Ugh - Too Much Holiday Food? Strategies for the Binge Eater.

Everything in moderation, including moderation. I had a fantastic holiday. I keep myself fairly disciplined around what I eat, so a chance to relax and enjoy the holiday food works wonders for me!! What I noticed for myself was that it is too easy to cross the line from enjoyable fullness into uncomfortable gluttony! I usually use a Chinese Herbal Medicine called Curing Pills when this happens. It consists of herbs that help you to digest and move energy in the stomach. It really helps. But I don't like to over rely on any tool. I want to be in control of myself. And as a former binge eater, I find that I have to do some work to maintain the progress that I have made! I like to keep it simple. So as we move on towards holiday parties, plates of cookies at the office, and Christmas dinner, it's time to set a strategy.

Strategy 1. Eat SOME of what you are craving.
Do you refuse and avoid the junk, only to break down and binge at the last moment? In that case, I recommend the strategy of allowing yourself to have SOME of what you want. Get a cookie, but eat it slowly and savor it. Break it in two and save the other half for later. And absolutely DO NOT allow yourself a second one. Set some rules around how many treats you have. Maybe once a week at the office?

Strategy 2: Post it notes in your cubicle.
Write a list of the things you will be saying to yourself if you eat too much this season and put a couple on post it notes in your cubicle. All that work that has been spent losing weight is so easy to put back on, especially in the winter. Our metabolism slows down and our bodies want to store some fat against the cold.

Strategy 3: A reward.
Put a little money away for a special present or trip in the Spring. It can be one dollar, five, ten, twenty a week. Get a picture of a person on a beach in the summer. Winter won't be here forever. A little reminder of where delayed gratification will get you can go a long way!!

Strategy 4: A reward with the added power of more people
Take strategy three and up the ante! Get your office, your friends, your spouse or make up a group of people. Set up your pool for a certain amount per week and decide what the prize will be and how you will track the winner. This gives you so many benefits. You can work as a group on making healthy snacks to bring into the office. You can support and encourage each other!!

Strategy 5: A decision to avoid the junk
We usually crave sweets when we are overworking, over thinking, over tired and not eating right. Running extra errands, going to extra parties is a perfect recipe for a sugar craving!! So make sure that you always put eating a good meal first! If you can focus on eating the good food, then the junk won't be so tempting. Also, drinking a large glass of water or eating an apple anytime you find yourself craving helps too!

Let me know your ideas and good luck staying true to what will make you happiest in the long run!!! If you are interested in curing pills for the holidays, or getting Acupuncture to help reduce cravings and control your weight, then please call me at 303-881-1971. I offer a free 30 minute consultation. Happy Holidays everyone.

Assess Your Values

I was talking to a friend who has had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for several years now. He had just completed an exercise to identify his values and had included Health in his top three. He told me before he became sick, he would never have put it so high. He took his health for granted.

Your task this week is to think of your top values and to assess where Health fits in!! Examples of core values are: Health, Security, Relationships, Religion, Honesty, Family, Work Ethic, Leadership, Integrity, Fairness, Competitiveness, Service, Justice, Kindness, and Responsibility. This is a good partial list. If you answer the next two questions, you'll probably think of a few more! What motivates you? and What do you spend the most time on?

Are you exercising, eating right, dealing with stress at home and work well, and making time for yourself??? If your answer is NO, then you have several things that are more important to you than your health. The reality is that if you lose your health, you lose much of the joy in your life and your ability to meet and maintain your other values.

One of the things I love about working with my patients is the Health Coaching that I do. My encouragement and suggestions for change put a focus on their health and provide support needed to make changes. I encourage you all to visit me for a free thirty minute Health Evaluation and learn your Health Score!! See your health from a new point of view! Call me right now at 303-881-1971 to schedule your FREE consultation!

Strategies for Exercising

Exercise is something your body needs, wants and enjoys. What activity is right for you and how can you make it a priority in a busy schedule?

