Yes yes yes. When I switched to a high protein first day meal I was so much happier, less lethargic, and more alert. Carb-y breakfasts or all that sugar just didn't cut it for me. When I need to drop a few pounds (like now, after the Christmas eating frenzies) I go Paleo. It works and I don't starve and my cravings are minimal.
Sounds like we are on the same page. I just got back from a two week vacation in Mexico, so I'm paleo until I return to my normal size. Beer, tacos and churros add up pretty fast.
This was an interesting read for me, especially after watching You Are What You Eat last night. They did a study on identical twins eating two completely different diets. The results were fascinating.
I don't eat meat, and I'm on the path to becoming completely and happily plant-based (vegan). It's a bit more of a challenge in the protein department but not a challenge at all to feel full due to caloric density.
They make some good plant based protein powders these days. I’ll put my smoothie recipe in one of these posts. It can be plant based or not as you want. It has frozen fruit and veggies in it, and is super filling.
Yeah I've been experimenting with some powders. I wish there were more brown rice protein powders because pea protein sends me crop dusting through my day 🤣🤣🤣 It is SO fart-inducing!
Even my carbs are protein packed these days. For example, my favorite way to start a day is with protein packed pancakes and some scrambled egg whites. I also put pea protein powder in my coffee. I have a sweet tooth, so I've been making these protein packed brownies as well (15 g per serving!).
Tim, when I flash back to my friends in recovery, the sheer amount of trauma was jaw dropping.
It often takes incredible courage to unlock that cage of addiction, and have to cope with the substrata once ‘the drug’ whether it’s alcohol, pills- worse, food is removed.
Often people I knew have known have had double & some triple addictions. The next question may be can you find a good therapist? Or an affordable psychiatrist if necessary?
However, there is nothing quite like shaking off that first layer of addiction.
Truly a rebirth, yes?
I must now go to pay you for your life giving substack.
Thank you so much for your support. This conversation with you has really helped me bring it into focus. And yes, a therapist can be a much needed resource
Trauma. Plus, I suspect other serious underlying psychological problems such as dual personality disorder. I have manageable apparently inherited depression; not fun, but fairly common underlying many addictions.
I was in a program… I cannot name since it’s anonymous.. for 17 years.
Everything I say is based on years of steps into recovery and that includes therapy. And like you, I deeply want others to benefit from my voyage out. I’ve discovered that not all food addicts want to know…
Or, want to go into a group. I have close relatives still caught in the web of food addiction over 60 yrs and counting.
Highy educated, very sophisticated, smart as they come, but still in a cage where I assume they feel safer.
I love them. But it’s amazingly frustrating to see.
Just an after thought: Recovering from a food addiction is another journey.
There’s the journey into addiction, at least there was for me. Likewise, in my experience there’s a journey out. That’s where your path is unique to who you are, and become.
Yes, you’re absolutely right. I’m trying to write about it and it’s a bit of a brain-dump train wreck at the moment. But the journey out had two big sides to it. The food side was actually the easiest to fix. In a way, the addiction is just a symptom of the real problem, and if we don’t address that, I imagine some will just find a new addiction and dive in.
Whenever food addicts talk what foods to eat I worry. Of course this is only based on my experience as a very grateful recovered bulimic now going on 34yrs. I cannot imagine why I even how I managed to binge. Really. When it happened to me after decades of addiction, I knew instinctively that I could now eat anything I desired without rules, without a person instructing me to not eat this or that
because I realized that my addiction was far deeper than a substance.
And yes nutritionists and nutrition
is important; but for someone like me, that would come after.
I did not want more food focus!!
Repeat: I’d been obsessed w food for too long. No more!!
I wanted to be freed from that. To feel that fully.
So I never talk about food to a food obsessed addict.
I’m so glad you recovered from that. And, I can fully understand your concerns. You need to take care of yourself first, and it sounds like you know how to do that.
What I’ve presented here, though, is scientifically backed, fully studied and replicated information, not a fad diet.
Do alcoholics go to a 12 step program run by people who were never alcoholics? Or do they get a mentor who knows the pitfalls and understands the addiction, because they were once there themselves?
A big part of the reason that I completed a full year of Primal Health Coach training as well as studied habits, meditation, self-forgiveness, gratitude, and more, was because I feel a mission to help others. I want to be able to do that with the right knowledge and skills, and to have the tools for people that I know will work as they have worked for many others.
My go-to snack is a bag of Quest chips, only 140 calories and 19 grams of protein which is not bad for a snack. They are extremely pricey though and well worth it.
I've done macro tracking a few times recently and it's actually surprising how much protein a person *should* be getting versus what most people are actually consuming (this depends on activity level, age, muscle mass, etc). Like, for my body and my goals it can be a stretch to get enough protein. Protein bars/shakes definitely help!
What's the best way to get more protein into your diet, Tim? Would you recommend protein shakes and stuff like that? Or more natural options like chicken, etc. ?
Great question! The best is always unprocessed natural foods, but that doesn’t always work for everyone. I’ve had great results with a protein shake first thing in the morning blended with some frozen fruit and a couple of other healthy things, and then chicken, beef or fish to make up the balance in the rest of the day.
There’s a lot to say and unpack, so I’ll have to write a follow up.
Yes yes yes. When I switched to a high protein first day meal I was so much happier, less lethargic, and more alert. Carb-y breakfasts or all that sugar just didn't cut it for me. When I need to drop a few pounds (like now, after the Christmas eating frenzies) I go Paleo. It works and I don't starve and my cravings are minimal.
