Diet Rehab: 28 Days to Finally Stop Craving the Foods That Make You Fat (27 page)

Read Diet Rehab: 28 Days to Finally Stop Craving the Foods That Make You Fat Online

Authors: Mike Dow,Antonia Blyth

BOOK: Diet Rehab: 28 Days to Finally Stop Craving the Foods That Make You Fat
7.36Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Exploring New Flavors: Brian’s Story
Adding hot sauce to food was a useful helper for my patient Brian, a moderately obese man who used to add salt to everything he ate, including his favorite high-fat foods that were already brimming with hidden salt. When I suggested he try to substitute hot sauce for salt, Brian agreed to give it a try. Although the hot sauce contained a small amount of salt, it was a far healthier choice than the previous alternative. Brian just needed to know he could rely on a strong taste that wasn’t salt.
Eventually, Brian got tired of everything tasting of Tabasco and switched to other spices and herbs to flavor his food. He no longer missed his salt, and cutting down on it freed him to let go of his addiction to high-fat food. He’s now lost half his target weight.
 
Flavor Your Food Without Salt
Ever wonder which flavors go with what? Here are some tips to get you started on flavorful no-salt cooking:
 
HERBS AND SPICES
Basil:
Italian foods, such as tomatoes, pasta, chicken, fish, and shellfish
Bay leaf:
bean or meat stews and soups
Chili powder:
bean or meat stews and soups
Chives:
sauces, soups, baked potatoes, salads, omelets, pasta, seafood, and meat
Cilantro:
Mexican, Latin American, and Asian cuisine; rice, beans, fish, shellfish, poultry, vegetables, salsas, and salads
Cumin:
curried vegetables, poultry, fish, and beans
Curry:
Indian or southeast Asian cuisine; lamb or meat-based dishes and soups
Dill:
seafood, chicken, yogurt, cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and beets
Ginger:
chicken, rice, and marinades
Oregano:
Italian and Greek cuisine; meat and poultry dishes
Paprika:
Spanish dishes, potatoes, soups, stews, baked fish, and salad dressings
Rosemary:
mushrooms, roasted potatoes, stuffing, ripe melon, poultry, and meats
Sage:
poultry stuffing, chicken, duck, pork, eggplant, and bean stews and soups
Tarragon:
chicken, veal, fish, shellfish, eggs, salad dressings, tomatoes, mushrooms, and carrots
Thyme:
Fish, shellfish, poultry, tomatoes, beans, eggplant, mushrooms, potatoes, and summer squash
Turmeric:
Indian cuisine
For some suggestions on how to actually use these spices, see Appendix A for my favorite quick-and-easy recipes. Also check out my website,
www.drmikedow.com
, for some of my favorite resources for recipes and cooking tips.
When to Add the Herbs
 
Put in dried herbs early when cooking, but toss in fresh herbs at the end. That way, the intense taste of the dried herbs can work its way through the food, but the fresh herbs will still taste fresh.
 
Start Slow . . . But Keep Going
 
Like everything else we’ve talked about, changing your salt intake is so much more about what we add than what we take away. The point here is not to shackle yourself to a low-sodium diet; it’s to embark on an adventurous high-on-every-herb-and-spice-other-than-salt diet! Adding booster activities to your life (found on pages 208 and 223) means that your life will be filled with so many other kicks—such as the thrill of finally beating your kids at Monopoly or the pleasure of that spa day you’ve given yourself—that frozen pot pies will start to taste like what they are: salt-laden, fat-dripping, artery-clogging expendables for a life that is rich in so many other ways.
12
 