Ideas are:
Do something you enjoy!
Make it fun. One client says she likes using her Wii.
Put it in your schedule and persist in doing it until it is a habit.
Hire a personal trainer.
Join a gym.
Take a class.
Look for a meet-up group to join.
Get your partner on board and do it together.

These ideas are nice, but without setting a firm intention and follow through nothing will happen. Remember High School English. Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why? Who will exercise? Will you do it alone or with a friend or group? What type of exercise do you want to do? When will you do it? What day and time really work well for you? Where will you do it? How will you do it? Why will you do it?
If you take this exercise seriously and sit down and answer it, you will have created a vision to work from!!!

Don't forget the idea of rewards. Set a goal and plan a special incentive to motivate you. Maybe you get to go out to dinner on the weekend if you meet your goal of exercising each day that week.

Answer the questions and write up your plan. Don't forget those reasons why!! Motivation is so important and we all need to remember long term thinking, especially when short term gratification is tempting us away from our goals. Post your plan on the fridge, on the bathroom mirror, or in your workout room. I especially like the idea of the mirror, as you will have to look yourself in the eye if you aren't sticking with your plan.

Good luck to you (and myself) and I'd love to hear about how your exercise is going.

Do you know what you need?

Do you know what you need? It seems like such an easy question to answer. Of course. Yes. Maybe? I'm not sure. The longer you think about this, the more you may wonder.

If you get anxious at work, do you know what you need at that moment? If you're angry at your partner constantly, do you know what you need?

The best person to answer this question is you and the best way to answer it is to go deep inside. When something shakes you up or unsettles you, instead of reaching for a cigarette, a candy bar, a drink, or the phone, sit down in a chair, close your eyes, and imagine yourself in a small room inside your head. It is quiet and peaceful. Now just be still and quiet and ask yourself the question, "What do I need right now?" Then be patient and wait for the answer.

The answer may be "I just need to sit here quietly for five more minutes and then I'll be o.k." Or it may be a bigger answer, such as "I think I need a new job."

You may want a small journal to write down these questions and answers. If you get a big answer, I wouldn't necessarily run into your bosses office and quit. I would start to evaluate what else I want to do, how I am sitting financially, and all the other serious questions around making a big change. There is a lot of power in knowing what is wrong and making a plan towards correcting it, even if you still need to work there for a while.

Part of my Acupuncture practice is Five Element work. This is essentially a personality typing system that helps me to work with people on these bigger questions and to address the persons' emotional, mental, physical and spiritual needs. If you need help seeing the next step on your path clearly, or dealing with an emotional issue that is debilitating, then please give me a call at 303-881-1971 and schedule a free consultation to discuss how acupuncture can help you to feel better.

I look forward to hearing what you noticed when you tuned in.

After the Halloween Candy

If you are a person who struggles with your sweet tooth, (as I am), then the holidays can be a challenging time. I believe in moderation and I don't believe in denial, so I treat this as a sugar addiction very successfully in my acupuncture practice. My patients typically tell me I had JUST ONE piece of cake or I was able to shop in the bakery section in the grocery store and I didn't want it!!

I hope you had a blast with Halloween and indulged a little! But now that it's over it is time to be tough. Give away the leftovers, or even better yet, throw them away and take the trash out. It makes a really big imprint in your mind. This stuff is garbage. It has no nutrition for my body and mind.

Your body craves sweets when it is not getting REAL nutrition, so feed your body sweet potatoes, squash, veggies, and rice. Move into warmer foods for fall and winter, like stews, roasts, baked potatoes, etc. If you love salads, warm them up with roasted potatoes, leftover rice, blanched broccoli, seeds and nuts, and a heavier salad dressing.

Now that you've learned more about what it means to crave sweets; You'll want to come in and see me for your free consultation! Call Tina Laue, L.Ac. at 303-881-1971 or e-mail me at tinalaue@goodneedles.com.

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