When The Craving For Something Sweet Hits, Make A Sweet Decision You Can Feel Good About!

I got the craving for one of my favorite go-to's (Peppermint Patties!) when I want something sweet that I shouldn't and decided to look up a recipe remembered getting in an email so I could make a much healthier version myself,.... That's when I thought of all my friends,... and their 'dieting',... and I know a lot of you are working with great programs and resources to help you reach your goals but I just thought I'd share a few things I've learned along the way....

See I've always struggled with my weight, although most who know me don't believe it and even those in my family (cousins, aunts/uncles, etc) think I got my genes from the other side. For me, like most people, weight is really easy to gain and extremely hard to loose! So without going into a lot of the background let's just say I've tried many things, failed many times, and I still struggle today (one reason why I have terrible skin,... very loose no matter how much muscle I build under it - it still hangs and jiggles), although now I have a few secretes under my belt that (if I stick to what I know and don't throw it all out the window when I get upset or feel bad for not eating what everyone else wants) it works consistently over the long run. I have finally reached my (realistic) goal weight and again if I don't let myself get swayed into eating crap I know I shouldn't I can keep it off and still eat more than enough of the really good stuff to keep my belly full and happy! (burgers, steak, seafood, sweet potatoes, fruit, berries, nom-nom-nom :)

I'm just going to share what I know has worked for me, it's just knowledge, you can do what you like with it :)

#1) Listen to your body, it knows what is good for it and what is potentially just creating bad stuff in your body resulting in many things like bad gut bacteria, excess waste in the intestines, toxins in the liver or kidneys, carbs that convert to glucose and mess with leptin levels and hormone receptors (causing all kinds of other domino effect issues in the harmony of the bodies systems,... like brain fog!) not to mention the obvious 'fat' that the body just cant get rid of, or will choose to store instead of burn when you are trying really hard to get rid it. 

#2) The body always burns (for energy/fuel) what you eat first, and out of what you eat it chooses to burn the glucose (all carbs are converted by the body into glucose, and of course all sugar/sweeteners are,... yep glucose!) also overall carbs contain much more calories than protein, so if you did nothing more that try to eliminate as many carbs from your diet as possible you could easily cut your consumed calories in half. As well as forcing your body to attack the fat stores 1st and convert them back into glucose for fuel. Over time when you do this consistently you are forcing your body into Ketosis (ever heard of the Keto Diet?), it works for a reason,... but it is unreasonable to believe it is sustainable, therefore the people who have lost weight this way normally gain it all back unless lifestyle changes are made, and that's why we call it Healthy Eating (lifetime),.. and not a Diet (short-term). 

#3) Every one is different! This is where it goes back to "listen to your own body". This is really hard at first, especially when you have a "build-up" of the bad stuff just sloshing around in there, hanging on to hormone receptors like leaches. One of the hardest things to do is give up all the tasty things you have been used to for your whole life,... but I'll tell you if you do you'll feel amazing,... and your ability to recognize the things that are actually affecting your body in a negative way will skyrocket! (it takes about 3 weeks) The good news is now that you know what makes your body feel like crap and what don't, you can make better choices, not just on cravings but based on how you know you'll feel after you've eaten it (Very parallel to many other healthy behavior decisions we make on a day to day basis!)

For example I have found that 'I' cant eat gluten!
Not that I'm "allergic" to it, but when I do it gives some clues that my body is not processing it well. I may feel any number of things depending on what it was (sometimes it's in stuff you don't realize, like when they use flour to thicken something) for me I usually get a mild to severe headache within a few hours or maybe the next day, sometimes I get acid re-flux, or heartburn, sometimes constipation,... or just a general feeling of having rocks in my gut! And sometimes I even get acne :(

So, some of my favorite learning resources;

The first one I used was the Bullet Proof Diet it works REALLY well, it really is is the best for our bodies, but is also very extreme!
Then I moved more towards just simply Paleo Style meals, and now I have just kind of adapted a lot of my own concepts from a combo of these and other resources.

One of my favorite supplements to take to keep me in a keto state (especially when I'm out of routine, like on the weekends) is Keto OS It's pretty expensive so I don't get to use it very often but I had gotten the end of a can from a friend who was so excited about the product and how it made it possible for her to loose the inches she had been working so hard to shed, and the energy she had when taking it that she urged me to try it, and it really does work! It goes back to the concept of keeping your body burning your own reserves first. And I just love that it is all about the coconut/MCT oil,... great for my skin, and 'brain' food! (after watching my mom have issues with altimeters I'm all about keeping my brain as healthy as possible! ;)

If there is one thing I do have a passion for,... I guess this is it, trying my hardest to be healthy, learning new things, and sharing what I have learned along the way with others so hopefully they can benefit from it as well :)

Oh yeah,... what I was originally looking up,... (from another favorite resource....) Healthy Homemade Peppermint Patties (enjoy!) His resources are really great too,... he has a link at the bottom for some free eBooks, it's worth the click :)