I just had this conversation with my husband a couple of days ago. He just doesn't understand that I cannot have bread and chocolate in the house! I told him it was like when our alcoholic friend came over, and we had to hide all of our alcohol. I'm the same way with carbs. If it's in the house and I know it, I have to consume it all immediately. I just can't have it near me. It's so much easier to go without it if I'm not around it and I feel so much better.
Same with me. I don't buy crackers, cookies, chips, candy, popcorn, ice cream, bread, chocolate BECAUSE ONCE I TAKE A BITE, I CAN'T STOP EATING UNTIL THE WHOLE THING IS GONE.
I was so glad to find out why I did crave them and now if I do, I stop and think about what choice I want to make. Of course I am much older most likely and keeping it out of the house is a great and necessary first step until become more mindful. I have been practicing mindfulness for decades yet this information, all of it for the most part, from CCF has been life changing for me. The only information that checks all the boxes, therapists and doctors have had me all over the place trying to figure out what is going on, so grateful for this woman's wisdom and the courage to share it with others.
I struggled a lot with brain fog. First time I see somebody else mention it. It appeared in my early 20s, despite the fact that I was suffering from CPTSD already in my teens (had 3 years long depression in my teens but no brain fog). Once I begun to do my emotional literacy exercises, the brain fog dissapeared. I would have less and less of it, until finally 1.5 years later it was gone. Clearly it was just a side effect of me supressing my emotions.
2 years ago I started ketogenic diet (as a try to get rid of my insulin resistance), not much convinced at first I noticed that my cravings for sugar and floury foods went away in a few weeks! For good ☺️ Worth trying and not difficult to introduce.
Hey, I've struggled with stress eating sugary goods, but after I went on a low-carb diet, I felt so much more energetic and less lethargic. Not saying it's going to fix everything, but it does help a little with feeling better.
Try ripe tropical fruit. Even in a smoothie with LF milk. It's an entirely different response. Even fresh squeezed orange juice. Add a little salt it tastes great. Sugar relieves normal biological stress. Salt can lower adrenaline. The high meat eaters pay a price to get their sugar converted from proteins and fat. Make no mistake about it you need carbohydrates and your brain will do anything to get it including dissolving your muscle.
Parts of our brain dont grow id childhood based ptsd I believe parts shrink from chronic ptsd Regardless, there r mushrooms like lionsmane n psilocybin that help with rebuilding connections inc new ones new perspectives. I did 10yrs o therapy in 1 night of psilocybin in amsterdam where its legal xD Meditation scientifically proven to regrow these brain parts that shrink Over 8weeks of 20min/day i think it was Myself i aim for 1hr 1st thing, N hypnosis or a 2nd hr of meditation b4 sleep
@@kimwarburton8490 Kim is right, try the mushrooms. Reishi too. Yuan zhi. Poria. Really I recommend learning about traditional chinese medicine formulas like xiao yao, a good acupuncturist will have herbs. Xiao Yao heals trauma.
@@rubytuesday7653 then i recomend michael seeley for hypnosis The Third Wave for advances in the science n as a jump off platform Have fun, its a fascinating topic to study n analyse I do strongly suggest you learn all the 'bad science stuff' its version of logical fallacies, name escapes me n only example i recall its name of is cherry picking The PACE trial is a recent hit me where it hurts trial that after years of battling has finally been officially recognised as being full of bad science They moved the goal posts They signed their own homework Evidence deemed moderate-low and low was given the weight of extreamly high evidence. NICE (uk nhs oversight) declared that such low levels of evidence were always rejected in medical science (hence double blind studies etc so that not even placebo/nocebo happens) (because its lifechanging stuff isnt it, they just cannot be too carefull Its the reasoning behind why allopathic medicine refuses herbalism and other simple remedies like dietry changes) Simply cos they were biased n their reputations were on the line.
I feel like brainfog is consuming about 80% of my life. Either when I‘m paralysed with fear or while I numb myself to prevent me from feeling lonely, empty and just like I‘m in the wrong body and the wrong life.
