The Eating Coach

Today in The Eating Coach podcast, I give you some practical ways to deal with Thanksgiving and other feast days, which are potential breeding grounds for overeating and bingeing. I want to give you the tools to enjoy these events as much as possible. An impossible dream? I don’t think so.

 

*Stupid Idea of The Week*

...is cheat days. I uncover the thinking behind this and how it takes no account of the human need for pleasure. Sounds wrong? Aren’t they all about pleasure? Well, yes BUT cheat days assume that a healthy life equals a boring, pleasureless existence. Your body will rebel against this. In this section I tell you how to resolve this conflict.

Cheat days are also a terrible way to prepare yourself to navigate celebrations where overeating is the norm.

 

*How To Stop Overeating At Celebrations*

A series of practical ways to reduce compulsive eating at Thanksgiving, Eid, Passover, Christmas, Rosh Hashanah or any other religious feast time.

I divide this talk into two sections: Celebrations where food is integral and compulsory, and those events where it is optional but there is an abundance of junk.

DISCOVER:

*How you can prepare ahead of time

*Think about what you could say to the host - even if they always pressure you to eat three helpings

*The one phrase that will help you adjust your expectations on these occasions

 

RESOURCES

Find out about one-to-one coaching at:

http://www.theshiftinside.com/coaching/

Ask a question at:

http://www.theshiftinside.com/podcast/

Get your free audiobook at:

http://www.audibletrial.com/EatingCoach

Produced by Beth McGowan

Sound FX by Zapsplat

It's time to own our abnormality! In today's show, I want to fight the oft-repeated phrase I just want to be normal. Whether they are talking about their eating, or their personality, I believe that there is no normal. Let's explore this. *Stupid Idea of The Week*

There just seems to be no end of stupid ideas to lambast. This week we investigate how to ruin a really, really nice glass of wine (cue exasperated sigh). All I can say is: listen and weep. With a mini rant on why calorie counting has failure built in.

 

*Main section*

Who Wants To Be Normal Anyway? Today I challenge this. 

Being out of control around food can prompt a desire to be "normal". However, it has such wildly differing definitions throughout history and across the globe today. This word is nothing but the agreed upon beliefs and traditions of the people around us. 

It really is an expression of the need for acceptance. In this episode, I divide this concept into two separate parts. I explain what these are, as well as:

*The phrase that means two completely different things, depending on how you say it

*The new normal you really do not want to be a part of

*How normal equals mediocrity

 

RESOURCES

The Eating Coach Discussion Group is at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1594950873896541/

The Buzzfeed article on what is normal around the world and throughout history:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/hgrant/8-jaw-dropping-traditions-from-around-the-world?utm_term=.gr84oOyXr#.spW0YJRgl

SRINI PILLAY's Book

https://drsrinipillay.com/resource/life-unlocked-7-revolutionary-lessons-overcome-fear/

Ask a question at:

http://www.theshiftinside.com/podcast/

Get your free audiobook at:

http://www.audibletrial.com/EatingCoach

 

Produced by Beth McGowan

Fasting has a great reputation in the wellness industry, whether it be water or juicefasting. But is is a step too far for food compulsives?

Stupid Idea Of The Week

Q: What is worse for you than drinks laced with processed sugar, but has a better reputation than the Dalai Lama teaching Mother Theresa to meditatate?

A: Fruit juice.

This is not only Stupid Idea of The Week, it's the winner of this century's most believable health myth. I've fallen for it, just like you. 

I explain why it is so bad for you, but why you should not necssarily ban it completely.

ALSO...

...we look at fasting - if you have a history of food compulsion, is it too ambitious an idea to try fasting?

...I tell you what the human lottery is, and give you a quick happiness hack that does not rely on empty affirmations.

...And one of my favourite comedians drops in to end the episode on a high.

