I received a comment on the recipe for goldie cookies: “normally we are allowed up to 5 grams of sugar per day, anything more than that is a bomb. For me, diabetes, celiac disease, intolerances and intestinal dysbiosis prevented me from eating many things. I was actually reading what you wrote about the cravings, that’s right, it’s very difficult psychologically to hold back and scream inside that suddenly you have to say stop to everything you liked… a big thing has to be done. I know, I need iron patience and optimism, but it’s hard… Thank you.” And one more comment, on the same recipe: “Sugar requires more sugar. I know from my own experience that you don’t need what you eat to be sweet or salty or spicy to have taste.”
Yes, I also learned the hard way how hard it is to refrain from what you like, I imposed diets, I imposed restrictions, I imposed myself to work until the point of fatigue and pain. I was polishing my martyr aura, patting myself on the head about what a good girl I am and gulping dryly in front of a steaming cup of coffee I was craving. The physical pains had subsided, but I was suffering mentally, enclosed between the fences of so many restrictions. Until I decided that the role of victim no longer suits me and I have to approach things differently. Instead of looking at the windows of the pastry shops with the watery eyes of a neglected dog, I started walking past them repeating in my mind with humor: “what’s tasty, it’s unhealthy, immoral and fattening” or “it’s icky” or “all those pastries are spoiled”. With humor, get it? Not like a moralist, I didn’t judge the people crowding the line and I didn’t glare at the vendors. I was making fun of myself and my previous attitude. It took a conscious effort to internalize the new attitude, but after a while those pastries no longer meant anything to me, they no longer triggered my salivation and victim reflex.
You can’t live your whole life in restrictions. First of all, these restrictions are mental. Yes, the restrictions are mental, not physical. We don’t need anything, only our mind does. We don’t need sweets, sugar, coffee, bread, pies… and that’s just about food. Our mind demands them. It triggers an emotion, which in turn favors the release of a certain hormone, depending on which emotion we feel. This is where food cravings, our current state and… diseases start. If you’re always having negative thoughts about everything and everyone, if you’re always complaining about something or restricting yourself, what hormones do you think your body will release? Negative thoughts trigger negative emotions: fear, upset, anger, rage, hopelessness… phew, and many more! What are thoughts made of? From words. We think in words. If the words we repeat to ourselves, in our minds or out loud, are: I’m not allowed, they blocked me, it’s hard, I feel like screaming, I’d like to, but…, I can’t, ouch… what emotions are triggered by these words? It is not easy to change the thinking, because it comes from a certain mentality, which was imposed on us by the family and the environment in which we grew up. The important thing is to understand the mechanism and try it. You will not succeed the first time, you will fail many times, but persevere. Maybe those around you will perceive you as an oddity that they won’t recognize anymore, maybe they won’t support you, but don’t give up, your health depends on changing your thoughts, mentality, mindset, or how you want it name. First replace the negative words with their positive variants and remove from your vocabulary expressions like: I don’t want to be sick anymore, replace them with: I want to be healthy. No one blocks you, only your mind does. Believe in yourself.