I had another dramatic event that threw me back to being paralyzed most of the day. This woman's courage to heal and share that journey is such a blessing. It has helped me but I need to look back on every day and just hold on to what I did accomplish. One thing I do to take back my power is do the little things I can do, knowing every step helps the whole. When I need to decide what to do, I find anything I can do to get moving and sometimes leads to getting to the things that are hard for me. Just washing a dish or fixing something to eat, some days just getting dressed is a win. So I take the wins and add them up instead of listing what I couldn'tdoo; some days I just survive to try another day. I pray you find your way soon just remember its each little baby step, falling a lot at the start, to learn to walk. We don't yell at our kids for falling and having to get up again so why does that change when older? We are all learning every day and we all fall, time to let us all be human and not trying to live up to some standard that enslaves us. Blessings for your continued healing.
1. It’s what you are eating: Trauma= food sensitivity..Go off sugar, lower carb intake and choc. 2. It’s what you are neglecting: self care + be real, genuine and decisive abt your life.. decide something and act on it 3. It’s what you haven’t healed: learn to deregulate , keep working on healing and calming triggers Thank you
There is no correlation between trauma and food intolerance and there is no evidence that sugar causes brain fog because most of the world would be complaining of it if that was true but it’s probably good advice in general for health to avoid too much sugar.
@@Mandance I think you are wrong but I can’t remember well enough what studies support this hypothesis to correct you. But if you looked at studies that found no link, I think you might just be looking at the wrong studies. I’m not sure but I think the mechanism is in the fight or flight response that trauma can cause it diverts energy from digestion obviously. But there’s also studies on the bidirectional effects of the gut brain axis, meaning that your emotional state can influence your gut microbiome too, not just the microbiome influencing emotions. Certain microbes necessary for digestion of specific foods can be wiped out or substantially decreased, leaving a person with food sensitivities they never had before. I know there’s a lot of research out there and it can be overwhelming, but It’s definitely worth looking into more. I’m not sure how you might have reached the conclusion that you did, but I think it’s off based. I’m curious if you were looking in journals of gastroenterology rather than neuroscience journals, or really what sort of articles you were finding this conclusion in. If you remember the names of the articles you looked at I would be really curious to read them. As well, even when researchers fail to find a link in a preliminary study with a small sample size they’ll often mention this in their conclusions that a larger sample size is needed. I’m finding it hard to believe that any scientists would conclude there was no link when there’s so much evidence to support that there is a link. I’m puzzled. Edit: I thought I should add that your logic is faulty. To assume that a link between trauma and food sensitivity could only exist if everyone affected by trauma developed a food sensitivity would be to assume that everyone has a similar enough microbiome to be affected the exact same way and that trauma would affect all people the same. I probably don’t need to point out how ridiculous those assumptions would be and how erroneous it would be to draw any conclusions from assumptions like those.
@@tnijoo5109 but my point was, do you have peer reviewed papers that show brain fog is caused by sugar, or that trauma causes food sensitivity? Cause that sounds also more like opinion rather than facts. You could be right of course but there is no way to verify it that I know of.
In the Army I learned that "carbing up" is something you do to prepare for a known stress that is coming. Need to run 6 miles recorded for time, pasta the night before. Need to march 12 miles, go crazy, eat all the carbs you want. I agree that these are biological processes. And to add to that, in 2003, nearly 20 years ago, my unit got in our first real firefight. After we got out of it, our BC took us to a secured area and we had "Nap Time." Airborne Infantry getting Nap Time. He knew about the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems and the "crash" was needed to bring us down and minimize on-going trauma. Now, the military takes this stuff seriously, for dark reasons perhaps, but don't you think the rest of us should get on board for healing reasons and not just to have more "efficient" weapons for war?
I know veterans of WWII who are absolutely normal people with families in their 80s and 90s who went through war and I think the difference that made them resilient is that they were fighting for a cause, whereas American soldiers know they aren’t helping the country they are fighting in and so it’s much harder was them to cope with what is essentially a partially evil job.
@@Hello-zf5lq the last point about purpose and ethics is true and a source for Moral Injury (disillusionment). The last 20 years is literally a violation of Jus in Bello and Jus ad Bellum, the morality of war and that IS the worse form of trauma and it IS a social trauma for which you are also a part. WWII, bringing them up I take it you are a Boomer. Y'all worship your parents and hate your children and are wrecking your chance to lead. The AVF (all volunteer force) is in my estimation wrong (evil as you say) and abdicating responsibility is an American sickness larger than this pandemic (the sin if you like).