RESOURCES

The Freedom From Sugar Kickstarter course is at

http://www.theshiftinside.com/freedom/

Robert Lustig's 'Fat Chance'

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14481524-fat-chance

Rhod Gilbert

https://youtu.be/TQ4W7yB9Mow

Get your free Hidden Sugars Checklist to print off at

http://www.theshiftinside.com/hidden/

Ask a question at:

http://www.theshiftinside.com/podcast/

Get your free audiobook at:

http://www.audibletrial.com/EatingCoach

Reframe your overwhelming cravings with the help of Einstein and a pink elephant. No willpower necessary. I guarantee this reframe of your overwhelming urge for sugar (or any junk) will be liberating. *Stupid Idea Of The Week* This drives me mad. When people use images of junk and sugary treats to illustrate health blogs, eBooks and products, all they are doing is triggering the release of compulsive eaters’ dopamine. This in turn urges you to get the junk and that serotonin high...which inevitably leads to the mood crash and all the rest of it. *How To Stop Sugar Cravings* Today I explain how I dismantled my overpowering sugar cravings with the help of Mr Albert Einstein. It all comes down to how you see cravings. Most people look at them as a force that has invaded their mind and takes all of their willpower away. This is not at all helpful. Listen to this reframe of cravings that actually gives you a way to channel, not try to combat them. Because when we feel compulsive, cravings are a battle we will never, ever win. RESOURCES Find out about The 14 Days To Freedom From Sugar programme at http://www.theshiftinside.com/freedom/ Supersize Me by Morgan Spurlock http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390521/

Sound effects by the ever-sound Zapsplat

The whole 'Me Too' phenomenon where women publicly open up on social media about sexual assault or harrassment has sparked alot of debate. I steer clear of that in this episode and focus on the life-changing reframe of trauma that has helped me and others live our lives free of its power. No need for a time machine.

There is no account in this episode of my experiences, so if you have found that others' stories trigger you, there is no need to worry here. The main focus is on the process of resolving trauma.

INTRO Why I think 'Me Too' is part of a bigger healing process - and what that is

 

SECTION 2 (Starts at 4:30) How food can be a coping mechanism for trauma

 

SECTION 3 (Starts at 9:00) How an overwhelming event becomes trauma: The three stages of tribal initiation. Childhood trauma partially mimics tribal initiation, of which there are three stages. Trauma misses out on the third, vital stage, and this is why so many people feel unable to move on after overwhelming life events. What Goldie Hawn has to do with all of this.

 

SECTION 4 (starts at 16:00) The liberating truth that will set you free from guilt: the real reason that so many people self-sabotage so badly in their lives. This is an unconscious attempt to resolve the trauma. Listen and find out exactiy how.

 

SECTION 5 (Starts at 21:49) Four Ways To Move To Stage 3 *Speak your truth... *...to the right audience *Replace the victim identity with that of the wounded healer *Risking rejection

 

SECTION 6 (starts at 29:14)

What stage 3 looks like – my personal experience

 

SECTION 7 (starts at 33:52)

Putting food out of a job it was never meant to do

 

RESOURCES

Guardian article mentioned at the start https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/16/me-too-victims-perpetrators-sexual-assault

The information on tribal initiation and trauma is from The Language of Emotions by Karla McLaren (Unintentional Shamans) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8048177-the-language-of-emotions

What has The IT Crowd and a disastrous pre-online dating story got to do with owning your food compulsion? Owning your food compulsion, that's what. In today's Eating Coach episode we also have a brand new word and of course Stupid Idea Of The Week.

 

Stupid Idea of The Week

...is Describing The Ideal.

A few years ago I heard an interview with a health coach who said that the key to overcoming weight issues was that you have to believe you were worth it. What a load of nonsense! So many people are weaponising food to use against their own happiness. Pointing us to the detsination with no roadmap to change is no help at all. This is describing the ideal.

  WORD OF THE WEEK

...is Uncomfortability. This is more than discomfort, it is the ability to sit with discomfort and pain. Includes a hilarious quote from Stuart Wilde!

 

OWN YOUR EATING PROBLEM

My disastrous "lonely hearts" story vs Moss from The IT Crowd. Lesson: If you have a problem, it is better to own it than hide it away in secrecy. I explore this from several different angles.

 

RESOURCES

The Stuart Wilde quote and ideas come from the book Infinite Self

The IT Crowd:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0487831/

Today I am going to explain why calorie counting does not work, using Blade Runner as a metaphor. Don't worry - no spoilers!

*Stupid Idea of The Week*

This week it is you're so good. The moral highground does NOT belong to people who can control their food intake. Find out why in this section.

