Trouble sticking to MWL plan

[library momma]

Hi. I'm not really a newbie to the MWL plan as I first tried it almost 10 years ago, and after becoming a vegan almost 9 years ago, I lost a lot of weight (almost 50 pounds - down to about 125). Even after having a baby, I lost all the weight from the pregnancy in about 2 years (not record time, I know, but still not bad).

The thing I find difficult is sticking to the MWL plan. I'm not doing this to lose a lot of weight, maybe 10 to 15 pounds, but rather because when I eat wheat, chocolate, and drink coffee, I get headaches, IBS, and other funky symptoms that have no link to a real disease other than fibromyalgia (I know as I've had many tests to show me that I'm really healthy - just don't feel so great).

So, I really want to do this but find I can stay on the plan no more than 3 or 4 days without going haywire and eating a bar of chocolate (vegan, of course) or drinking two or three cups of coffee loaded with sugar and almond milk, or eating several pieces of the whole wheat bread I buy for my son (with vegan margarine or almond butter). He's 5, so I can hardly tell him, tough luck, go buy it yourself and eat it outside of the home. Plus, we don't keep a lot of junk food in the house.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm some kind of food addict. I gained a lot of weight in my 20s but was also on medication and I don't have that issue any more. Other than that, I've never been more than 15 pounds or so overweight.

Can anyone offer suggestions/insight? I think this plan is great and like the kinds of food it prescribes, no problems there.

Thanks,
Andrea

[TominTN]

Hi, Andrea.

Have you read The Pleasure Trap by Doug Lisle? He explains how the cycle you're describing is driven psychologically and physiologically. Understanding how the cycle works can help develop motivation for breaking it.

Dr. Lisle also has some good DVDs out. I think Dr. McDougall has them available for sale.

The thing is, we're all food addicts. If we stop eating, we starve to death. Some food is health supporting, some is not. As long as we support our habit with the good stuff, we're fine. Using the bad stuff creates expectations and cravings that can be very difficult to resist. And then we find ourselves in the cycle you describe where we resist for a few days until the pressure is unbearable, give in and feed the craving, and that sets us up for the next repetition a few days later.

The only way to break out of it is to understand what's going on and commit to not feeding the cravings for long enough for them to subside, meaning several weeks. After that, it gets easier because the cravings are no longer getting restimulated. Dr. Lisle's book and DVDs can offer even more encouragement and support and more understanding of how our psychology and social environment can conspire against us.

It's tough, but you can do it.

[MilesA]

Lots of people have these issues, so it helps to find what has worked well for others in the past.

Caffeine really is addictive, in the sense that people using a lot of it don't feel normal without it and crave it if they can't get it. One of the reasons people find it hard to drop is that they feel miserable without it -- headaches, lethargy, irritability, etc. It takes several days after stopping caffeine before these symptoms go away. Most people find it comforting to have something hot to drink at times, and won't feel right without it.

According to the book Caffeine Blues, the most successful way to get off caffeine is to taper off. Don't try to go cold turkey. Don't deprive yourself unnecessarily.

This is the plan recommended by that book. Let's say you make your coffee in a drip coffeemaker.
Week 1 = mix regular coffee with decaf 3/4 + 1/4
Week 2 = mix regular coffee with decaf 1/2 + 1/2
Week 3 = mix regular coffee with decaf 1/4 + 3/4
Week 4 = all decaf

This way, you don't deprive yourself of something hot and comforting to drink, you still get to have your familiar coffee, and you don't suffer caffeine withdrawal symptoms. Maybe later you can reduce the amount of coffee or switch to a healthier sort of hot drink.

On the vegan chocolate thing -- you should know that chocolate is a comforting food for many people. It actually does give people a bio-chemical pleasure rush. So, you can see why people might crave it.

Sugar is also comforting for many people. So, with regular chocolate you get a double pleasure hit.

The most effective strategy to deal with these kind of cravings is substitution. There are several possible ways, you have to choose the one that is best for you.

Instead of chocolate candy, you could mix a little cocoa powder with some ripe banana. This satisfies your craving for cocoa and sweetness, plus gives you some reasonably healthy carbohydrates. Technically, cocoa is a high-fat food but you are not using much of it. You are avoiding lots of fat and sugar that you would have gotten from the regular chocolate candy. That's the important thing.

If you just want a snack, remember the MWL doesn't recommend you go hungry, just transfer your cravings to healthier foods. For instance: sweet potato with cinnamon + nutmeg, white potato + fat-free dressing, kiwi fruit, melon, grapes, etc. This way you can satisfy your craving without falling off the MWL wagon.

So, please don't torture or deprive yourself. Find a healthy way to satisfy your craving.