love,
Em

Looking back now, I would say that cravings are an indicator of some type of body-mind-spirit imbalance. Since they are so linked, it may be difficult to pinpoint the root cause — is it something in your life, something you ate? Tough to tell. Whatever we put in, we get out — whether thoughts, food, emotions, beliefs — things we watched, read, people we are with. Whatever we take in, we put out. It’s law of attraction.

So the question I would have is, what is going on in your life at this moment that is different from the last time you felt at peace with your eating? Candida symptoms can be impacted by damp, rainy weather. Your moods can also be affected — sunshine is part of what creates serotonin in our bodies. I noticed a big difference from when I left my home in the always sunny Caribbean and came to New England, where we’ve had more than our share of rainy days.

Occasionally, I also have cravings now, although not very often. When I do, I find that something in my life is out of balance. For example, yesterday I had a bunch of cravings — and it was right after my experience of feeling “bottled up” for almost a week. What I did was eat healthy meals without denying myself anything (or restricting). I also decided that I would eat normally today — because in the old days, I’d tell myself I’d eat less tomorrow to make up for it, which would just set off more anxiety and make it worse.

The other thing I noticed is this…when I have cravings, it’s often because I’ve been “stopped up” or constipated. Now, I’ve noticed that everything in life is a metaphor if we look closely at mind-body-spirit. So, since I was “bottled up” emotionally, it’s probably no surprise that I was constipated physically. Weird — but the wonders of life never cease.

So today, I did an enema and it’s like being a whole new person. Yes, I was stopped up and in my experience, this contributes to bingeing and cravings. I can only guess at the reasons — but Sheila Shea helped me understand that I was not alone here. Bingeing can be some kind of intuitive response to being constipated because eating does tend to move the digestive tract along, so that things get going. It’s not the solution, but we unwittingly realize that eating does make things start to move.

I never thought I’d be a person who did enemas. I thought they were “out there” and not for me. But now that I’ve learned about the process of cleansing and experienced them for myself, I have changed my mind. Next time I experience a lot of cravings, I’m going to make the time to do an enema immediately — because time and time again, constipation is a big contributor.

Reading this inteview with Sheila Shea might be helpful if you are considering enemas or colonics.

Meg, you are so courageous — this is just life coming in to show you another challenge you can overcome. There is a message somewhere in this experience, I wonder what it is?

With love,
Heather

Meg

Regarding elimination — that has a mind-body aspect to it as well. Ask yourself, what are you still holding on to? What can you start to release, to let go? At the same time, I’ve found that my elimination cycle was really mixed up at first. It was the last vestige of healing for me and is still the part that lets me know when I’m holding on to something. Now is the time to nourish your thyroid, which plays a role in building energy for elimination – lots of minerals, healthy fats and B vitamins. Sea vegetables and coconut oil are especially healing for the thyroid.

I love that you are sharing your experience with the process — so many great learnings for us all!

With love,
Heather

Thanks for your comment – I really appreciate it! I’ve really enjoyed your comments and am blown away by your commitment and dedication to recovery!

I totally agree with you about the perfectionism thing and not being too strict with yourself, as it can backfire. Also about letting yourself get too hungry. I was starting to feel that way at work today and debating whether or not to have my protein fruit shake or hold off until dinner… I decided I’d be more sane if I had the juice. The other day I was SO hungry, I started getting much too irritable.

I, too, love black sesame seeds, by the way! I put ground black sesame and flax seeds in my smoothies and my yogurt. It’s delicious! Plus, according to Chinese medicine, black sesame is great for the Liver and Kidney and tonifies Yin. Besides moistening the intestines, it also helps with vision. I also just picked up some hempseed the other day. It’s got a great nutty flavor.

Heather, thanks for your kind words once again and all the great advice! I followed BED principles to some extent today, but not 100%. I had broccoli with a poached egg for breakfast, salad with asparagus and chicken for lunch, and kale with quinoa for dinner. I did have my juice, and some yogurt and dried figs after dinner… Hey, it’s all good.

I’m feeling bloated today, as I haven’t been eliminating well the last few days… but I can recognize that the bloating is not because I’ve overeaten, but just because my digestion has been slow, and I know it’ll be better in a day or two.

hugs,
Emily

Meg

Congratulations for following BED! You may notice that you lose weight…that can happen in the beginning. Then you even out at your normal weight, although it’s easy to stay slim and fit because you won’t have the bloating. Hunger in the beginning is normal, unfortunately — although you can eat more BED foods than normal because they will help your digestive system. I found that I could eat huge portions…I was shocked at how much I could eat. I ended up eating three big meals per day and never wanting snacks in between when I had larger portions. I never would have believed that was possible before.

