Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate!!!

Chocoholics everywhere love Easter time . . . all that chocolate everywhere . . . total indulgence . . . white chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate . . . Easter eggs in an array of shapes, colours, sizes and temptations.
And I must admit, that I too have times when I can easily allow myself to get hooked on chocolate if I let myself . . . because chocolate has that feel good quality . . . it makes you smile . . . it can lift any dull moment and make you feel better . . . instantly!

So what is it about chocolate that drew Charlie into the Chocolate factory . . . was it the smell of chocolate (you know that smell, you can think of it now . . . if you wanted too!) was it the taste (that melt in the mouth sensation) . . . or is it all about the happy hormones that release from chocolate which make it addictive and desireable.

Now, if you don't like chocolate and are really not bothered by the stuff, then great, you have no need to read any further . . . However for most others (and especially it seems to be more of a female thing) chocolate can have such a hold over you that you secretly eat it, or over-indulge, feel guilty about it, and have a weight problem because of it. Not the best outcomes for something as innocent as a little peice of chocolate. And there lies the problem, if only you could just have a little bit! It can be for some people that once the taste buds for chocolate have lit up, then it all has to be eaten . . . something inside saying . . . oh, just one more peice . . . only a little more . . . oh, there's only one left now, I shall have to eat it anyway ~ shame to waste it!
Does any of that resonate with you???

So my way of breaking those addictions is that every year, for the past 5 years I have given up chocolate for lent. None has passed my lips since Shrove Tuesday and I will re-convene if I choose to on Easter Sunday, along with the rest of the population. I don't stop eating chocolate for any specific religious reasons, I do it to make sure that I can! It's good to check that self discipline from time to time, and I fully endorse that you try it too ~ okay so you may have missed starting for lent this year, however you could start today and go up until Easter . . . or choose one month a year (say May or June ~ so you can focus on reducing those excess pounds for Summer)
Any craving or addiction really means that 'IT' (whether that's chocolate/alcohol/wine/cheese) is in control of you . . . and it's important that YOU can gain control of 'it' back.

You are in control if you can feel indifferent about something, something you can take or leave . . . content either way.
As a Cognitive Hypnotherapist, I'm all too aware of how the mind plays tricks on us, can torment us, says "Oh, go on . . . have it, no one will know unless you tell them . . . it's our secret!"
So I'm always amused when my mind starts doing that too, and the first non-chocolate week was probably the hardest. Everytime I opened the fridge, I would be drawn unconsciously to where I normally have chocolate and then notice that slight sinking feeling that came up inside me which said "There's none there!". Gradually those moments get less and less, as you re-affirm "No, I'm allowing myself to have a break right now." Friends round for dinner and my husband suggesting "Let's make a nice chocolate cake?"  . . . my reply being "Remember I'm doing lent, how do you fancy a lemon drizzle cake instead?" . . . because I know that once you get the taste again the spell breaks and it's chocolate time again, so if you're going to put yourself in control, you have to prove to your mind that you really mean it. What you find then, is after those first few tests, it gives up and let's you get on with your determination to prove you can do it. . . letting you be in control once more.

There are some great helpful techniques which I teach my weight loss clients to put them in control of their cravings. My last HypnoSlim weight loss group had a chocoholic turn away from it completely and has not bothered with it since! So to discover more about how it might be supportive for you too see ~ http://www.mindbodywellbeing.co.uk/Cognitive+Hypnotherapy-Kettering-Weight+Loss-26.php

Put yourself in control and have a healthy relationship with those Easter Eggs!
Happy Chocolate Free Easter!

     

5:2 Diet, Fasting Craze, Yoga & Healthy Eating

Wow, you might even think that there's been a diet and slimming break through, from all the news, articles and focus on the I.F. Diet, the 5:2 Fasting programme, the Alkaline Diet, etc etc etc. The next latest 'diet' craze setting in . . .

Well as many others already know too . . . it's nothing new, it's been around for years ~ in different forms, under different guises. In the Times yesterday the article read about how certain religions & cultures naturally encourage their followers to have a fast day once a week, or at the least drop down to simply prepared light meal ~ thereby resting the body, cleansing the soul, keeping us healthy.

So, if you're wondering what all this has to do with Yoga (and maybe you go along to a regular weekly class already) . . . Yoga is not simply a weekly stretch of the body alongside maybe a clear of the mind if you practice meditation and pranayama in your classes too ~ but it is all about a healthy lifestyle.
Everything in balance.
Everything in moderation.
Healthy Mind. Healthy Body. Healthy Soul . . . and that also includes what you EAT!