Starved for Serotonin: Jonesing for Sugar and Carbs
 
Did you find out in Chapter 4 that you were starving for serotonin? If so, you’re very likely in the grip of chronic anxiety. Sometimes it’s just a little worry about having to pack for a weekend trip (“What if I forget my travel clock! What if I oversleep?”). Sometimes it’s more significant dread about major deadlines or unpaid bills (“We could lose the house! The kids will have to leave their schools! I’m too old to get another job!”). Either way, if you’re short on serotonin, life is one long series of unnerving challenges, and you’re never completely sure that you’ll be able to meet them—at least not to your own satisfaction.
Perhaps your serotonin shortage leads you into the seven pitfall thought patterns (see page 53), in which anxious, obsessive, or pessimistic thoughts seem to take over your mind and your feelings. Suddenly you’re locked into a downward spiral of anxiety, which depletes your serotonin, which makes you more anxious, which further depletes your serotonin . . .
Following are some typical worries that my serotonin-starved patients share with me. Do any of these anxiety-provoking thoughts sound familiar?
• Other people have it easier than me. Their lives are more together.
• I’m so fat. Everyone is thinner than I am.
• No one else has to think about every single bite—but I do, or I’ll gain a ton. What is
wrong
with me?
• My weight is so out of control. My job is probably in danger too. And I’ll never have a good relationship!
I wish I could reassure you that everyone has moments of feeling insecure, unattractive, and out of control—it is by no means just you. I wish I could reassure you, too, that your worries are not reliable guides to reality but only to the place where your mind and feelings go when you are starving for serotonin. Is it any wonder that you crave the comfort foods that help to boost your serotonin levels? You are simply trying to raise your serotonin levels by looking for sweets and simple carbs to ease your anxiety and give you at least a temporary infusion of calm. If you’re short on serotonin, you’re likely to gravitate toward foods made with processed sugar and white flour: cakes, cookies, pasta, bread. Our goal is to help you find all the calm and comfort you deserve—but from healthier foods and activities.
Your Diet Rehab Treatment Plan
 
When you start your 28-day Diet Rehab, you’ll be nourishing your mind, body, and spirit with serotonin booster foods and activities. Think about loading yourself up with the following “S” words:
• Sweet—Berries and other fruits can give you a boost of sweetness that can ease your cravings for processed sugar. They produce a slow and steady boost of serotonin in your brain and won’t spike blood sugar the way candy or white starches will.
• Starchy—Switch up your starches. Brown rice, whole-grain cereals, and sprouted breads have a high satiety value, which, as we discussed in Chapter 10, means that you’ll feel fuller for longer and by eating less. These foods also give you a more prolonged serotonin boost than foods made with white flour. Check out my favorite quick-and-easy recipes in Appendix A for suggestions of meals made up entirely of serotonin boosters, or look at the booster snacks and swaps on pages 243 and 246.
• Stretch—Choose calming exercises like yoga, Pilates, and simple daily stretching to cue your body to make more serotonin. Deep breathing, relaxing baths, and taking some quiet time are also great options. You can even use your serotonin booster foods to create a soothing experience—sip some chamomile tea while reading in bed or make a Greek yogurt and fruit smoothie to enjoy after an afternoon stroll.
• Sleep—Did you know your body releases more ghrelin—the “hunger” hormone—when you don’t get your seven or eight hours every night? Lack of sleep also interferes with your body’s production of serotonin. A big mistake many of my patients make is falling asleep with the computer or television on. Their lights can actually disrupt your circadian rhythms, which promote healthy sleeping and eating patterns, so unplug the electronics and sleep your way to weight loss!
• Sun—The relaxing rays of warm sunshine can have a powerful serotonin-boosting effect. Twenty minutes of sunlight gives you a healthy boost of vitamin D, a booster that helps combat depression. Don’t overdo it, though. Twenty minutes a day of being outside is enough to feel the benefit.
• Soothing—The fragrance of lavender incense, the warmth of a crackling fire, and the peaceful calm of a walk can boost your serotonin levels, as can a relaxing massage, a long bath, or a comforting talk with a friend.
• Spiritual—Reconnecting to your life’s purpose and feeling your place in the universe can breed a sense of peace and security like nothing else. Let your longing for serotonin remind you that your spiritual side is hungry, too. Find your own relationship to prayer, secular meditation, time in nature, or volunteer activities that allow you to experience your deepest connection with our planet and our world.
Serotonin Booster Foods
The first step in your Diet Rehab plan is adding some of these serotonin booster foods to your diet. Look over this list. There are bound to be at least a few foods that you already like. If plain yogurt with some organic blueberries and a cup of white tea sounds like an appetizing snack, then that could be one of the first boosters you swap in. As the weeks go on, you can try to experiment with serotonin booster foods you’ve never had, such as lentils and quinoa with balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of olive oil and oregano. You can also look back to pages 199–200 for some great suggestions on pairing herbs with foods, and check out my favorite quick-and-easy recipes in Appendix A. Be patient with yourself, and remember, the more you try it, the better the chance is you’ll come to crave it.
What About Portion Sizes?
 
