The Eating Coach

Contact me for a 15 minute chat about this issue and get a strategy you can use today to start to reclaim power

info @ theshiftinside.com

Today we ask: what if you stopped seeing emotional eating as a problem to solve and started asking some more useful questions.

What if it is a really crappy life manager?

What issues is it trying to solve for you?

What do you get out of employing this substandard employee?

How can you manage your life directly?

What do you get out of that life manager – because you must do (you haven't scked them yet, right?)

What sort of partner would they make?

Next minisode will be out in 2 days' time.

Book yourself in for an informal chat about emotional eating here

https://hmorris.as.me/

and I will give you a strategy you can use straightaway to reduce this problem.

Monday sees the start of my series on emotional eating. In it I will be covering:

*A powerful reframe to make you feel more empowered

*How to start believing that you can do something about it]

*Where self-acceptance fits into the jigsaw

*How to use gamification and actually make this process FUN some of the time at least!

Email info (at) theshiftinside.com if you want to tell me about how emotional eating impacts you. You also get the strategy mentioned above as a thankyou.

An interview that makes no mention of food – yes, it's true! I interview artist Catherine Rains and I wanted to bring you this interview because I extracted so much wisdom from it. Catherine is an amazing human being who has lots of life lessons that will put food out of a job.

At the end of the interview, I discuss two areas relating to compulsive and binge eating that what we talked about

#1 – Non-verbalising feelings

#2 – the difference in language between us. I referred to the victim, where Catherine talks about 'the child'. How much of the shamed child lives in you, one who is carrying shame that doesn't belong to her?

Highlights

"Double-pronged non-resistance": while continually affirming the job she wanted, she was at the same time embracing the job she had.

How to be unintentionally intentional

The five words anyone can use in a negative situation to feel more empowered

Catherine's epiphany about non resistance

The non linear nature of change.

How she diverted her energy to sidestep jealousy and intended her way to the job of her dreams

Why affirmations don't work for so many people - because they are doing this thing alongside the affirmation

Her strategy for releasing fear and dread after her cancer diagnosis (I have never heard this from anyone else)

How she developed compassion for her husband in the midst of her divorce but still shielded herself from his manipulation

Her hilarious way of managing old resentments

RESOURCES

Check Catherine out on Instagram: @catrains.artist

https://catherinerains.com/

See the Freedom from Sugar course:

https://www.theshiftinside.com/freedom/

Find out about one-to-one coaching:

https://www.theshiftinside.com/coaching/

Watch the video version of this interview:

https://www.theshiftinside.com/catrains/

Ever feel like you want more power in your life?

I don't mean power as in control, overruling others or even parts of yourself.

I mean the ability to navigate problems - not just around food, but relationships, work and health on a bigger scale.

A powerful way to view this is to take on The Queen identity.

I recently appeared on The Real Estate Investing For Women podcast talking about just that, and I'd love you to check it out to find out more. And don't worry if you think you need to know loads about property portfolios to understand. (I don't!)

Check it out at

https://blissfulinvestor.com/be-the-queen-of-your-own-life-with-harriet-morris-real-estate-women

You can also get my video series The Queen Audit

Stressing over less than perfect food choices when you are away can ruin your vacation time. In this episode, we talk overeating on holiday:

*The invisible reasons behind it

*How to manage and reduce it

*The mindset shift that starts with N…….. that is vital to this work

*A useful reframe if you do make choices that you regret

This is a personal episode, recorded on my phone at the end of my holiday this summer.

RESOURCES

Coaching information

https://www.theshiftinside.com/coaching/

Episode talking about being compulsive in lockdown

https://eatingcoach.libsyn.com/ec170-bit-of-a-risky-episode-isnt-it

Email info (at) theshiftinside.com

Today I present a completely biased review of Whole 30. Biased? I hear you cry. Isn't that meant to be UNbiased?

Nope. I am completely skewed in favour of recovering binge eaters finding a programme that empowers them, that helps them start to trust themselves again. One that allows them to proceed at a doable pace, and build confidence as they go. This diet in sheep's clothing is not it. Read on (or listen to the podcast episode below) for more information and what the alternative looks like.

What Is Great About Whole 30 It increases awareness about all the fake natural sweeteners out there, such as agave nectar A lack of focus on measurements, although it seems to be very happy with before and after photos, which are problematic.