* A classical Yogic diet is Vegetarian (mainly Alkaline forming foods, so light on your stomach, healthy for your bones, heart, digestive system and peace of mind . . . non-harm to animals). It's good for you in many ways.

* Yogis avoid alcohol and toxins so they can be clear in body, mind and spirit for meditation, asana (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques).

* Yogis are recommended to avoid over-eating and Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh suggested that the stomach be only half full of food, leaving space for a quarter for water and a quarter for air (prana or breath). 

* For enhancing heath, wellbeing and for deepening their spiritual practice, it is suggested to have a fast day one day a week. Giving your body time to absorb what is needed to maintain optimum health and optimum energy. And you can have a day off, from planning, cooking or thinking about what you are going to be eating ~ giving your mind a rest too. It's actually proven to be good for your brain to have a rest day or low food intake day, helping to keep the brain energised, focused, gaining more clarity of thoughtfulness, mindfulness, peacefulness. 

There are so many reason's why I chose to become a Vegetarian nearly two years ago ~ mostly because of my Yogic values and choosing to deepen my spiritual practice, but along the way I feel healthier, happier in myself, more energised, physically fitter (alongside my Yoga practice), calmer more peaceful, and can honestly say have never missed meat since! And my added bonus was that I lost any excess weight and find it easy to maintain it too. So a great win win for me personally. 
I have in the past dabbled with 'trying' to be a vegetarian, which I have to admit had been challenging 10 - 15 years ago due to lack of options, lack of knowledge and lack of restaurants/friends/family being able to cater for the 'veggie' . . . "Oh, what shall we cook???? How does Beans on Toast sound or a Mushroom/Cheese Omelette!"
But thankfully the culinary world has changed and there is an abundance of choice nowadays to make it easy for all to embrace a few meat free days.
Meat traditionally was for special feasts, festival days, celebrations . . . it wasn't a daily meal. Meat is the hardest protein to to able to absorb, digest and assimilate into our bodies. Can you imagine how long it can take to leave your stomach from the moment you ate it? It can be anything from 10 hours to a couple of days . . . so if you think about that and you have meat more than one meal a day, you could potentially be loading chewed up meat on top of chewed up meat on top of chewed up meat in your gut and that makes your energy sluggish, leaving you feeling tired, bloated and for some even constipated.
So if you have been intrigued by the benefits of fasting days where you reduce your calories down to 500 calories for a woman and 600 calories for a man on the 5:2 fast plan, then give it a go.
If you fancy having a few veggie days in your week . . . then give it a go (your body and gut will thank you ~ and so will your energy too!)
. . . you never know you may even like it and wonder why you've not done it sooner . . . Oh and benefit from losing weight too!

When I work with my Cognitive Hypnotherapy clients who come to see me for weight loss, I explain that it is a life-style change, a new way of being. Because we all know, that if you keep doing what you've always done  . . . then you'll keep ending up with what you've always had . . . so it's important to change . . . it's good to change . . . change is the one thing that will get you to your goals and maintain being slimmer, healthier and fitter.
Diets don't work if they are just for a short term quick fix, because the moment you go back to eating "normally" (i.e. what you used to eat ~ chocolate, pasta, bread, beer, sweets, crisps etc) the old weight creeps back on . . . plus a little bit more for good measure ~ so you just get on a cycle of yo-yo dieting, which is damaging for your internal organs, your scales and ultimately your self-esteem!
So being successful in losing weight healthily and maintaining that way of being . . . is exactly that, you discover the healthy lifestyle, foods and exercise which suits you best, which you can embrace as a new way of being. Putting you in the driving seat and in control of who, how & where you want to be. 
Even though I made a life choice 2 years ago to stop eating meat, I was already well on my way there, as I have my own veggie plot in our garden and have been an avid veggie grower for many years. That being the case, at home we would often make veggie based meals 3 - 4 times a week as the norm ~ finding ways to be creative with excess courgettes, runner beans, broad beans, tomatoes and so on . . . so out would come the recipes books and it was amazing what we found.
My favorite veggie recipe books at the moment are still ~

• Leith's Vegetarian Bible ~ see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leiths-Vegetarian-Bible-Polly-Tyrer/dp/0747557160
• Plenty by Yotom Ottolenghi  ~ see http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/

Brilliant, inspiring, modern, easy, tasty . . . you can forget the meat altogether . . . even share them with friends and family meals ~ they are that good!  So no need to have to have something different, as everyone will love the look and smell of your food from these two books.

If anyone would like to share their favorite Veggie cook book's at the moment then please do here . . .

For more info on Cognitive Hypnotherapy and weight loss please visit my website at http://www.mindbodywellbeing.co.uk