Labeling Yourself With "Binge Eating Disorder", "Compulsive Overeating Disorder" or "Food Addiction"

Nearly every self-help book or article I’ve read on binge eating disorder or food addiction has a section to help the reader decide if he or she really has binge eating disorder, compulsive overeating disorder or is a “food addict”.

Often there’s a checklist with questions like, “Do you eat more than you intended more than 3 times per week?” Or “Do you hide how much you eat?”

These books or articles are often written by someone that has no personal experience with binge eating, or by people who believe in addictive disease. By asking questions like this, in their opinion, they’re setting you up to conclude you have a problem.

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Five Fascinating Food Facts That Are Weird

Now, these food facts just might keep you amused, especially for those of you on holiday. Besides you may find one or two so fascinating that you’ll trot them out next time you’re out for dinner, (although I’m not sure if your guests will approve of a couple of them.)

1. In Brazil one of the most popular pizza toppings is peas. Yes, the little green pea. Well, did you know those peas pack a pretty powerful punch? (lots of p’s)

They are not only a great protein source but they’ve got vitamin K, manganese, thiamin, copper, vitamin C, phosphorus and folate. However, their real superpower is that they have a myriad of potent antioxidants including high amounts of a polyphenol called coumestrol – this just may lower your risk of stomach cancer. So don’t just roll those peas around on your plate – dive into them and enjoy their nutritional power.

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More Dining Options at The University of West Florida

As a current student at the University of West Florida, I frequently eat at the dining options that are available on campus. My freshman year, I had the displeasure of having a meal plan. Where I was forced to eat 12 meals a week at the Nautilus Market, an all-you-can-eat option. In addition, I had to spend $300 at another vendor on campus. It was required and overpriced. I am proposing that the University of West Florida provide students with better on-campus dining options.

Currently, there are 11 places to grab a bite to eat while on campus. However, four of them are just grab-and-go cafes, so I would not consider these as viable options. These cafes are good in their locations. They are in specific buildings like the business building and the library. These are good options if you are in a hurry.

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Miracle Mussi, the Cat, Survives Two Months Locked in a Basement Without Food!

Feb 11, 2013: Mussi, my beloved tabby from South Chicago, did not return from his nightly outing! At first, I thought he was just extending his nightly trip for a few hours, but Mussi remained gone until after midnight. I started searching the neighborhood over and over, calling his name. After hours of fruitless search activities, I gave up and went to bed. I tossed and turned restlessly until the following morning. Early in the morning, I got up and combed the neighborhood again. I extended the search area a few blocks, puzzled at the situation. I kept calling his name “Muuussssiiii!” Nothing! Where could he be?

On no occasion had Mussi ventured far from the house in the past. In seven years, he’d never disappeared like this. Our silent agreement entailed him checking in with me every 30 minutes or so. He had always been sticking to it. So, what happened all of a sudden? My mind played out the worst horror scenarios. Was he locked in some dark basement? Kidnapped? Run over? Chased away by other cats, or worse, dogs? I felt so desperate that I could not think straight. I was way too depressed and anxious.

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Carrot and Celery Fly Control

That little pest that really annoys me is the Carrot fly: A creature that is a member of the Psilidae family, also called ” Rust Flies “. Apart from eating carrots, they can also be found on: celery, parsnips and parsley. I seems me that they are out to get my crop, what ever I do.

To understand them, the place to start is to know what they do. The fly lays their eggs at the base of the plant, they hatch and start eating the nearest food, which is, your crop. The fly is attacked to the seedlings by the odour of them

There are two ways of preventing this, both of them, try to make the crop distasteful to the fly.

One way of doing this is to soak sawdust in paraffin and spread this down between the rows.

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My Toaster is Too Slow

I have a new toaster. In fact this is about my 5th toaster in as many years. My wife says I have a fetish around toasters, but the truth is they’ve all been too slow. This morning I stuck my English muffin into my new toaster and began to wait. My latest toaster has a digital count down timer, so now I can actually watch the seconds tick always as “the perfect” toast is being created just for me – At least, that’s what the box said. However, what the box didn’t say is that it would take too long! As the seconds ticked by, I realized something crucially important about me, food and time!

It’s all about instant gratification. The quicker food goes in my mouth, the better I like it! It’s not the toaster’s fault! It’s really about me hating to wait! In fact, our world has become all about speed and our intolerance of time. From the guy honking behind you when the light changes, to drive-through banking machines. The faster it happens, the better we like it. No wonder we have microwaves, fast food and meals in boxes!

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Holiday Temptations? Get a Jump on January!

Most of us want to feel safe, maybe even more so at holiday time. If you have food addictions, though, it can be difficult to feel safe during the holiday season.

Everyone knows the holidays bring food temptations. It’s simply accepted that we’ll eat those foods, gain weight, and set the same weight-loss resolution we set last year and the year before.

Making this worse is how constant the temptations are – every day, all day, even more than usual. Seasonal stresses don’t help, either: long lines, crowds everywhere, parties, the financial pressure of holiday gifts, lots more.

These stresses can – and do – lead to emotional eating. And if we feel we’re about give in to emotional cues, the tempting foods are right there.

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Don’t Get Past The Point of Hunger!

The other day I was at a meeting that went much later than I expected. I’d missed lunch by a long-shot and I was so hungry I could barely think straight. I had a long ride home ahead of me and it was rush hour in LA. Luckily, there was a Trader Joe’s nearby, so I went to get a snack to hold me over. I grabbed some roasted almonds and a banana, as a seasoned Health Coach might do, but then my body took over and I lost control. I passed by some fruit juice sweetened blueberry oat muffins and I couldn’t resist. When I got back to my car, I ripped open the muffins and started eating. The first one barely made a dent in my hunger, so I quickly ate a second. Almonds? Banana? Forget about it. I still felt starving after the second muffin, so I went ahead and ate a third. I didn’t feel in the least bit satisfied, and could have eaten the fourth, except for the fact that I was starting to feel sick; I was light-headed, a little nauseous, and I was beginning to get a headache from the blood-sugar rush, so I threw the muffin in the back-seat where I couldn’t reach it, while I spent the next 45 minutes in traffic.

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How Good Are Low Calorie Diets?

The thought of food is usually a great comfort to most of us while the idea of dieting to lose weight is somewhat of a drag. Yet we know that bodies that build up fat around the vital organs are a disaster. Fatty livers, for instance, can lead to cancer while other organs, such as the heart, may suddenly fail. Recently tests confirmed that my pancreas has fat induction and that frightens me as my sister died recently of pancreatic cancer. Continue reading “How Good Are Low Calorie Diets?”

Causes of Diarrhea Can Sometimes Be Hard to Pinpoint

There are many different health issues that could be causing your diarrhea. Sometimes it might just be that our bodies are trying to eliminate toxic or rotting foods out of the digestive tract.

Another one of the main causes of diarrhea could be that you could be slightly food poisoned. You might not realize that you were food poisoned because it might just be a mild case. Just because you aren’t throwing up, doesn’t mean that the food you ate was not contaminated.

Another common cause of diarrhea is if you have a food intolerance. Some people might be unable to digest certain food components like lactose. Lactose is the sugar found in milk. Food intolerance can cause many other symptoms other that just diarrhea. If I drink milk, or foods containing milk (like ice cream) it will always give me gas. Continue reading “Causes of Diarrhea Can Sometimes Be Hard to Pinpoint”