Carol Vorderman Is Back on Her Detox Diet

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It seems ironic that although the title of Carol Vorderman‘s best selling book was “Detox for Life: The 28 Day Diet and Beyond“ she has just announced that she is back on a 3 month detox after filming the Food Glorious Food Show.

“I’m on a detox for three months because I’ve eaten so much. I’m terrible, once I start eating certain kinds of food, I go on eating them, so I’ve got to re-train myself.”

In her book Carol writes that ” the book covers the 28 day detox as well as how to maintain healthy eating once that is over. You’ll be conscious of exactly what kind of food you’re eating for probably the fist time in your life.”

It seems that Carol was not able to follow her own advice and consumed “vast amounts” while filming for the show and was unable to stop at just a mouthful.

We can all probably identify with that. How many times have you intended to have just one cookie or one piece of chocolate and then ended up devouring the lot? I know I have.

So is it possible to retrain yourself?

According to Dr Judith Beck it is possible to learn to think like a thin person. She applies the techniques used in Cognitive behavior therapy to the thought processes behind the way we eat.

In her book The Beck Diet Solution she reveals rules that will change the way you eat forever.

1. Challenge Your Thoughts

According to Beck everything we eat is as a result of a thought processes which are often sabotaging thoughts. You might make excuses such as I’m celebrating, the food is free, I never get to eat this, it’s OK I’ll start again tomorrow.

She suggests that you make a list of these thoughts and develop a written response to them. For example if you say “I deserve to eat this” you replace it with “I deserve to feel good about myself”.

You practice them over and over again until they become automatic.

2. Forget Fair

If you tell yourself “it’s not fair that I can’t eat what everyone else eats” according to Beck in order to develop a healthy attitude to food we need to get over the the idea of fairness and deprivation.

An important concept to learn is “I can eat what I want or I can be thinner but I can’t have it both ways”.

She points out that most thin people choose healthy food and eat smaller portions than they would really like. I don’t agree with that.

Carol, in her book, says that detox is about being aware of the kind of foods we put in our bodies. It’s about eating more not less. She points out that while people were thinking she was starving herself to lose weight she was actually eating more food than she was when she was dieting.

The detox plan that I followed when I recovered from chronic fatigue included plenty of food. I never felt hungry. It’s a fallacy that you have to go hungry if you want to detox. It’s about eating the right foods.

Cravings are another matter. When your body is properly nourished and balanced you won’t get cravings.  I have already covered them here:  What Do Your Crazy Food Cravings Tell You?

3. Always Sit Down to Eat

Eating should be a planned activity that you take time to enjoy. This is a simple but very important rule. You will be much more conscious of what you are eating when you are sitting down and not just snacking mindlessly.

Also take time to chew your food well and eat slowly. According to WebMD  “It takes approximately 20 minutes from the time you start eating for your brain to send out signals of fullness. Leisurely eating allows ample time to trigger the signal from your brain that you are full. And feeling full translates into eating less.”

4. Don’t Eat When You Feel Emotional

If you eat because you feel sad, bored or angry then you will know that it does not make you feel any better for long. According to Beck, you have to distract yourself by going for a walk, talking to a friend, or busying yourself with work and the desire to eat will pass.

Make it a rule to never eat when you feel emotional. Wait 20 minutes or so until you feel calmer and and you will make healthier decisions about what to eat. Probably easier said than done!

5. Give Yourself Credit

Beck says that every time you eat something you know you shouldn’t you build the tendency to give in. Every time you resist the temptation you strengthen your self-control.

Each time you refrain from eating the foods you are not supposed to give yourself credit for it. This way you develop faith in your ability to resist temptation and make good decisions about what to eat.

6. Change For Good

I have to point out here that although Carol is going back to the detox diet for 3 months to lose the weight she has piled on that is not it’s main purpose. The whole purpose of detox is to get rid of toxins that have accumulated in the body.

It’s true that some of the toxic chemicals that you have in your body can affect the weight control mechanism and getting rid of them with can help your metabolism work better.

A good Detox Diet Program can also help to kick start a new healthy eating plan and lifestyle. It’s no good detoxing and then going back to your old way of eating. This is just the same as yo yo dieting.

You may think that it’s unnatural to write down the thoughts you have when eat things that are bad for you and to give yourself credit when you resist but it works.

People who stay thin after they have lost weight do so because they have changed how they think about weight and food.

Making the changes are hard to begin with but over time it will become automatic. You will feel so much better eating the way you do that it will become the norm.

I have been eating a healthy diet for so long now that I would not enjoy eating things that I know are bad for me.  What about you?  Have you a story to tell of how you overcame problems like this? Please share them with my readers in the comments.

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