Mind Over Mouth: Simple Tools for Controlling Cravings

I'm a self-professed nerd. My idea of fun is curling up on the couch with a good book, and by good book, I mean a self-help book or maybe a biography on a successful business owner. Not really the average person's idea of fun. This is nothing new. When I was in elementary school, I would come home on Friday nights and attack my homework the second I stepped in the door. After years of this type of behavior, my mother sat me down and actually said "Lauren, you need to have a little fun. Maybe even get into a little trouble. I'll allow it".

Even in the aftermath of total parental oversight, I still continued to do my homework on Friday nights. Wow, wasn't I a fun one?

Recently, I was contacted by an author named Linda Schneider, who just published an e-book called Mind Over Mouth: Fast Tricks to Stop Eating Automatically and Beat Food Cravings on Demand. She wanted to know if I would like to read her e-book and review it on my blog. I'm sure you can guess that my heart skipped a beat. Of course, Linda! I'm a sucker for a good self-help book! And now, I'm here to tell you what I learned in this very helpful, very concise e-book!

Linda writes from experience. She went through a stressful career change and began to look to food for relaxation (something we are all guilty of!). In the course of that year, she gained 22 pounds. Determined to change her eating patterns and take back control of her life, Linda went on a diet and was successful in losing the weight. Although the diet was the tool she used to get there, she attributes her success to learning to control the cravings. In essence, learning to control her mind.

In her e-book Linda shares 12 simple and practical techniques that will help you learn to master your mind and your cravings. Here's a sneak peak...

Image courtesy of
 freedigitalphotos.net

Technique #1: SPICE IT UP

This technique addresses the 'snack attack'. The idea is that when you are experiencing a craving, you can trick your body into satiety. If you can take a second and an ounce of willpower to commit to put a pinch of pepper (or something equally spicy or pungent) on your tongue, the pepper 'acts as a trigger to your food sensors, telling them that you're eating something exciting and stimulating'. It works to distract your mind long enough for the craving to pass. Your body still satisfies the need to 'do' something about the craving, but you stay away from the actual source of the desire.

Image courtesy of
thefeelgoodlifestyle.com

Technique #8: CHEWBACCA ("CHEWIE")

This technique addresses healthy digestion. The act of chewing plays a major role in proper digestion. The fact of the matter is, if you 'force yourself to chew slowly and deliberately, you simply slow down and put less food in your mouth'. It takes your stomach almost 10 minutes to signal to your brain that you are full. When you eat too fast, you tend to eat much more than your body actually needs and you have the awful feeling of 'being stuffed' once your brain gets the message. Chewing slowly allows your body to digest food properly AND gives it the time to signal your brain before you overindulge.

There's something in this e-book for everyone! You may find some techniques easier than others, but I am confident that it will give you the tools you need to control your cravings by controlling your mind, rather than your mouth.

If you'd like to purchase Linda's e-book, Click Here. I might add that it's conveniently priced at $2.99 so no need to take out a loan or refinance the house!

Happy reading and kudos to Linda on a job well done!

Giveaway Alert: Last Chance to Win 'Food Rules'!

There's still time to enter! Here's how: Leave a comment on my Strictly Nutritious Facebook page sharing one food rule you live by OR pin it to win it! Pin a picture of the book Food Rules with a link to yesterday's post about the book, then paste your pin below in the comments section!

The winner will be announced at 3 pm today!
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UPDATE: Congrats to Emily Bullock... the lucky winner of Food Rules! Thanks to all who participated! More giveaways to come!

Food Rules: The CliffsNotes of Nutrition

Image courtesy of bookswim.com

Rules were generally made to break, right? Your mother tells you to keep your dirty little hands out of the cookie jar because you've had enough, and what do you do? Wait until she's not looking and stick your dirty little hands in the cookie jar. You're not even discouraged when she hides the jar on top of the highest shelf in the kitchen, thereby requiring you to scale a kitchen countertop the size of Mt. Everest. You might not even want a cookie, but because she laid down the ground rules, you just HAVE to have one. It's your calling, your mission in life at that particular moment.

Well, I hate to say it, but your mom, your dad, your teachers... they were all correct. Rules ARE for your own good, especially when it comes to food. Last week, while at the powerHouse Arena bookstore in DUMBO, I purchased a copy of Michael Pollan's book Food Rules. It's one of those quick reads that you can easily finish in an hour, but it's packed with useful and enlightening information about (you guessed it) food!

For the next few weeks, I'll be sharing tidbits from his book because they are definitely worth sharing with an audience such as you! I'll start with this one...

