly activate the reward system in humans and other animals despite adverse consequences. [Wikipedia]

We are always hearing about drug addiction or alcohol addiction, etc. Food addiction is rarely talked about yet can be as damaging as a drug or other addiction. Food addiction is a real thing. Unlike drugs, food is something we have to have to survive so it makes it a struggle to stay clear from it. 


Just like drug addiction:
food addiction….

Can cause health issues.
Has strong cravings and urges.
You find yourself lying to others about foods you buy or eat.
You have a choice food that will always lead to binge eating.
You sneak around to eat.
You will often eat alone.
You get grumpy when food wears off.
You eat so you will not feel certain emotions. 
You pay high prices for the satisfaction.
You want out but you keep going back.
When someone says you eat to much, you get defensive. 
Taking it away can cause a fight. 
There comes a time we ask for help and have to attend clinics or therapist.
Once clean from the addiction of food, on bite of your favorite foods will trigger a relapse. 

I think I have a food addiction. For real. I am seeing a dietitian and that first couple weeks of detoxing was hard! I almost caved. My body was even getting weak and my energy level was 1 to zero. My body is now getting used to the restrictions I am on and I finally feel the energy slowly coming back and the cravings are getting less. I have even lost 15 lbs in four weeks. I have a few more weeks left of restrictions and I should be good. 


I have to stay away from bake shops because it would be equivilant to taking an alcoholic to a liquor store. 

Food addiction is a powerful thing. Food can be a drug. let’s remember those that may be suffering. Never pick on someone for being on a diet or for what they have on their plate. You never know there story or the struggles they might be going through. 



Note: Some people wonder what happened after I lost 50lbs on Nutrisystem 7 years ago.
That was a super easy diet that I eventually had to give up due to reactions to the salts and whey proteins. I kept the weight off for 5 years. The past two years I fell off the wagon and began eating unhealthy amounts of bad foods again which led me to gaining all 50 lbs back. 






Fall Maybe

It finally cooled down a little this weekend making it feel more like Fall. While temperatures tipped 100 degrees last week, we woke up Saturday morning to temperatures dipping into the 60’s. Fall maybe?

Temperatures are still too warm to bring out the sweaters but it did put me in the mood for some Autumn like recipes. 
Note: No pumpkin spice included. I am not a fan of pumpkin unless it’s in a pie hidden under a mountain of whip cream. 

I attempted to make blender Tortilla Soup. I did not read the recipe correctly and made it wrong. While the flavor was still there, the texture made it undesirable. I eat two bowls all the same. I didn't think it was all that bad, I just felt like I was eating baby food. Haha. 

My husband surprised me by making some baked pear. He gets all the credit for this one. He even took a before photo. How thoughtful of him. 



These pears were easy. Just cut them in half, core out the center, stuff with cinnamon and walnuts and drizzle with honey. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the pears are soft. Drizzle more honey on top right before serving. I topped mine with a little yogurt. These were so good!

I also got in the mood for this Fall favorite of mine. I have learned to love acorn squash. When cooked it has a similar flavor to a sweet potato. 


I wanted to see if I could make them in my air fryer. The air fryer did a perfect job in half the time as the oven. These are easy to make too.
Just cut in half and clean out the seeds. Rub coconut oil or butter on the inside and add some cinnamon and brown sugar. Place in air fryer at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. 


I added a little extra sweetness by adding some walnuts and placing a divided marshmallow on top. To brown the marshmallows, I put the squash in the toaster until the marshmallows were melted and had a nice crisp topping. Delicious. 

How is the weather in your area? Are you seeing Fall yet?

Vacay Wrap Up

Just wanted to wrap up my beach trip with some show and tell photos. As I said in a previous post. It was one of the best weeks we have had in a long time. I didn’t have any issues with my inner ear problem, no camper problems, there was no rain, and a lot of family and friends came together for a day of fun. But all and all we enjoy our time together. Just the two of us. It was no paradise island, cabana boys (but my husband made a pretty good personal one). We did not stay in no fancy hotel or have room service. We walked mostly barefoot in the sand and the temperatures were in the 90’s during the day and 70's and 80’s at night. We enjoyed our hammocks I purchased before we went. They were new and only 6.00 each from Curt's Outlet store in the mall.


While on our morning walk around the campground, there was a gentleman selling some garden produce. He had the best tomatoes we have had this year. They were perfect. Every day we would eat a tomato sandwich with chips on the beach. I never got tired of them. We also purchased a cantaloupe the was very good. And of course, I had to use the shell for a breakfast bowl one morning. 


A couple nights we stayed in and ate a simple such as this salad and grilled baked potato. We didn’t even miss the meat!


We visited our favorite hamburger place one night called Hamburger Joe's and made a trip to McAllister's Deli one evening. But the place we loved the best was Taco Mundo. We always get Mexican food at least once a week no matter if we are home or on vacation. We absolutely love Mexican food. Taco Mundo sits on the water way in Barefoot Landing. 


We love eating on the patio and enjoying the view. I had the Black Bean Nachos and Nick had a crab taco and a shrimp taco. The nachos plate was huge so he helped me out on that. Just look at that pile! Best ever!


After dinner we walked our meal off in the shopping area of Barefoot Landing. We had a lot of laughs visiting some of the novelty shops. I thought this bubble bath was a hoot (or toot). Luckily I didn’t make my own bubble bath after eating all those black bean nachos!


Here I am barely dressed (sorry). I was sporting this free tank top gifted to me in a give-away by Low Tide Ocean Products. I had a lot of fun wearing this over my bikini or with shorts. 


Ignore the cellulite and baby faces on my knees and focus on how cute this shirt is! But it’s not the shirt that is so great about this company.

Low Tides Ocean Products makes beach chairs from plastic collected from the beaches of Haiti and the Yucatan Peninsula. Wow, talk about trash to treasure! They are the most adorable beach chairs that are stylish durable and people can feel good knowing that when they purchase one of these chairs, they helped clean the ocean.


Read their story HERE
LowTides_Process_3
I was not asked or compensated to write about or review this product 
(or restaurants mentioned in this post).

I am not affiliated with Low Tides Ocean Products. 
I just love what they are doing and how darn cute their chairs are