This is true for a lot of professions. Military, medicine and police professionals are expected to be able to see the darkest sides of life and maintain sanity. George Carlin talked about how we use euphemisms to sweep it under the rug. We went from shell shocked to PTSD and take the horror of the issue out of view. I think he is right, we are expected to be automatons and just keep going like slaves, not human beings just a worker bee.
@@TheQueenRulesAll Yes! That is correct. If you are honest, you become a social cynic and if you cannot go there, you double down and continue the trauma. There is no answer that is satisfactory, but I believe the key to trauma is rewriting the narrative.
Wow, I get a something that I call the "Big Nothingness". In social settings, I clam up and can't think of anything to say. I don't usually stay long in that situation or place, as I need to get out of there fast. I start to feel claustrophobic, as if I can't breathe properly . So making new friendships or socializing is something I avoid. I thought it was just me being a weirdo, but this "Brain Fog" sounds a lot like the "Big Nothingness" that I get.
@@rubytuesday7653 Thanks for just being there and taking the time to share. You know like I know how it feels to be surrounded by people clueless and or in denial of narcs. And what it's like to have someone actually listen - then respond w kind words. Comforting. Perspective. Yes, we are Strong. THANK YOU.
Ps. Tackling one thing at a time. Keepin it movin. Crazy, I literally have my tangled mess of thoughts put up in a corner of my mind. Close the door. Then open it when each task is complete. If I let it, it creeps up on me. I'm staying as focussed to task as I can. Tuck that static back in.
After being assaulted by a roommate in my apartment in 2016 I went into a downward spiral of traumatic shock which lasted 4 years. I was already suffering from the effects of chronic domestic battery and abuse in the home I grew up in when I was violently assaulted by the roommate in 2016. For everyone else 2020 may have been a terrible year. But for me it was good because I finally managed to arrest the downward spiral and get a stable emotional 'floor' underneath me, so to speak. That's a very very recent accomplishment - as in the last few days. Last month I began adding superfoods to my diet,: cacao powder, beet juice powder, whey protein isolate, and supplements like krill oil and resveratrol. I'm looking forward to amending my diet in healthy ways in 2021 and beginning a daily stretching and moderate exercise program as well.
@@woobielocks Well, I'm still mostly broken but I'm not spiraling down the drain anymore. You need to be able to discern, to gauge, whether you're actively circling the drain, so to speak, or whether you have reached a place of stability, however low it might be. I'm in a low and dysfunctional place but I'm pretty sure the ground I'm standing on, crawling on, and laying face down on, is stable. Find the things in life that make you feel safe, calm, and stable, and dwell on those things as much as you possibly can. The most important priority is safety: not being under an immediate, dire threat. I hope you can do it. 🙏💖 I'll tell you one thing, though. Everybody is different so don't take this as gospel, but all throughout my life I've found that psychiatric drugs cause brain damage and rob you of the experience of being present in your own life; and clinical social workers at community mental health clinics are selfish narcissists who will abandon you as soon as they get a better job offer. And those repeated abandonment traumas re-trigger your despair and feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness. So beware. The best thing I ever did for my Chronic-Complex PTSD was to invest $800 of my SSI money in a massage chair; and to start taking CBD oil. Because your muscles and tissues hold toxic chemicals from the emotional traumas and they need to be discharged so you can relax emotionally and begin to recover.
@@jamesmullaney5841 Agreed on the Community social workers. I fired 3, and they all work at Walmart now. Can you imagine how awful it must feel to have a "masters degree" in reading, aka social work, and be working for minimum wage. Nobody around here pays attention to anything I say, so 🤷 a lot of other people must have fired her too. 5 years ago I was on 15 prescriptions a day. I started ditching them, all except my anxiety med. I'm a completely different person now, I feel like sleeping beauty, and I was kissed and woke up, and you can probably guess the rest. I'll run 🏃♂️ out of any situation where I can get tied up. Nooooope. I totally agree with you on the brain damage, I started meds at age 9, by 12 I was drooling, and don't remember much until I was 16, then nothing again until I gave birth. I can only remember the traumas. It sucks. A couple years ago I was being trained by an oral surgeon who was a graduate of Harvard with honors, but he had to stop. The tardive dyskenesia is still too much 30 years later. I took my Risperdal a couple times recently and I'm less triggered, but still like alzheimers at 42. And I can't shut up or sleep. I would like to follow you, and do what you are doing. First thing first, I don't like sweets, except for constant mountain dew. Water? Its the first ingredient. Lol. I add ice. Ice is frozen water. What would be a good substitute??? I'm allergic to alcohol, don't like desserts, but I want that caffeine, and I'm totally addicted to sugar i think. Maybe caffeine, maybe the sugar.
