How Do You Get Off the Junk Food?

When I was a teenager, I remember stopping at a convenience store, purchasing a box of six old fashioned doughnuts and then eating four of them in a row. It seems I was able to burn them off fairly quickly because my metabolism was moving quite fast, but I’m not convinced I was doing my body any favors with the processed sugar and bleached flour.

I look back with amazement at what my body could process in my younger years that it completely rejects now. My diet started changing the day I went to a lecture by a chiropractor that talked about the amount of sugar in our processed foods and the physical affects of addiction to sugar.

For me, the journey began with understanding the stress and danger I was creating for my body. At the rate I was going I could expect to be sick most of the time, due to a depleted immune system, and I could look forward to a short life.

I really like this video by Dr. Vaughn from Spirit of Health, with information very similar to what I heard many years ago. Dr. Vaughn talks about sugar being as addictive as cocaine and how sugar and high fat foods affect the brain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fl7BgF8OI0&feature=related

Just recently, I completed a mold and fungus cleanse for my body. Molds and fungus feed on sugar, and although I have been eating healthier, natural sugars, I was eating too much of them. So once again, there I was face to face with my favorite addiction.

Whether it is salty, fried foods you are craving or foods with sugar in them, you are going to start the journey of getting off the foods when you acknowledge that you are probably physically addicted, and like most addictions, you are probably going to find there is an emotional need you are trying meet through food.

In order to address emotional needs, it helps to identify what they are and choose to meet them in new and healthier ways. If you are like me, craving sweets is about craving more sweetness in your life.

I have a really good and happy life, so uncovering what sweetness I was looking for this time around was a real challenge. Finally, what I discovered was that I wanted to experience every day as a sweet indulgence of life. I wanted to breathe in the wonders of creation and enjoy what every moment of every day was offering me.

So when I started the cleanse, I made a commitment to stay on that diet diligently for one month, while also increasing my experience of a sweet life by integrating the sweetness I experience in meditation into my daily activities. I encouraged myself to be grateful throughout the day over every, tiny, little thing.

Sugars temporarily boost energy, so I held an intention in my meditation practice to welcome in light and energy before I ended each morning’s meditation. In that way, I no longer looked for dramatic boosts of energy from my food. When I started to feel sluggish, I meditated instead of reaching for something sweet.

How will you identify the emotional need behind your addiction? Ask yourself this question, “What feeling am I looking forward to experiencing after I eat this particular food?”

The feeling is the motivator, so once you identify the feeling, you now have a clue about what need longs to be met. Decide on new ways you can meet the need(s), put those new practices into action, and you are on your way to overcoming the emotional ties behind your physical addiction.

With dedication to the emotional work, you are giving yourself a platform for addressing the physical nature of the addiction with greater success. For example, as I met my desire for a life of sweetness and greater energy, I found it easier to remain on my cleansing diet. When my body was clear, the cravings disappeared altogether.

There is one more thing about letting go of an addiction that I have discovered. It helps to know that what you ultimately want is worth the sacrifice and the effort. The thing about addictions is that you are chasing a substitute for what you really want. As long as you accept the substitute, you never get the true satisfaction you desire.

Whatever your true desire might be, you deserve for that need to be fulfilled so that you can enjoy your life to its utmost.