Thank you all so much for your comments - it means a lot to me that we understand each other so well. So, now it's Chanukah - another food challenge (not that we don't have them every day).

There are some "Chanukah tips" in the Startfresh.com newsletter (if you are not currently receiving it, leave us your e-mail address on our website - the newsletter is FREE!). I hope these tips help - feel free to send us what helps you...we can all benefit from each other's experiences.

Chanukah is just another TRIGGER, the first component in the anatomy of a binge (see the last blog entry). Understanding that we do have some control over how we handle each part of that binge cycle may head off that episode, so, no, all is not lost when we are "triggered". We face those triggers all of the time - some are ongoing challenges, some come at certain times of the day (dinnertime, 4 PM slump), others at certain celebrations (weddings, Shabbos). The triggers are like the trigger of a gun - it's there but you do not have to pull the trigger. There are those we can do nothing about (family members, financial situations) and some that we can change (walk down a different street if your challenge is passing the candy shop). What if your decision is to binge? Well, it is always your prerogative to change your mind, to make a different DECISION - to pull yourself back, to say NO! Not now, not this time! And if you have already gone into ACTION you can STOP! You dont have to eat it all, eat more, go to the next thing and the next because "tomorrow I am going to be perfect, so I'd better get it all in today".
But what if you did? What if you couldn't stop yourself? What if you have that HANGOVER?
It's strange but true - that "the day after" you want to punish yourself, eat less, or eat nothing.
That's the day you have to take better care of yourself - eat your favorites (on the program of course) Treat yourself as if you were just getting out into the world after the flu - gently, not too much turmoil or activity.You are only human - imperfect at best. Experience the LETDOWN feeling (again!). Internalize that the overeating didnt help, but is yet another TRIGGER, and now the impulse is "I'll binge because I binged" - sound familiar?
In her book, The Committed Life, Rebbitzin Jungreis asks "Why do people make such terrible choices and how can they protect themselves from being so self-destructive?" The answer lies in THINKING - is this worth it? Is this worth giving up my self-esteem over? Is this moment of instant gratification worth the suffering that I will have to endure later?
We have an enormous reservoir of inner strength. "Who is powerful?" our sages ask? "The person who is able to subdue his desires"

So, the fear is not that we have no power. It is that we are powerful beyond measure. Tapping into that power and using it well are the goals of weight control (and life).