"Deconstructing Cravings" Journey group

Topic: "Deconstructing Cravings" – You crave chips, your friend needs a brownie. What’s up with the cravings and what is your body trying to tell you?

Since we are a mind, body and Spirit, or you might say physical, emotional, Spiritual self I feel it is important to encompass learning on these three areas of our life. When they are in balance our life feels different.

Our body does speak to us when it comes to our food habits. It also has a reaction like a little kid wanting what it wants. We often confuse it by what we are eating as it reacts to something we ate with what is that all about? Think of yourself as a car with fuel – your energy needs good quality fuel to run efficiently.

I would like to share additional tips given by Sandy Griesbach so we know better ways of handling our cravings along with a message from God. Sandy had so much to say I am

sharing some of my notes.

Follow up notes from the March Journey group

“Deconstructing your cravings”

What is a Craving? Your body sending you a signal that something is not in balance. Our challenge is to decipher the code of what our body is trying to tell us.

General causes include Addiction / Allergy, Imbalance, and Memory or Emotion. Use the chart below to see if you can pinpoint the cause of your craving and whether or not you should give in or resist. Examples as follows:

Causes	Resist or cave in?	Is it dangerous?
Addiction / Allergy
Sugar / Coffee	Cave in	Probably not
Sugar / Coffee	Resist	Might be uncomfortable for a couple of days
Wheat allergy	Cave in	Will probably make you want more
Imbalance
Hormone	Cave in	Your body is already in flux
Nutrients	Cave in	Your body is trying to recalibrate
Quantity of food	Depends – are you dieting and not eating enough	Your body may be tired of just salads, and one more grape is not going to satisfy a need for nutrient dense food
Memory / Emotion
Body changes every 6 – 7 years	Resist	It’s your body’s last hurrah as cells leave and it will not taste the same
Emotional eating	Resist	While food as friend might fill you up it will not fulfill you – beware comfort foods
Your food nourishes your cells and therefore you have a very intimate relationship with food	Resist	The food you eat today is your body of the future

Beware Moldy foods: peanut butter, fruit juice and jams especially if you have mold allergies – may kick in with season changes

When you find yourself impulsively reaching for something slow down and try and figure out what your body is really asking for. Start with flavor: Sweet, Salty, Bitter, Pungent or Spicy

If not the flavor, maybe it is the texture you crave? Crunchy, creamy, light, liquid, or plain food. Each is a different code for you to workout.

An example:

Chewy and crunchy food at end of day may represent anger we have been suppressing all day, and we may be trying to chew away our emotions.

What about chocolate? Chocolate has 380 chemicals which activate various pleasure centers in the brain. Some of those are the same as the pleasure seeking or high found in opiates and pot, though you would need 25lbs of chocolate to get a the same high as pot or 12 lbs of coffee for that coffee adrenal rush. Dark chocolate has antioxidants – buy the best quality you can (less quantity) and really celebrate.

We also covered several tips to dealing with urges.

Bonus tips:

• We know we should avoid empty calories but sometimes can’t stop ourselves. If you consider them as toxic rather than empty it might be easier.
• Try to stick to real food… some thing you recognize because it grows, swims, walks, jumps, or swims.
• A breathing technique was presented by Sandy. It was suggested we use this technique twice a day is sets of 4 reps for the next 30 days to experience and share our results.

This technique will change energy, help you to relax and sleep.

Guest Speaker: Sandy Griesbach is a Health Coach helping busy people make better food and lifestyle choices. If you would like to join her email list to receive newsletters, or would like more information about obtaining a free health assessment, or have an idea for a future workshop contact her at sandy.griesbach@gmail.com or visit her website at www.sandy-griesbach.healthcoach.integrativenutrition.com

Darlene shared about reading the book Fighting the food giants

Diantha

Kambucha tea is great for digestion

Meat is the yang

veggies are the yin.

Diantha brought in most amazing mandala of Mother Mary that was exquisite. I have asked her to bring it back to the group in June.

I brought in the book Heaven is for real a true story about a child who visited heaven, son of a pastor as a suggested read.

Message Cindy received from God

What does this group need to learn about cravings?

It depends on what type of craving you are talking about. There are so many of them and why you crave them often depends on your emotional needs and state of well being. The high you get or the fix takes place in the exchange of energy that is often supplied by these needs. Remember to be careful what you feel your fix is in life. What is it that you need to feel that high?

The attitude you feel towards anything or anyone is often a direct result on how you feel it will benefit you. In other words if you don’t get anything out of it often you will deserve a different outcome. I use the word deserve because all things are worthy and deserving of goodness if you look at them that way.

Eat well, eat right but eat with a sense of knowing that you are here to restore, rebuild and find you on so many levels. The food is only one way to make you feel better it is not the ultimate reason you have come and why you are here.

Crave for more knowledge and more inner knowing. Show and give love to others so they will feel a high from you infused by me.

Remember we have a facebook group page please join in:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/journeyadventurers/

Facilitator: Cindy Miller

Cindy Miller is a God based intuitive, coach and inspirational writer. She has been interviewed by the NewYork Times, AM NY, Metro and BBSR radio.
When: March 7th (1st Wednesday each month), 7:00 - 9:00pm
Where: Newtown Congregational Church, 14 West Street, Newtown, CT
Reservations: Cindy 203-426-9448 or email ahead cindy@trinityproduction.org
Fee: $20