@@woobielocks I seriously recommend CBD oil with no THC content, if you can afford it. It should be standard medicine in psychology. I'm 58 and I used to smoke weed throughout my teens and 20s. I urge everybody to stay away from marijuana, it makes you totally psychotic. But the CBD oil purged of the THC is priceless. There are so many other things. A bowl of oatmeal every morning for 10 days boosts your serotonin levels and stabilizes your mood if you have mood swings. Orange juice and pineapple juice are so good for you, it's like they were given to us by heaven. [They were!]😉The first line of defense has got to be nutrition. And hypnotherapy has immense potential that has yet to be realized as a standardized treatment. Hypnotherapy is far superior to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for chronic problems because hypnosis works on the right brain, where the irrational, unconscious feelings are, whereas CBT works on the left brain, where the rational thinking takes place. For example, I know very well that I'm not worthless. My left brain knows it very well. Yet I feel almost totally worthless. That's because my right brain contains all the emotional pain and traumatic memories. It cannot be improved by appeals to reason. So hypnotherapy ought to be the preferred treatment for deep, underlying, unconscious, chronic issues. The problem is that the social work colleges graduate a new class of social workers every year and they all need to find a job to pay off their student loan debt. That's the real purpose of the community clinic: to act as a sink to absorb all those MSWs every year. A lot of those clinical social workers ought to be directed into hypnotherapy specializations and holistic healing methods. It would do the world a world of good. But that's where you run up against resistance from the pharmaceutical conglomerates, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association. They're making money hand over fist and they want the system to remain as it is, even though it's harmful to the patients. The mental industry in America is a juggernaut which exists solely for its own sake, not ours.
@@jamesmullaney5841 thank you so much. I will definitely try all 4 awesome suggestions. Agree with the cannabis too. I moved to where it's legal (coincidentally I started smoking pot at 9) and at 39, I got tired of it. I wish foresight was 20/20 lol. Thanks again James. I'm going to warm up some oatmeal and grab my daughters juicy juice. Just so happens to be orange pineapple lol. I really appreciate your advice. Thank you. And hey, crappy childhood fairy?? I promise to take a walk later. :-)
I’ve never been able to figure out why others weren’t obsessing about brownies, ice cream and chocolate the way I do. I’ve spent my entire adult life stuffing emotions with sugar. I’m learning but it’s still hard. Thank you for being the voice of truth for those of us with childhood trauma. 💗
I'm going to share a HUGE and simple way that helped me decide things. Go for a walk, when you are at an intersection don't move forward until you've decided 100% which path you want to take. Keep this up for your whole walk. Bonus if you decide why you made your decision to choose that path💕
After being diagnosed wiht hypothyroidism and getting medication to it, the severe brain fog started to go away. My doctor said that C-PTSD has propably contributed into creating the decease.
There's some great teaching here, but I think for a lot of people the food compulsions developed as ways to avoid or self-medicate their feelings of trauma and/or feeling overwhelmed by choices/indecision.
In my case, it wasn’t until recently that I realized that when I eat junk is to numb my emotional pain, but I still haven’t been able to pinpoint why I overeat when it comes to regular meal times
I just found you yesterday snd I’m SO blown away by your content!! I feel like I just struck a therapy goldmine of clarity!! Thank you for your wisdom and pearls of knowledge 🙏
You're very good at this: honest without being condescending, you understand things that many of my therapists (and psychiatrists) just don't understand. I only wish I'd found you before I had children.
