Photo by HaoJan Chang

Have you ever attempted to eat lower on the food chain, eat more raw food, eat more fruits and veggies? And somewhere around week 2 you just want to give up…

There’s a reason for that…

It’s called the Upper Limit Problem, and it’s a concept I learned in Gay Hendrick’s book The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level. (This book is awesome for anyone who has their own business, or wants to advance in their career by the way!)

Here’s the premise for this Upper Limit Problem of ours: we as human beings are so used to struggling, that we’re not used to things going our way.

So when you’ve been on a roll, your eating patterns are effortless, and you feel great… you tend to do something to break this “lucky streak”. Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where there’s no healthy food, so you go back to an old favorite that sends you back for more.

Sometimes you think you need a “reward” and indulge in a food that gives you a hangover. And sometimes you just want to give up for some strange reason.

The Biology of Lifestyle Changes

So why do we manage to eat well for weeks at a time and then “crap out” around week 2? There’s a biology reason for that.

You see our cells are used to a certain environment. Say you eat lots of wheat, and suddenly you stop eating wheat entirely. Your body starts to change so that it can better accept what you’re replacing wheat with – say green leafy vegetables.

At this point, your cells are going through a re-arranging process and that takes lots of energy… that’s when we start to feel that uncomfortable feeling around week two. Your body is re-arranging itself to suit the new changes you’re making in your diet or lifestyle.

Except that’s when we usually give up. Because it’s hard. Because we don’t know what’s going on. Except now you know, and you know that if you push through that two week period you’ll actually have cells that are designed for your new lifestyle.

Click here to watch a short video that explains this whole process in full detail.

What That Means For You in 2011

This is revolutionary because it means that you now know how to make 2011 the year you finally do it. Whatever it is for you: eating more fresh fruit and veg, exercising regularly, or kicking your coffee addiction.

I want to help you do it. Join me now for the Cure Cravings Forever program, starting January 1st, 2011.

Photo by Andrew Hill

Look from side to side to make sure no one’s reading over your shoulder. Is the coast clear? Good.

As I write this I’m leaning in, because what I’m about to say might shock some people.

“You know how you automatically react when you see someone attractive?”

“Um.. yeah, I guess?” you shrug, shifting uncomfortably.

“Sometimes it’s the flush of your cheeks, or a less obvious rush of blood in more obvious places.”

You nod quickly, “Get to the point Nathalie, what’s this got to do with healthy eating?”

“Well the way your body’s reaction betrays you when you’ve got the hots for someone is exactly how your body will sabotage your healthy eating efforts.”

Stick with me for a second while I explain.

Your Tastebuds React Whether You Like it or Not

Just like our basic human biological reactions to an attractive person, our body reacts to certain types of “attractive” food.

Why do our tastebuds and bodies seem to crave foods that we know with our minds aren’t good for us?

Just like we know that bad boy with the motorcycle isn’t going to stick around after he gets what he wants… we know that donut isn’t going to make us feel good in an hour after we’ve had our fun.

It comes down to a little evolutionary device that was actually put in place to help us survive.

Back in the day we wanted the tough alpha male so our babies would have strong genes. (Reverse this for men and having many beautiful offsprings.)

Similarly, back in the day it was hard to find foods high in fat, salt, and sugar. These were scarce resources that we weren’t able to get our fill of, so we evolved to seek them out for survival.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) today we’ve got more than enough sources of fat, salt, and sugar. In fact we’re practically drowning in them.

So that evolutionary pull that our tastebuds create for foods that contain lots of fat, salt, and sugar is an antiquated tool.

Taking This Analogy Further

If we just listened to our bodies all the time we’d end up in a sex-crazed, overpopulated society.

(Okay, you might say that we’re there already, but I’m an eternal optimist.)

Add to that the fact that the foods we crave so much are now highly available. Vending machines, street vendors, and refrigerators mean you’ve always got unhealthy foods at your fingertips.

I often hear that we “should just eat what tastes good to our bodies, in moderation.” And although I believe in the concept in general, I think that it doesn’t apply in our world of caffeinated beverages, salty crackers, and sweetened dried fruit.