 

*What's Wrong With Calorie Counting?*

What has the film Blade Runner and its sequel got to do with calorie counting? Replicants, that's what. These android slaves-turned-rebels have alot to teach us about the limits of traditional dieting.

This is a spoiler free episode :)

Find out why your diet sheet is like The Tyrell Corp and your body is like a rebel replicant - and how to resolve this conflict.

 

*Preview of Harry Potter Saved My Life*

Included is an extract of my new podcast. You can access it by searching the title in your podcast app or here: 

http://www.harrypottersavedmylife.com/

 

RESOURCES

Join The Eating Coach Discussion Group here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1594950873896541/

Ever wondered why you lost interest in that health plan you couldn't stop talking about two weeks ago? Dive and in a discover what is happening.

*Stupid Idea of The Week* 

The world of fitness is full of increasingly over-engineered solutions to our less than flat stomachs. Today I go after the creators.

 

*Change Tourism*

People often make excuses about deserting their goals, and others give them a hard time about it. But is there a middle ground, where we allow our resistance to what we long to achieve to grow, without really understanding what is happening. 

 

Quote of The Week: "It's not about how quickly I fall off, it's about how quickly I get back on again".

 

*The All-New Eating Coach Facebook Discussion Group Is Now Open!*

To join, simply go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1594950873896541/  

 

RESOURCES

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/facebook-more-needy-than-a-newborn-baby-say-experts-20171003136851

 

Get your free Hidden Sugars Checklist to print off at

http://www.theshiftinside.com/hidden/

Ask a question at:

http://www.theshiftinside.com/podcast/

In this week's show , we look at artificial sweeteners and ask what has the debate around them missed?

*Stupid Idea of The Week* (length: 2 min 45)

This week I have great fun tearing down the Shangri-La diet. Really there are no words here. No wait - actually, there are. Hear them here.

*Main section* (length: 11 min 31)

Artificial sweeteners have a very controversial history. Many people say aspartame gives you cancer, while governments tell us it is safe. What to do in this hotly debated climate? My take is that this is the wrong discussion to have about this subject - we should worry about a different aspect of artificial sweeteners. I explain what in this section, as well as:

• What Dr David Ludwig of Boston Children's Hospital has to say about this
• What one eminent researcher's view is
• My own (non-zero tolerance) approach in the real world - and what I do about my kids and these sweeteners

*Audiobook Recommendation* (length: 3min 01)

The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday. Listen to it free by going to http://www.audibletrial.com/EatingCoach and searching for The Obstacle Is The Way.

*The All-New Eating Coach Facebook Discussion Group Is Now Open!*

To join, simply go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1594950873896541/  

 

RESOURCES

Get your free Hidden Sugars Checklist to print off at

http://www.theshiftinside.com/hidden/

Ask a question at:

http://www.theshiftinside.com/podcast/

The Harvard article about Dr Ludwig:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/artificial-sweeteners-sugar-free-but-at-what-cost-201207165030

The American Diabetes Association study about diet drinks:

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/4/688

The Snopes pro-aspartame article:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

 

Get your free audiobook at:

http://www.audibletrial.com/EatingCoach

This week we look at four characters from film and TV whose body shape defies the "norm" in one way or another, and how they can help us all feel more at ease in our own (imperfect) skin. Watch the clips of them at http://www.theshiftinside.com/films/

*Stupid Idea of The Week*

And we welcome into Eating Coach HQ the maple syrup diet. The moral of this diet is: ignore that pesky evidence that maple syrup is no better for you than processed sugar - ESPECIALLY when the packaging is so good, and mega superstars have tried it - for a couple of weeks AT LEAST.

*Body Confidence Film Special*

Here are the four we will discuss

Sugar ('Some Like It Hot') played by Marilyn Monroe (and a bit of Bridget Jones too)

Sylvester from 'Scorpion'

Amy Schumer in 'Trainwreck'

Jacob from 'Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them'

Go to http://www.theshiftinside.com/films/ to watch clips of all four films

What do these characters' body shape signify, and how can this help us increase our own body confidence?

 

*RESOURCES*

http://www.theshiftinside.com/hidden/ 

- one page hidden sugars checklist

 

http://www.theshiftinside.com/coaching/

- for info about coaching

 

https://www.zapsplat.com/

- for splendiferous sound effects