Wow! The carb & sugar thing is totally me! This totally makes sense! I cannot have bread, bikkies, flavoured milk or chocolate in the house or they "call to me" until they're gone. I'm absolutely an addict. I just thought I was weird! I also refer to myself as a Dizzy Lizzy because I have brain fog all the time... for all of the reasons you mentioned. This video is very sobering. Thank you for telling the truth. I want to heal. I know I'll need to do it slowly. Thank you for helping me accept that that is ok 🙂💖
Wow! I quit eating sugar when I was sixteen because I noticed how out of control I was. In my early twenties I noticed that sugar exposure had lots of negative mental effects. I can't wait to take the quiz. This is great. Thank you!
I want to let you know this, because it's important to me and I feel that you'll appreciate it too... I found your channel 2-3 weeks ago... I immediately identified with the definitions you provide... And I especially identified with how (my Trauma Response go-to mode is the Freeze Response... And I've been frozen in Freeze Response for a long long time, too long, wayyyyyyy too long)I've been sitting in victim consciousness, having a tantrum, telling God, "it's not fair!!" - because of what I've perceived as heartbreaks, disappointments, let downs, abandonment, rejection and betrayal by God - over the last 10 years... And a couple of years ago I got the "fuck-its" and decided to stop trying because nothing was going "my way"... What I recall felt was "hurt, angry, confused, ashamed, guilty, alone, lonely, rejected, abandoned, forgotten about, invisible and betrayed by God/life... I'd run outta ideas to "fix things", I'd run outta the hope and belief that I was here for a reason... My heart ached and my ego told me that despite the universe being divine perfection, I was the exception to the laws of physics and I was one big Quantum mistake!! And I'm not quite past this yet, but I'm much closer than I was 3 weeks ago!! You see, I've read hundreds of self help books, watched hundreds of spiritual videos, am a member of countless websites Facebook pages and groups owned by spiritual healers, teachers and coaches... I've taken at least 20 online spiritual healing courses... And I've learnt SO MUCH!! Nothing has been a waste, and I hope to have the privilege to serve others with the invaluable information I've learned, both through my love of learning, and experientially, the wisdom gained along the way... But I'd been in a rut for the last three years... And although I believed I was desperate to get unstuck, my behavior was telling me another story... I've been consciously on my Spiritual Healing Journey for 20 years... I've been in recovery for just about everything lol... I've been to see healers... I've paid mentors... I'm self taught as I'm the researcher eternal student lol... And I've always been GREAT when life is going my way and I can also self avoid by living in my head, I'm also amazing at fooling myself and others that I'm ok and "get it"... Well the day came when the man who I'd decided was my "God" dropped his mask and because I'd invested my entire self into the relationship, when he wasn't reflecting my false self back to me, I fell apart... And because I've spent the last 20 years Spiritualizing my ego and never truly letting go unless I'm in excruciating emotional pain and it's to my benefit to do so, all of my little mind jedi tricks and self will stopped working... Threats didn't work, I couldn't run away this time, passive aggressively withholding kindness and being a bitch didn't work (half of the time lol), self distraction didn't work in the long term, tantrums didn't work either... So I withdrew further and further into myself and began disconnecting from life... During quarantine I found temporary relief in chocolate and over sleeping - until the consequences of weight gain and sciatica began to outweigh the seeming benefit... And then I felt more overwhelmed and more despair with the stress of figuring out how to lose weight and fix my right butt cheek 👀😬👀 Anyhow, I'm going on and on I know... My point - I'd been stuck in a rut for 2-3 years... I've lost everything... I've felt everything from "fuck this" fury to apathy and suicidal ideation... My sparkle has been dulled - and that's very hard for an Empath to get to that point of hopelessness... I can't see the future, let alone tomorrow... But, thanks to you, I'm finally beginning to shift out of the rut I've been in for so long!! When I found your channel and identified with CPTSD, I was so relieved... I've checked to see if I'm the Narcissist, if I have BPD, if maybe I was a Covert Narcissist... I wondered if I was bipolar or a version of schizophrenia... I've researched so many "disorders"... I definitely