You might want to try chicken or fish (your great salmon recipe!) for lunch, with your veggies, that might give you that stick to your ribs feeling (almonds and seeds help with that too).

Following your body is always the best path — and you know yours so well!

Re: white spots on finger nails, Donna says it’s a deficiency in zinc, as you mentioned. Here is a newsletter where she talks about it: http://bodyecology.com/articles/spirulina_and_zinc.php

With love,
Heather

In addition, I found it is really dangerous to be starving, because whenever I felt so, I went home and had B/P. Then I start to watch for my starving. So whenever I feel starve, I eat some nuts or so. I also try to eat a bit more in the morning or bring some snack if I know my lunch is not going to be enough. At the beginning of my recovery, I did have lots and lots of bloating and I could not sleep at all. But if I ate less, I would wake up by the unbelievable feeling of empty stomach. There were days that I got up and ate my breakfast at 4am. I did also have salt craving and you won’t belive how much I salt I would eat. It was crazy! Although I still do not understand why I felt so, but now after 6 months, I feel better and better. I find I think less and less about food.

Meg

I forgot to mention to everybody: in my recovery, I used organic Dandelion Root tea which was traditionally used as a digestive aid, but it is also a light diuretic. I also used Goji which is used to support liver function. I also found black sesame seeds were excellent for increasing bowl movement and adding fiber. Because the seeds contain fat so I found I do not digest them well (lot of burping after eating a bit too much).But I really like them and found them very helpful. I thought they might be useful for you all.

Thanks again.
Meg

I only realized sometime within the last few years how much the artificial sweeteners in gum were upsetting my stomach. I chewed LOTS of gum when I was in high school, and it gave me really bad stomach discomfort – gas, cramping.. Somehow, though, at the time, I didn’t really make the connection between foods I ate and how I felt as a result of them. I just figured I didn’t have as good a digestion as other people did – never did it dawn on me that I could feel better by adjusting my diet accordingly!

I remember a friend in high school telling me that she always got hungry from chewing gum. It makes sense. I didn’t feel that way at the time (still don’t, really). Quite the opposite, actually – when I crave food, especially if it’s not real physiological hunger – chewing gum helps me as it keeps my mouth occupied, so I’m less likely to put other things in it. And with the natural stuff, I don’t get the stomach upset.

You mentioned about the half moons on the nails. My half moons look pretty good, but I have had white spots on my nails for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, I was told it was calcium deficiency (“Drink more milk!”), then magnesium deficiency, and the latest consensus seems to be that it’s zinc deficiency. Taking zinc supplements doesn’t seem to make a difference. I may have issues with absorbing zinc, rather than not getting enough in my diet. Any insights/suggestions on that?

Also, I’ve been incorporating more of the BED principles into my diet. Haven’t cut fruit out altogether, but I’ve been having my juice in the morning on an empty stomach and waiting a half hour before eating something else.

Yesterday, I ate mostly according to BED. Only thing was, I felt really hungry all day long – partly because I didn’t have time to eat quite enough at lunch. Because I didn’t want to eat non-BED foods, I was starving at work. During my break, I picked up some baked blue corn chips. Those are great! I really like them! They are thin and light and delicious, and just salty enough to satisfy my salt craving. I only ate a few, though, so by the time I got home, I felt like I had a big hole in my stomach! Instead of meeting J and some friends out at a restaurant, I chose to go home and eat my own food first. I had corn on the cob as a starchy vegetable, and sauteed chard with arame and shitakes. It was delicious, and I ate a big portion. Still, by the time I got back home around midnight after meeting J and our friends out, I was starving again! I had the other piece of corn on the cob, but finally cracked down and had a yogurt. This morning I wished I’d remained steadfast, as I did feel some bloating… but it’s hard to fall asleep when I’m really hungry, and just veggies weren’t doing it for me anymore at that point.

Anyways, I can see how well I do with the BED principles as far as no bloating and discomfort. I’m still not sure about committing to the 3 months right now, but I think I can benefit from it even by following the diet part of the time – even if I choose to indulge at other times – knowing that it can always get me back on track, and any digestive discomfort will be temporary.

Oh, I’ve been eating and enjoying my fresh sauerkraut, too!

Hope you had a great 4th!

lots of love,
Em