Food Cravings & Emotional Eating: Practical Approaches for WINNING: Part 2

In my last post “Are Cravings and a Snacking habit getting the better of you?” I explored why we crave the foods we do, why we snack and what giving in to said cravings and a snacking habit could be doing to your health and your livity. If we’re keeping it a buck fifty, the foods we crave all tend to be high-carb, highly processed foods: chips, cookies, ice-cream, bread. And we established that there are valid physiological and psychological reasons at play. You’re not weak neither are you greedy. These hyper-palatable carbohydrate rich foods trigger pathways in our brain that simply make us feel good and when we remain in constant search of that feel-good place we simply repeat the behaviour that led to it in the first place: dependency or addiction.

This dependency on high-carb, hyper-palatable foods for many, many of us negatively impacts our health (we gain weight or we have difficulty taking and keeping off weight), we get bloated and live with various gut-issues like acid reflux & general discomfort, and we are simply trapped in a vicious cycle of having to be constantly thinking of what next will we eat in order to avoid “hangry” states throughout our day. Sounds familiar? Ok. So what next? Do we simply cut out these carbs and flourish? Easier said than done, right? If there is an actual factual dependency on these foods at play, HOW do we break the dependency and how do we meet the need that gave rise to this dependency in the first place?

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The Keto Diet & Recovery After A Stroke

I reviewed my friend Hilary’s book about her “new normal” after surviving a stroke at the relatively young age of 51 three years ago. As you would imagine, Hilary’s life changed in an instant. She had to contend with her altered appearance and independence due to challenges with her mobility. In the last 3 years, Hilary has worked very hard in concert with her doctors and therapists to get to the stage now where she can move largely unassisted and can once again perform basic self-care tasks. In her book, Hilary explained very clearly what strokes are and how they are caused. And I started to think. You see, in the last year and seven months that I have changed my diet to the keto diet, I have discovered a direct link between the food we eat and our health. The keto diet was originally conceived and implemented as part of the treatment protocol for epilepsy, a disease of the brain. My own improved general health while eating the keto way, prompted me to do some digging, and I have discovered links between keto and other diseases and conditions such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, PCOS , high blood pressure and even mental health. So could the keto diet be useful in the road to recovery for survivors of stroke?

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“My New Normal: Reflections of a Stroke Survivor” A book review.

We were stunned at work back in late 2015 when we heard that she had had a stroke. What?! Hilary was just 51 and in apparent good health. Heck, I’d seen her that day at work! As the months following that day in November in 2015 changed to years, I’d see a pic or two on her Facebook page. It was evident that her life had changed, literally in an instant. Facial features had changed and mobility was most definitely a challenge. We saw each other once when she visited the office. She was moving around with assistance from a caregiver, but seemed so happy to reconnect with her former colleagues. Then I stopped seeing her on Facebook. I wondered what was happening and thought of her frequently. So imagine my joyful surprise when Hilary reached out to me on Twitter with an invitation to her book launch!

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