know I'm an Empath and I definitely know that I'm wired for addiction... But like a lot of people, when I research, do online quizzes or peruse the DSM-V, I have learned that I have some traits of some disorders, but I don't qualify for anything in particular... Your videos have helped me to finally "identify the truth" and within this, recognize why I do what I do and think how I think 🤔 It's also helped me with being honest about admitting certain things to myself and my coping avoidant behaviours... Most importantly, I've finally been able to admit and accept that change is my responsibility... Self pity and being angry over things not going the way I'd hoped isn't working for me... Basically, how you've communicated has gotten through my denial and ego and I've finally been able to accept responsibility for myself and begin to take small steps to get unstuck 💗💗💗 THANK YOU 💜💜💜
I am impressed with your Tenacity to: Search, Study, Try Different Solutions, Pick yourself up & Keep Trying. You are a Good Example of Accepting Responsibility For Your Own “Betterment”/ Healing. I like to think of putting one foot in front of the Other & Step-By-Step, as Long as I am heading in the Right Direction... I am a sure to Arrive at my Chosen Destination, as a Winner!! When I Feel there is no one in the World... I knock...And God is always there. 🙏🏻
Shannon 💃🏻Damn!🕊 your words and experience are incredibly resonant of my incredible life of curiosity, a shockingly stark poignant réflection, reframed and beautifully articulated with inspiring grace. I bursting laugh so hard at the end I had to go back and listen to Anna again! I am going to subscribe to you because you made my day! Sending you a big smile and a hug from a stranger. Your awesomeness well and stay safe!🌿
That is so true about the M&Ms. I can’t keep anything in my house, other than things like healthy veggies, fruit, and beans and rice and popcorn. Unless I’m doing really well on Weight Watchers, it’s hard to eat just one serving of anything good and make it last in the house for a week.
I randomly found your channel this morning and I'm so glad I did! I've been on a "healing through journaling" journey since 2012 trying to understand the deep reasons for the depression which is now healed. I realized that there is a lot of inner child healing I still need but because I've already done so much it felt a bit like I was looking for a missing piece. Watching your videos feels like I found that piece. I've done journaling and became vegan in order to heal as well but understanding that CPTSD changes the physical structure of the brain is huge! "It's not just in my head" or something I can simply "snap out of" is so helpful. I've used some of the tools you talk about like getting up and doing a physical task to get out of my thought cycle, drinking water, and making sure I'm eating enough healthy food. This is so validating. I'm not self diagnosing but having these tools makes it easier to recognize. I look forward to learning more. 💜
Whole food plant based eating saved my life. I had severe depression & anxiety. I changed my eating & went from 300 pounds to 150 in 2 years. The diet change, my reparenting myself & no contact changed the way i feel & see myself. I cured myself naturally. Textbook medicine is not about healing it's about return customers. A lot of my cptsd symptoms went away. I only eat clean. Sugar, flour, processed food, caffeine, meat, dairy & oils are toxic to the body.
I have cut all carbs and sugar and went full vegan two months ago. Ever since my quality of life has dramatically changed. I am able now again to sit and work in silence, something that wasn't possible in a decade. My hormone imbalance and mood swings have balanced themselves out. It's incredible how detrimental carbs were for me. My sleep quality and digestion have improved dramatically. Thank you for confirming this change with this video post.
I tried lots of diets. There is a great book called "nutrition and physical degeneration" basicaly eat unprocess food, in season, locally grown and well prepared. I tried so many diet, high fat, carnivore, vege, fasting. And in the end I realised that it doesn't matter what I eat as long as it isn't process food with addictive and all. First I saw great results maybe it's the change, but then it all came back as it was before. I just ended up puting too much stress over thinking too much about what I could and when I could eat. It was just another way to control and be undecisive. Like you explain when we tried to please other or ask them not to do something that triggers us. Food was just another trigger that I tried to control. Use it to feel good or control it not to feel. I had to learn that it isn't good or bad, that no diet was going to save me.
