Shift Weekly: "Do it to Me" Foods

SHIFT HYPNOTIC WEIGHT MASTERY SUNDAY CLASS –“Improve Your Eating Habits”

Sunday March 3^rd at 3:30-5:30pm
Follow Your Heart Workshop Studio (Canoga Park) next to their famous vegetarian café (come have lunch and then Shift)
Free to newcomers and Monthly Mastery Members

Sign up and details here:

http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/Sundays.html

Shift Weekly: “Do it to Me” Foods

The symbolic power of food never ceases to amaze me.  Our unconscious brain's attachment to certain foods--triggered by events or emotions can be overwhelming. When we're a master of long term permanent weight release we learn that just because our brain is signaling us for a certain food--it may not necessarily mean we need it or should have it--but often it may mean that you need something that it associates with the food--like nurturing or time out or decadence (in some non-caloric form).

 DO IT TO ME

When we are upset or need comforting and food is the only thing that we feel must comfort us is food and you want something super comforting but you don’t want to wake up the next day regretting the calories you ate or don’t want the comfort food to trigger you into eating more it is always a good idea to develop a list of DO IT TO ME FOODS.  These are foods that comfort your heart and soul and taste buds but don’t send you into a blood sugar spike and drop or that don’t have so many calories in them that they send you over your calorie budget for weight release.

Some of my DO IT TO ME foods are recipes I adapted from more caloric childhood favorites: Almond custard, pumpkin pie-less and apple pie-less, cauliflower mashed potatoes (see recipes below)

Some are foods off the shelf that I found comforting but don’t trigger me to want to eat more: Kozy Shack sugar free tapioca pudding, Progresso lite soups with add ins of veggies (this is when I want volume without the calories), TJs Tomato and Red Pepper Soup (comes in a box), and Healthy Choice Fudge Bars.

 My drive through option is always the McDonald’s ice cream cone—only 150 calories—at the right place at the right time—I am lovin’ it.

COMFORT FROM WITHIN

When I am sick, I always think of my mother and her amazing custard. My mother's custard was spellbinding--full of rich whole eggs, cream, almond flavoring and love. Whenever I got sick she would make me get into bed and bring me some warm from the oven. I don't know which was more tender--the creamy custard--or the sympathy my mother gave me while she sat with me and I ate it.

My mom has been gone 7 years this month and I miss her the most when I am sick. The last time I had a cold I thought about her yummy rich and caloric custard and I took a Shift Breath and tuned in to listen to my inner signals--did I really want custard or did I need something else?  I realized what the thought of the custard really wanted me to do was to leave the office, go home and get into bed. The thought of the custard was telling me what my mom couldn't, “You're sick honey, go to bed, you have got to take care of yourself”.   So I did. And doing so was so rich and creamy--so tender and loving that later that day, when I was feeling a bit better--I got up and made my lower calorie version of the custard and ate that too. The almond flavoring for me is the key--that smell and flavor sends me right back to cold and dreary days in Seattle circa 1972--and fills me so completely that the egg yolk, cream and sugar missing from the recipe don't even matter.

Coaching: Just because a food is coming into your brain look for what the food message is really trying to tell you.  Be curious--learn how to decode the language of your food cravings--it's another way you can further your mastery and not be a victim of your impulses but let them allow you to connect to yourself on a deeper level and discover the true mystery of what lies beneath the surface impulse or craving. 

Often you will find once you get under the craving—the need for the food wanes and you can address your true need—and BTW it usually involves needing to take a break, comforting yourself or some nurturing act of self-care.

If food is the only thing that will comfort you pull out your DO IT TO ME list and chose something.  To start a do it to me list think of any food—decadent or not—that you think of as comforting.  Then look for healthier, lower sugar lower fat versions of your comfort foods—they exist—try Google and also try www.Hungry-Girl.com or  www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com or for some great lower calorie comfort DO IT TO ME recipes.

Almond Custard Recipe:

Here is my lower calorie version of my mom's custard recipe--if you want the heavier version you'll have to ask my mom for it! PS it takes about 2 minutes to assemble—(fast food!!)-- and it's mostly protein so a good non blood sugar spiking breakfast, snack or dessert.  A great light but comforting dish for these darker, colder days!!

The Tell Tale Egg White Custard (the entire recipe is 350 calories if you use non cal sweetener)

Spray a Pyrex dish with cooking spray.

Pour the entire contents of a pint of pasteurized egg whites in to the Pyrex dish (you could use 6 eggs or 8 whites from eggs but then you would  need to mix in a bowl with other ingredients and then pour into the Pyrex dish.)

add:

1 teaspoon almond or vanilla flavor

or you could do 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 t. grated ginger

sweetenr: I use a dash of Stevia and about 4 packets Splenda but for those of you who avoid the fake stuff
agave will do or 1/2 c sugar--just factor in the calories.

Stir in:
1 cup non fat milk or almond milk or soy milk.

Top with a sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon.

Bake in a 250 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until it starts to set but is still a little jiggley in the center like Jello.  Next, turn off the oven and let it continue to be cook until set--another hour.

You can cook it on a higher heat but then you would have to use a water bath for it and for most that's too big of a commitment.

Pumpkin Pie-less and Apple Pie-less
These are both simple ideas and easy to execute—I simply take the basic pumpkin pie recipe from the side of the can (the plain pumpkin not the pre-sweetened kind) but use lighter ingredients—I use splenda or stevia or nectresse for the sweetener (feel free to use whatever sweetner you use)—light milk and egg whites and I bake it without the crust.  Done this way  1/6 of the pie is about 100 calories and is super healthy because of the pumpkin and egg whites—I put a T of whipping cream or Greek yogurt on top and boy is it good!

You can also try apple pie without the crust using just apples sliced up and baked, microwaved or sautéed with the spices and top with some whipping cream or Greek yogurt.

 Hungry Girl has more detailed recipes that add some low cal crust so check her out too.

 Mashed Cauliflower Potatoes

Cut up and cook 1 head cauliflower with 1 potato cut up in chicken or veggie broth. Drain and then blenderize or pulverize in a food processor with 2 t. of butter and some milk—depends on the consistency you like.  The whole recipe is about 300 calories and is about 6-8 servings—great as a substitute for mashed potatoes and people love the extra flavor—often no one knows the differenceJ.

Enjoy.
Have a Shifted week!

oxox Rita

SHIFT HYPNOTIC WEIGHT MASTERY SUNDAY CLASS –“Improve Your Eating Habits”

Sunday March 3^rd at 3:30-5:30
Follow Your Heart Workshop Studio (Canoga Park) next to their famous vegetarian café (come have lunch and then Shift)

Sign up and details here:

http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/Sundays.html