Alas, our body’s natural “balance” mechanism has gone completely out of whack. Some studies were done on young kids, where the kids could choose what they could eat at will. At first all of them went for the “bad” foods that were sugary, salty, or fatty.

Photo by Dan Foy

But eventually the kids balanced this out by eating vegetables and fruits. By choice. It was natural for them to want to eat something different.

The problem began when they started testing older children, who didn’t feel the need to balance out their consumption of salt, fat, and sugar.

Sound familiar? It’s not your fault, it’s all in the body’s mechanisms.

Our Bodies Are Just As Confused As We Are

We are constantly being bombarded with information regarding nutrition: you should avoid these foods they are bad for you, and you should eat more of these foods they’re good for you.

We get so gosh darn confused with all this conflicting information!

If you think our minds are confused, what about our bodies?

After eating a diet of standard American fare, our bodies lose their ability to recognize foods that it can digest.

As a child, our bodies know that fruits and vegetables are easy to digest. They also know that pop tarts and diet coke are not normal: we experience different side effects when they’re ingested.

The more processed food you eat growing up, the more confused your body gets. As you grow up, you loose your ability to trust your body’s original balanced instincts about food.

Everything Has Salt, Sugar, Corn, or Soy

All of the different packaged and processed foods contain certain ingredients: salt, sugar, oils, corn, or soy.

Manufacturers used these ingredients because they are addictive, make things taste good, and are cheap fillers.

Of course what makes good business sense for manufacturers, doesn’t necessarily make good health sense.

What about when moderation means that manufacturers put sugar, salt, and other “additives” in just about every since store bought product?

It’s much harder to eat these substances in moderation when they’re in pretty much everything you find at the store. Except produce, of course.

Trust Your Eyesight

It would be a bit cynical for me to say “trust no one”. But, there is someone you can trust, and that’s you and your eyesight.

Read the labels.

If there’s something you can’t pronounce, or where the first ingredient is one of the main culprits (salt, sugar, hydrogenated oils) then step away. You don’t have to buy these products, you can buy fresh produce or an organic alternative that doesn’t include all of these tricky ingredients.

Good luck, we’re all in this together.

Stay Tuned…

Next week I’ll be back with something that people have been asking me for a lot. I’ll be sharing my big epiphany, which goes hand in hand with this article.

It’s Earth Day! What did you do to celebrate and center?

I hosted a fun ustream event. :) You can watch the recording, and I highly recommend it because of the cool announcement about Cure Cravings Forever.

Click here to check out the Cure Cravings Forever program.

See you soon!

I’m off to enjoy the great weather outside, talk to you soon. :)

Make sure you check out the Cure Cravings Forever program before April 26th, 2010 because there are some time sensitive bonuses for you.

If you’ve been dabbling into the raw food lifestyle or are looking to find out more about food combining, then I’ve got a great treat for you!

I’m releasing a piece of content that I’ve never shared before outside of the Cure Cravings Forever program.

This video goes in depth into some of the most overlooked concepts in the raw lifestyle. Definitely take some time to watch it.

How to Stop Stressing Out Over Food, Once and For All

Cure Cravings Forever will open for registration on April 22nd, 2010. Get on the list to be notified as soon as the program is available, to ensure you get your hands on the fast action bonuses as soon as they are announced.

Are You Ready for the New Cure Cravings Forever?

I am really excited to be bringing you the all new, more powerful than ever Cure Cravings Forever program.

Let me know in the comments what you think of the video, and any questions you might have about the content.

Talk to you soon!

P.S. I’ll be skipping Mindful Monday this week in preparation for the Cure Cravings Forever relaunch – be mindful for me! ;)

Photo by M. I. Zuhair

Today’s post is a treat for those of you who are struggling with cravings or emotional eating.

Peggy Carey, the author of this article, is also offering a special promotion to Raw Foods Witch readers so be sure to read till the end!

This is a guest post by Peggy Carey also known as The Zest Lady.

I have been a yo-yo dieter all my life… losing 50 pounds and then gaining it all back in a couple of years.