Excatly! I've also tried keto diet, raw food diet, vegan, non-vegan, gluten free (already 20 years ago LOL), low carbs, fasting... educated myself on nutrition so much I'm like nutritionist except not. LOL. It all comes down as A LOT OF STRESS. I've never been into eating any processed foods, yack. So for me a balanced lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet with occasioanal fish is the best. I just eat what I like and it's actually simple, because what I like is healthy. But I don't eat bread usually at all, I find daily bread eating gives me problems. I also don't eat refined sugar at all. Also artificial sweeterners give me huge need to stuff carbs, so I avoid even ocassionally those products. What I have for carbs is oatmeal porridge, millet, pasta, potatos, legumes... But this means I've relaxed my eating habits but I'm not stuffing carbs or food now. I make my own raw choclate if I feel I need it. LOL So it doesn't give me the same sugar eatings loop as would have after factory made choclate with refined or artificial sugars. I can also crab a sandwich if there's no time to eat proper lucnh. I want to eat for living! Not to live to eat and think about food!
It’s hard here in West Virginia all we have is Kroger and Walmart winter especially sucks not only do I just give up on eating well.due to the stress of trying with little options but the gray skies and cold wet snow just makes the comfort food that much more comfortable.
That’s EXACTLY how my life was! At about age 48, I got a 20-week counseling that healed me of those food addictions. I’m SOOO glad you have the link available for people that want/need it!!! I never knew the connection was to the various N relationships throughout my life (from about age 6 on)... I was an adult before I realized most people did NOT struggle with the food issues I had. (I just thought they were able to get past them.) My father’s 3rd wife (who “took “ to me-& has stayed with me) shared about “hearing “ from her body about when to stop eating, and about her ability to “eat right.” I was 50 years old before I could do the same; AND it took counseling!... Only recently has the “Brain Fog “ lifted... I DO feel better when I avoid flour, sugar, and wheat! There is STILL so, so much food to choose from! You are SO right: freedom, and peace! Ooh, priceless!!! There is so much work to do, but it’s so worth it (& I’m worth it!)...
Yea, this is me. My days slip by and turn into weeks and then into months. I can remember feeling clear and sharp, and now things are dull and hazy, and I feel very unproductive.
I love this! I started bright line eating about 5 months ago. I’m a 10 on the quiz you are talking about. I totally relate to what you were saying about the m&ms. I dropped 20 pounds in a few months. I feel like I am really on the right track finding your channel this week! Amazing! ❤️❤️❤️
I agree . I started eating healthy and eliminated sugar completely. Sugar is evil. My depression is gone . I still have my memories and I cry but it doesn’t ruin my whole day. The thing is people cheat eating sugar and it doesn’t work. I just stopped sugar zero sugar and I don’t even crave it at all. My skin is like a baby’s butt. But I can tell you, if you are strong enough to stop eating sugar, the experience after that will make you not want to eat it at all. Eliminate natural flavors, carrageenan, and crappy oils( canola, sunflower, palm, peanut.....
And soy oil. Yeah, soo important to eliminate crappy (polyunsaturated) oils! However, though some of us may be more sensitive to sugars, sugar is not evil. Your brain will die without it. .Flour should go though.
Yes I agree but sugar almost every product has sugar, what I meant is A person can get the sugar from fruits, from healthy food not from chocolate unless it’s dark and not in big quantities not from a KitKat not from a Twix not from chocolate milk not from cakes. Man made sugar is evil. that’s where people are going wrong. People need to start reading the ingredients on every package if they cannot pronounce it is bad put it back should only have five ingredients tops because some products needs emulsifiers and that is understandable
I was the kind of person that used to say well I don’t eat much of anything so I can eat whatever I want and that thinking was messing up my system. I just wish that somehow people will give it a try but without cheating and it’s going to be hard and it might take two weeks for some people but I can guarantee that they will never go back to eating the way they were eating. I have suffer with depression since I was a little kid and let me tell you I feel free I feel like somebody just got me out of a prison. I know that people are going to say well that doesn’t work the same way for everybody maybe that everybody was cheating on the side or was not reading the ingredients like riboflavin, fructose, corn syrup, all of these are the same as sugar. What I’m saying works for everybody but not everybody will read ingredients . Those ingredients I mentioned will trigger a craving in the brain in your system to go and eat more. Somebody can be telling me well these cookies said that they are made with natural flavors so it must be good, And that is why it’s not working for them so then they go back to eating the same or even worse food. it’s not as easy as it seems, we need to start reading the ingredients and people need to stop buying these products that Are killing us mentally and physically. Refusing to buy those products will make the industry change the ingredients. I just want to scream to the world Depression will be gone believe me try it I want you to have a happy healthy life