"AVOID FOOD PRODUCTS THAT 

MAKE HEALTH CLAIMS"

This seems pretty straight-forward, but how many times have you given yourself a pat on the back for eating a product that advertised itself to be 'low fat', 'natural', 'healthy', etc.? I know I have! Just think Lean Cuisine, Snackwells and Baked Lays.

The underlying problem with these products is that they are processed foods, and unfortunately, processed foods are not regulated by the FDA as responsibly as you might assume. The very fact that they come in a package should tell you something. If you take a moment to review the ingredient list, you'll see that most of these foods are full of genetically modified ingredients. 

Image courtesy of leancuisine.com

Check out this ingredient list for Lean Cuisine's Chicken Fettuccini. You, like me, probably can't pronounce most of the ingredients towards the end, much less figure out what they are. Also notice the word 'modified' more than a few times in this list...

Ingredients:

BLANCHED FETTUCCINI (WATER, SEMOLINA, WHEAT GLUTEN), SKIM MILK, COOKED CHICKEN TENDERLOIN (CHICKEN TENDERLOINS, WATER, SEASONING (MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SUGAR, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, YEAST EXTRACT, DEXTROSE, SPICE, ONION POWDER, GARLIC POWDER, PAPRIKA), SOYBEAN OIL, ISOLATED SOY PROTEIN, SALT, SODIUM PHOSPHATES), BROCCOLI, WATER, 2% OR LESS OF CREAM, MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, SALT, ENZYME MODIFIED PARMESAN CHEESE PASTE (PARMESAN CHEESE (CULTURED PART-SKIM MILK, SALT, ENZYMES), WATER, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE (FROM MILK), REDUCED FAT MILK, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, ENZYMES, NONFAT MILK, CULTURES), PARMESAN CHEESE PASTE (GRANULAR AND PARMESAN CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES), WATER, SALT, LACTIC ACID, CITRIC ACID), SOYBEAN OIL, BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, ROMANO CHEESE PRODUCT ((PASTEURIZED COW'S MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES), WATER, SALT, LACTIC ACID), BUTTERFAT, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CHEESE FLAVOR (CHEDDAR CHEESE (CULTURED MILK, SALT, ENZYMES), WATER, SALT, ENZYMES, CULTURES, PHOSPHORIC ACID, XANTHAN GUM), SPICES, MONO-&DIGLYCERIDES, XANTHAN GUM, FLAVOR (MALTODEXTRIN, FLAVORING AND MODIFIED FOOD STARCH), YEAST EXTRACT, SEASONING (WHEAT STARCH, EXTRACTS OF ANNATTO AND TURMERIC COLOR, NATURAL FLAVOR).

Contains: MILK, SOY, WHEAT INGREDIENTS

If your great-great-great grandfather and his clan didn't need genetically modified ingredients in their food, then you probably don't need them in yours either. These processed foods are modified to increase their shelf life. They're basically immortal. You know as well as I do that REAL food goes bad. If your food is not going bad, you should probably err on the side of caution when grabbing it off the shelf at the grocery next time.

Image courtesy of wellandgoodnyc.com

I'll leave you with one last excerpt from the book:

"Generally, it is the products of modern food science that make the boldest health claims, and these are often founded on incomplete and often bad science. Don't forget that margarine, one of the first industrial foods to claim it was more healthful than the traditional food it replaced, turned out to contain transfats that give people heart attacks. The healthiest food in the supermarket - the fresh produce - doesn't boast about its healthfulness, because the growers don't have the budget or the packaging. Don't take the silence of the yams as a sign they have nothing valuable to say about your health."

Now I'm not saying you should never buy food that's packaged. Don't worry about looking over both shoulders for me in the grocery store. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not on the Processed Food Police Task Force. If truth be told, I am guilty of buying processed food myself. It's just hard to avoid sometimes!

But my goal after reading Michael Pollan's book is to make a conscious effort to investigate what I'm putting into my body. The corporations that produce these 'foods' don't have a vested interest in my well-being, or yours. It's up to us to take an active role in what we purchase and consume.

Those Lean Cuisines weren't any fun to eat anyways, right? 

Good! I'm glad I didn't spoil your lunchtime fun!


GIVEAWAY ALERT!
I'd like to give one lucky reader a copy of Food Rules! Here's how you win...
Leave a comment on my Strictly Nutritious Facebook page sharing one food rule you live by OR pin it to win it! Pin a picture of the book Food Rules with a link to today's post, then paste your pin below in the comments section!

Winner will be announced tomorrow!