As a result of my desperate quest to reach my ideal weight I ruined my health.

I finally found the secret to losing excess weight and keeping it off in a way that also promotes vibrant health and fitness. I lost 45 pounds using a combination of raw food and essential oils.

Achieving your ideal weight can be challenging, but there are many tools that can help you reach your goal. Let’s look at aromatherapy and how essential oils can be used as a weight loss and maintenance aid.

Using Essential Oils for Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance

As a result of his research Dr. Alan Hirsch says that we feel full because of a special mechanism in our brain.

One reason we stop eating comes from signals designating being full or a sense of being satisfied.

An emotional state can also trigger a desire for food and we can control these feelings by inhaling certain scents.

The sense of smell can help us suppress appetite and all those irrational emotional responses we have to food.

Using our sense of smell consciously can give us control where our will power fails. For most people, using scents can curb cravings.

The Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Institute of Chicago found that by inhaling an aroma throughout the day, you can inhibit the desire to eat.

Dr. Hirsch, in his study, found that the more people used scent to control their appetite, the more weight they lost.

The key was to vary the oils used to prevent becoming desensitized which would reduce the effectiveness of the inhaled oils.

How to Use Essential Oils to Keep Your Irrational Hunger at Bay

Experiment by choosing three essential oils to use throughout the day.

Put a couple drops of each one of the selected oils on the cotton wick of your Be Lean Whiffer™ aromatherapy pendant.

Hold the Whiffer™ close to your nose when you feel you need a stronger scent.

The more you use these scents, the more effective they will be. Each day change the oils you used previously with three different ones.

This can be done easily by unscrewing the cap and inserting a new wick. Save the used wick for another day in a glass vial. (Oils can dissolve most plastics.)

Recommended Essential Oils for Weight Loss

• Peppermint: Is a digestive aid that soothes an upset stomach and helps with digestive problems.
• Grapefruit: A natural weight loss appetite suppressant through a process called lipolysis dissolves fat. (Combines very well with lavender in a Whiffer aromatherapy pendant).
• Bergamot: Stimulates your endocrine system and produces a sense of calm and well being and alleviates stress. Lavender can be combined with bergamot to enhance this calming effect.
• Tangerine: A diuretic and is also used to calm the nervous system.
• Orange: Helps overcome depression and gives emotional support.
• Ylang ylang: Used to clarify thoughts and assist in a feeling of wellness and calm.
• Patchouli: Used as a sedative and relaxation aid.

It is suggested you start with peppermint oil, because it provides unique weight loss benefits.

Dr. Alan Hirsch’s study found that inhaling peppermint can directly affect your brain’s satiety center, the ventro-medial nucleus of the hypothalamus.

This powerful essential oil makes you feel full after a meal. The result is that you can eat less and still feel satisfied.

You can choose to either inhale peppermint oil before a meal or drink a few drops in a glass of water or tea right before each meal.

Make sure the oil is pure enough to ingest. Do not ingest oils that are not marked GRAS (generally regarded as safe) or are not labeled for supplement use.

In Essence…

Essential oils are a terrific and natural way to suppress appetite and calm emotions as they relate to food and stress.

For safety and effectiveness, read the directions that come on the bottles of each essential oil before inhaling or ingesting.

Reaching and maintaining your ideal weight is a very important step towards achieving vibrant health.

Get more health related tips at Peggy Carey’s site The Zest Lady.

The Special Offer I Mentioned

To help you get started with essential oils, Peggy has generously offered to give anyone who buys a Whiffer pendant putting the code “RFW” in the comment-box a free pack of cotton wick storage vials.

Simply enter the code “RFW” in the comment box at check-out to receive you free gift! Click here to pick up a Whiffer and get your essence on!

P.S. I am experimenting with one of Peggy’s handmade Whiffers and will be sharing my experiences in future posts! Join me and get your own Whiffer and oils here.

Okay, I have a confession to make. I’ve been teaching people about raw food, detox, and alternative healing for months, but I’ve never fasted before.

Photo by Bu

Honestly, I feel like I should post a note that says “I’m not an expert” somewhere on this blog. If only for this reason.