Feel free to enjoy generous but reasonable portion sizes of booster foods. The good news is that without excessive pitfall foods hijacking your brain chemistry, you will actually begin to sense when you need to eat and how much will be based on actual physical hunger. For a few booster foods, such as olive oil and nuts, I’ve provided guidelines, but for the rest, just eat what you like in reasonable amounts. In general, booster foods help you to recalibrate your taste buds to prefer generous servings of whole fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins with reasonable servings of whole grains. I have never treated a food addict or even a binge eater who had a problem eating too many whole fruits and vegetables! Most people will find that as they add new, exciting booster foods, they will experience a significant decrease in their desire for packaged pitfall snacks, which are usually mostly unhealthy carbohydrates and fats.
 
LOW-FAT DAIRY/DAIRY ALTERNATIVES
• almond milk, unsweetened
• any nonfat or reduced-fat cheese
• fat-free cream cheese
• low-fat cottage cheese
• low-fat goat’s milk
• nonfat or low-fat kefir
• nonfat or low-fat sour cream
• plain low-fat Greek yogurt
• plain low-fat soy yogurt
• plain low-fat yogurt
• skim or 1% milk
WHOLE GRAINS AND SEEDS
• barley
• brown rice
• buckwheat
• flaxseed
• high-fiber bars (at least 5 grams of fiber per serving)
• high-fiber tortilla (at least 3 grams of fiber per serving)
• plain instant oatmeal
• quinoa
• soba noodles
• spelt
• steel-cut oats
• whole-grain bread/bagel/pita (at least 3 grams of fiber per serving)
• whole-grain cereal (at least 5 grams of fiber per serving)
• whole-wheat pasta
PROTEIN: UNFRIED AND UNBREADED
• Animal protein
• eggs
• chicken
• Cornish hen
• turkey, ground turkey, turkey bacon
• Seafood: favor wild-caught over farm-raised
• clams
• halibut
• herring
• mackerel
• salmon
• sardines
• scallops
• shrimp
• sole
• trout
• tuna
• white fish
• Beans
• adzuki beans
• black beans
• black-eyed peas
• cannellini beans
• chickpeas
• edamame
• fava beans
• great northern beans
• hummus
• Italian beans
• kidney beans
• lentils
• lima beans
• mung beans
• navy beans
• pigeon beans
• pinto beans
• refried beans: fat-free only, no hydrogenated oils
• soybeans
• soy nuts
• split peas
• tempeh
• tofu
• white beans
• yuba (dried bean curd skin)
• Nuts and seeds: just 10 to 15 per serving, favor plain and unsalted
• almond and other nut butters
• almonds
• cashews
• hazelnuts
• peanut butter (natural)
• pecans
• pistachios
• sunflower seeds
• walnuts
• Other protein sources
• casein protein
• soy crisps
• soy protein
• whey protein

Other books

The Crazed by Ha Jin
Losing Francesca by J. A. Huss
Dance of the Bones by J. A. Jance
Medusa by Torkil Damhaug
The Child by Sebastian Fitzek