How to care for my famine brain

If you read my last post, you are familiar with 'famine brain' Im using a term I first encountered in Martha Beck's book, 'The Four Day Win' It is an excellent book, by the way, for anyone who wants to win the diet wars once and for all.

If you are to loose weight permanently you CAN NOT subject yourself to famine brain.

You must find a way to feel full after eating. I found the secret when I started Jenny Craig.

It's called 'Volumetrics' a term coined by Barbara Rolls, Phd. The idea is to create volume at every meal. That means adding foods that have more volume and fewer calories than calorie dense food. This is what the Jenny Craig plan does. Jenny Craig's food is higher in protein and uses some fat but not too much. Both foods are necessary for saitey The Jenny Craig client adds his/her own fresh fruits and vegetable that greatly add to the food volume. I have to say, that Im rarely hungry since I started Jenny Craig. And the times I do think Im hungry, when I analyze it, I realize that it is really 'famine brain' So I compassionately talk to my scared 'hungry' self. I tell her that she is safe, she will be taken care of, and there will always be enough. Then I observe my feelings without acting on them. Eventually the 'hunger' goes away without eating.

With these tools and others, I have lost 22 pounds and have not felt deprived.

I would like to say once again, that I DO NOT WORK FOR JENNY CRAIG. Im simply convinced that her plan is working for me. Each person is unique. What works for me, may not work for you. I believe you need to learn about and shift your attitudes about food and eating if you are to be sucessful in loosing weight and keeping it off.

Thanks for reading, and happy weight loss!