Luckily, my friend Elizabeth P.W. reminded me that it’s okay not to have all the answers. She voiced what I’ve been noticing around the web: people trust those who are honest with them, even if that means admitting faults or problems.

For me that means letting you know that I’ve never done a real fast before. Well, unless you count that time where I decided to eat nothing but apples for one day. (Didn’t do much!)

But that’s all going to change…

I’m about to embark on my very first real fast! I’m going to do the lemonade fast, also known as the Master Cleanse.

I’ll be posting about my experiences here on the blog. I will be as honest and transparent as I can be, without sharing too many of the gory details, if you know what I mean.

It’s funny because before I went raw I always thought fasts had to be for an ulterior motive. Like a 24 hour fast for charity. Or for spiritual reasons.

My rationale for doing this 10 day cleanse is a lot less righteous. Here are a few of my thoughts and reasons:

1. Winter is coming and I want a strong immune system, so giving my body time to heal would be good.
2. I’ve been working hard on my Cure Cravings Forever program, and I could use a boost of energy.
3. I realized that there’s never a perfect time for a cleanse. I was going to do a juice feast in the summer, but somehow the timing didn’t work out. Now or never, I say.
4. It would be great to know what it’s like to experience “crippling cravings” again so I can really delve deep and share my insights in my Cure Cravings Forever program.
5. I’m very curious about the reported benefits and I want to know whether to recommend it to people or not.
6. This master cleanse will be an interesting way to build up my self confidence, and willpower. When you commit to something like this, it’s transformational. (Or so I hear.)
7. I want to see how much yeast vs. beneficial bacteria I seem to have gathered over years of being on birth control pills and taking antibiotics.

Oh, food cravings…

I’ve gathered a lot of craving busting tricks up my sleeve over the past few years.

I go into all the details in my new program called Cure Cravings Forever. I wanted to let you know that the program registration closes on Wednesday November 4th at Midnight, Eastern time.

So if you want to hear my advice on cravings, without the “high and mighty” voice (I’ll be just as bent on cravings as you during my fast!) then this is your time.

I look forward to working with you on kicking some craving butt!

Before I even get into the whole tree planting thing, I want to tell you a story.

When I was born, my father went out into our back yard and planted a tree. It became known as “Nathalie’s tree”.

This maple tree and I grew up together, side by side. Every fall it would lose its leafs, and every spring it would bloom anew.

My maple tree grew faster than I did. In fact, it’s still much taller than I am. But that’s okay, because we’re connected.

Whenever there was something hard to deal with in my life, I would go sit under that tree. It was like having the world’s most sympathetic listener.

Now my parents and I have since moved away, but I know that this tree and I will continue to experience this deep connection.

Photo by Edgar Barany

I don’t know if you have ever experienced something similar to my tree connection or not. But I’ve recently rediscovered my bond with trees.

I want to make a big difference with my life on this planet. For me that means helping people to feel better by eating more raw food. To allow for deep planetary healing.

I realized that also extends to healing the planet itself, which to me means planting more trees.

Watch My Video Announcement

(Click here to watch the video!)

Cure Cravings Forever and Sponsoring Tree Planting

After I realized how important it was for me to make planting more trees my mission, I started doing some research.

I got in touch with some people who work at a tree planting foundation. I wanted numbers. Like, how much of an impact would it make to donate $10, $50, $100?

It turns out that the price of planting one tree varies depending on where the tree is planted, and what preparation is necessary.

So one tree can cost between $1 and $200. At first I was bummed to find out how expensive planting just one tree could be.

But then I realized that even if I took the lowest end estimate of $1, by donating $100 I could be sponsoring the birth of 100 new trees!

Photo by Chris Gin

That’s why I’ve decided to give 10% of all sales of my new program, Cure Cravings Forever, to planting trees.

So far the number of trees we are sponsoring together is one quarter of my goal!

If you’d like to learn more about my Cure Cravings Forever program, and how you can help my tree planting effort out, click here.

Thank you so much for reading about my bond with trees. I hope to see you in the Cure Cravings Forever Members Only area, and to have more trees planted in your honor.