Problems With Whole 30 #1 It tries to do too much, too fast. This is not just a misguided issue that is borne ourt of well-intentioned ambition. It is a cold, hard profit-driven strategy that leverages compulsive eaters desire to escape themselves via a temporary transformation. It is very, very hard to give up a multiplicity of foods that you are addicted to all at once and make that change sustainable. I think the clue is in the name. No wonder it's not called Whole Forever.

#2 it Demonises Certain Nutritious Foods That Actually Reduce Compulsive Urges and Cravings Quinoa. Lentils. Brown rice. Ah yes, how silly of me not to see that they need to placed in the nutritional sin bin with high fructose corn syrup, candy cigarettes and deep fried everything. Really? Really?

#3 Fruit Juice Is Permitted That's right, kids. Lentil soup is verboten, but something with more fructose than Coke is OK. Listen to the podcast episode above to hear what Dr Robert Lustig has to say about fruit juice and type two diabetes.

#4 It's Based on Original Sin This criticism is something that Whole 30 shares with just about every health fad and diet out there. You are broken the deprivation-fuelled edicts silently imply. You can chase that bad guilt and shame away with this nutritional hairshirt. Escape yourself in only 30 misery filled days! That is one whole month of your life you're never getting back. If you've been using food to manage your life, trying to leverage guilt over past mistakes is not only unkind to yourself…it's downright impractical.

#5 It Denies Pleasure Just because you may have eaten chaotically and got extreme and fake pleasure from food does NOT mean that misery and deprivation is the counterbalance. Pleasure is a core human drive, and if you deny it, your primitive Cavebrain will take over and make sure you get it via more binge eating and other unhelpful knee jerk responses. Bye bye Whole 30.

#6 It Sets Up a Parent-Child Dynamic With Food Listen to the podcast episode to understand exactly what I mean here.

Alternatives To Whole 30 If nonsense like this programme is not the answer to your food compulsion, then what is? Here are some pointers. *Curiosity

*Experimentation – which gives you data and is impossible to fail at. In the episode, I give a concrete example of how this plays out.

*Learning to relax enough around food to get real (not fake) pleasure from real food

*Imperfectionism

*Being present with food, instead of using it as an escape route from self

More on coaching with Harriet

https://www.theshiftinside.com/coaching/

RESOURCES Freedom From Sugar programme www.theshiftinside.com/freedom

Whole 30 Rules https://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/

Fat Chance is by Dr Robert Lustig

Louise Breaks The Binge-Deprivation Cycle episode https://eatingcoach.libsyn.com/ec-156-louise-ends-25-years-of-the-binge-restrict-cycle

Email me about your emotional eating. tell me about yourlast emotional eating episode

info {at} theshiftinside.com

In this third part of my series on addiction, I tackle the question of why some foods are just so addictive….or as I want to rephrase it, just why is it so easy to feel compulsive about certain foodstuffs?

*Brilliant Idea of The Week*

is Focusmate. Find out more at https://www.focusmate.com/

*Main section*

Just exactly why are some foods are just so addictive is actually 2 questions:

#1 What is it about some particular foods (their ingredients, the way they are processed etc) that can encourage compulsion?

....and

#2 Why do we feel compulsive about some foods in the first place? Why do human beings feel they need to manage problems with food at all?

#2 is a more empowering question, because it turns us from passive victims into responsible beings with the power to change our lives.

"A core part of addiction is, I think, about not being able to bear to be present in your life" ~ Johan Hari

Many people don't believe that they can manage their overwhelm and shame - but they CAN.

RESOURCES

Find out more about coaching at http://www.theshiftinside.com/coaching/

Episode 17: http://www.theshiftinside.com/whats-wrong-with-calorie-counting/

Johan Hari's TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong

Episode 4: http://www.theshiftinside.com/audio-how-sugar-hijacks-your-brain/

Sound effects by https://www.zapsplat.com

https://www.theshiftinside.com/tide/

to find out more about dismantling your fear of hunger.

Is this a problem for you? In this podcast episode of The Eating Coach, we dive into this topic - one that I have not heard discussed often. I talk openly about my own anxiety around my appetite, and what happened when I actually decided to experience hunger intentionally. I was very surprised at what I discovered.