Sounds like we are on the same page. I just got back from a two week vacation in Mexico, so I'm paleo until I return to my normal size. Beer, tacos and churros add up pretty fast.
This was an interesting read for me, especially after watching You Are What You Eat last night. They did a study on identical twins eating two completely different diets. The results were fascinating.
I don't eat meat, and I'm on the path to becoming completely and happily plant-based (vegan). It's a bit more of a challenge in the protein department but not a challenge at all to feel full due to caloric density.
They make some good plant based protein powders these days. I’ll put my smoothie recipe in one of these posts. It can be plant based or not as you want. It has frozen fruit and veggies in it, and is super filling.
Yeah I've been experimenting with some powders. I wish there were more brown rice protein powders because pea protein sends me crop dusting through my day 🤣🤣🤣 It is SO fart-inducing!
Haha! When I was plant based I found that to be a real problem
Even my carbs are protein packed these days. For example, my favorite way to start a day is with protein packed pancakes and some scrambled egg whites. I also put pea protein powder in my coffee. I have a sweet tooth, so I've been making these protein packed brownies as well (15 g per serving!).
Tim, when I flash back to my friends in recovery, the sheer amount of trauma was jaw dropping.
It often takes incredible courage to unlock that cage of addiction, and have to cope with the substrata once ‘the drug’ whether it’s alcohol, pills- worse, food is removed.
Often people I knew have known have had double & some triple addictions. The next question may be can you find a good therapist? Or an affordable psychiatrist if necessary?
However, there is nothing quite like shaking off that first layer of addiction.
Truly a rebirth, yes?
I must now go to pay you for your life giving substack.
Thank you 🙏 Tim.
Thank you so much for your support. This conversation with you has really helped me bring it into focus. And yes, a therapist can be a much needed resource
Trauma. Plus, I suspect other serious underlying psychological problems such as dual personality disorder. I have manageable apparently inherited depression; not fun, but fairly common underlying many addictions.
It seems to me most addictions result from childhood trauma and genetic/ epigenetic roots too.
Tim. You are super super fabulous.
And believe me.i understand.
I was in a program… I cannot name since it’s anonymous.. for 17 years.
Everything I say is based on years of steps into recovery and that includes therapy. And like you, I deeply want others to benefit from my voyage out. I’ve discovered that not all food addicts want to know…
Or, want to go into a group. I have close relatives still caught in the web of food addiction over 60 yrs and counting.
Highy educated, very sophisticated, smart as they come, but still in a cage where I assume they feel safer.
I love them. But it’s amazingly frustrating to see.
Yes- you see people trapped like that, see them suffering, and… have to just let them. That darn free will!
I’m glad we connected on this topic today, thank you
Just an after thought: Recovering from a food addiction is another journey.
There’s the journey into addiction, at least there was for me. Likewise, in my experience there’s a journey out. That’s where your path is unique to who you are, and become.
More about that another time.
Yes, you’re absolutely right. I’m trying to write about it and it’s a bit of a brain-dump train wreck at the moment. But the journey out had two big sides to it. The food side was actually the easiest to fix. In a way, the addiction is just a symptom of the real problem, and if we don’t address that, I imagine some will just find a new addiction and dive in.
It’s called Changing deck chairs on the Titanic.
Whenever food addicts talk what foods to eat I worry. Of course this is only based on my experience as a very grateful recovered bulimic now going on 34yrs. I cannot imagine why I even how I managed to binge. Really. When it happened to me after decades of addiction, I knew instinctively that I could now eat anything I desired without rules, without a person instructing me to not eat this or that
because I realized that my addiction was far deeper than a substance.
And yes nutritionists and nutrition
is important; but for someone like me, that would come after.
I did not want more food focus!!
Repeat: I’d been obsessed w food for too long. No more!!
I wanted to be freed from that. To feel that fully.
So I never talk about food to a food obsessed addict.
I’m so glad you recovered from that. And, I can fully understand your concerns. You need to take care of yourself first, and it sounds like you know how to do that.
What I’ve presented here, though, is scientifically backed, fully studied and replicated information, not a fad diet.
Do alcoholics go to a 12 step program run by people who were never alcoholics? Or do they get a mentor who knows the pitfalls and understands the addiction, because they were once there themselves?
A big part of the reason that I completed a full year of Primal Health Coach training as well as studied habits, meditation, self-forgiveness, gratitude, and more, was because I feel a mission to help others. I want to be able to do that with the right knowledge and skills, and to have the tools for people that I know will work as they have worked for many others.
My go-to snack is a bag of Quest chips, only 140 calories and 19 grams of protein which is not bad for a snack. They are extremely pricey though and well worth it.
I've done macro tracking a few times recently and it's actually surprising how much protein a person *should* be getting versus what most people are actually consuming (this depends on activity level, age, muscle mass, etc). Like, for my body and my goals it can be a stretch to get enough protein. Protein bars/shakes definitely help!
It’s always interesting to see what you actually get in for a day!
What's the best way to get more protein into your diet, Tim? Would you recommend protein shakes and stuff like that? Or more natural options like chicken, etc. ?
Great question! The best is always unprocessed natural foods, but that doesn’t always work for everyone. I’ve had great results with a protein shake first thing in the morning blended with some frozen fruit and a couple of other healthy things, and then chicken, beef or fish to make up the balance in the rest of the day.
There’s a lot to say and unpack, so I’ll have to write a follow up.