Part One: Why You Might Have a Fear of Hunger

• Childhood experiences. Food was used to give adults power over you.
• Food as a way to Numb yourself out
• In both scenarios, hunger can act as a very persuasive PR tool being used by your child rebel or the part of you that feels it is essential to numb out
• I managed overeating a long time ago, but lockdown created a very powerful PR for my compulsion because I was doing too much. I dissolved Some key relationships which created lots of fear. I perceived genuine hunger which was not always genuenuine. about managing my life

Part Two: What Happened When I Faced My Fear of Hunger

I realised that hunger is not a fire, it is a tide

I realised that hunger is plastic

I discuss the role that ghrelin (the hunger hormone plays) here and the evolutionary reasoning behind the plastic nature of hunger

Part Three: Over To You

Ideas for you to get going on your fear of hunger

RESOURCES

Intermittent fasting 2.0 episode

https://eatingcoach.libsyn.com/ec-177-your-internal-hunger-games

The Metronome

https://www.theshiftinside.com/metronome/

Fear of Hunger coaching programme

https://www.theshiftinside.com/tide/

In this episode, I take inspiration from The Hunger Games series, where hunger is used as a tool to control the people.

What if hunger is not what you think it is?

What if you are unconsciously using hunger as a tool to control YOUR life?

In This episode, I talk about

*How fear of hunger was an invisible force I used to oppress myself for years

The concept of restrictors vs permittors – how i used health fads. My fear of hunger and how it manifested

*What purpose fear of hunger REALLY served for me

Starring George Mcfly

*How some foods create their own hunger ecosystem

I talk about processed carbs as an example here.

*What happens when humans allow themselves to be hungry

Surprising evidence about how this is not only good for us, but easier than you think.

Part two of this topic follows in a week's time.

RESOURCES

Coaching information is at

https://www.theshiftinside.com/coaching/

What is The Metronome?

https://www.theshiftinside.com/metronome/

Hypnotic gastric Band episode

https://www.theshiftinside.com/the-curious-tale-of-my-hypnotic-gastric-band-ec-150/

The Healthline article

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/14-reasons-always-hungry

Dr Jason Fung's article on ghrelin

https://www.dietdoctor.com/not-get-hungry-fasting-ghrelin

Books mentioned:

Women Food and God by Geneen Roth

The Fast Diet by Dr Michael Mosley

Contact me: info @ theshiftinside.com

Have you ever heard anyone ever say "No, thanks, I don't actually like bread"...? Nope, me neither. Taking a tour of not only the Sugar Rollercoaster, but the Neolithic age, The Roman Empire and The Hunger Games, let's take a peek at the fascinating and surprisingly shocking hold bread has on the human race.

A replay of episode 53.

*Stupid Headline of The Week*

No Gluten, No Dairy, No Joy

*Main section: Why Is Bread So Addictive? *

A short preface on gluten intolerance - the symptoms.

I then have a discussion on if we should change the word 'addictive' in the same way I want us to replace 'addiction' with compulsion'?

There are 2 reasons why bread is addictive.

Reason #1 relates to white bread. Being a source of highly refined carbohydrate, it triggers the production of glucose and consequently insulin into the blood stream. It is this regular emergency response, the call for insulin that can lead to obesity, type II diabetes and a host of other health problems.

Reason #2 is less well known. You probably know that bread contains gluten, but have you ever heard of gluten exorphins? They have an opioid effect on the brain and can cause spontaneous behaviour. Compulsive binge, anyone?

Fascinating factoid of the week: The roman empire used bread to subjugate the peoples it was dominating

RESOURCES

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/no-gluten-no-dairy-no-joy-has-britain-become-nation-nutrichondriacs/

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/signs-you-are-gluten-intolerant

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/06/26/195292850/can-you-be-addicted-to-carbs-scientists-are-checking-that-out

https://www.scgmatt.com/researchology-blog/archives/02-2015

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/page/dark-side-wheat-new-perspectives-celiac-disease-wheat-intolerance-sayer-ji

Find out more about coaching at http://www.theshiftinside.com/coaching/

Get your free audiobook at:

http://www.audibletrial.com/EatingCoach

Sound effects by https://www.zapsplat.com

Get your free Hidden Sugars Checklist to print off at

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