@@zazzyz4558 The body can make glucose from proteins (gluconeogenesis) and the brain in particular can run on ketone bodies (ketosis). It really depends on the form of sugar intake also. Sugar cane is primarily sucrose, which is split apart in the intestinal lining into fructose and glucose. Fructose is good for rapidly replenishing liver glycogen, but too much will turn into fat and cause liver issues. Glucose triggers the insulin response and is better for energy in other systems, but can function as an antinutrient if it's chronically coming in alone (it requires other cofactors to be used correctly). I read a paper a while ago that found a blood sugar spike brought rats with actual brain damage back to near control level performance, but of course after the initial high it cannot last or be sustained indefinitely. The majority of the modern food supply is poison. And it's cumulative. As it wears you down in some aspect those weakened systems open the door for other types of poison to be worse, like you see in leaky gut. The average person is suffering a constant halide bombardment via fluoridated and chlorinated water, brominated vegetable oils (which are junk and rancid on top of it). Halides block uptake, transport, and use of iodine. This affects the immune system, brain develeopment, and the thyroid. On top of it you have wireless devices, which absolutely and most certainly are directly biologically active, and on top of DNA damage and oxidative / nitrosative stress, will also cause endocrine issues particularly adrenal and thyroid failure in susceptible individuals. There will be an initial high (hyperthyroid) followed by a collapse into hypo, with or without antibody indications of hashimotos, Graves, etc. I haven't bothered to check, but I wouldn't be surprised if the reference ranges for "normal" thyroid function have been gradually reduced over the decades.
Every one of your videos feels like a breath of fresh air for me, I cannot believe that I’m barely realizing what I’ve been suffering with my entire life at the age of 33. THANK YOU.
I’m a 9 too! I have been overindulging over Christmas but I’ve been eating well this year and lost weight so I agree how helpful it is. Happy New Year everyone.
We do food... sugar because it sedates. It's like a drug and it's addictive. Dopamine dopamine dopamine.... My problem is not eating or eating to much and/or bad things. It depends what I'm struggling with... depression or anxiety.
I watched a poscast called "Change your brain: neuroscientist Andrew Huberman" he explained that dopamine is actually something that is released when we do something that gives us pleasure. Addictive behavior are giving us short term pleasure and then narrowing the things that gives us pleasure overall. Dopamine should be release when we do things like sport, socialising, working... He explained that the goal is to look for long term goals and reward the process, small steps to recieve pleasure. And that before the pleasure there is always pain "stress confusion and agitation" but if we push threw it and reward small steps dopamine kicks in and it became easier. Then with rest, deep breathing it becomes learn behaviour and next time it is easier to push threw the pain no matter the context. For example if you run 10 miles reward yourself each miles, dopamine kicks in and it give you energy to go for the next mile. Then deep breathing and deep rest make new neuronal connexion. Like you need to warm up(stress agitation confusion) exercise(doing the work), finish(reward), breath, deep sleep, and do it again, for muscle to grow, it the same for new neuronal connexion. Look it up, it might interest you !
Been working hard on myself for almost 6 years now (with professional help too). Resolving a lot of past issues, taking action and getting many amazing results, including surviving deep depression and rebuilding a crashes psyche or soul into a new "me". But the last 2 years or so i found myself on a platuea. Still have deeper "things" that don't feel right, get trigger, negatieve feelings, etc. I could not figure it out. Trying many things.. i keept searching and moving. And bow that's to you, i found this "label" CPTSD. Normally I don't care too much for the labels. But from what i hear from you and the recommended bool CPTSD from Pete Walker. This aligned for 95% with the remaining "issues". Its almost magical how much it aligns. So currently i am taking more amazing action, now with the knowledge of CPTSD, you and Pete Walker. Thank you so much!
I know that “membrane”. A separation from the moment, the world. It’s disassociation. I never knew what it was until I started my healing journey from from a 34 yr narc marriage, preceded by a verbal lay abusive alcoholic narc father (and silent mother who did not realize it was abuse I was experiencing). Great word, Anna!
Trauma effects your relationship with food which makes brain fog worse. A fairly well known neurologist, Dr. Daniel Amen, also talks about how certain foods can cause brain deregulation.
Ms. Anna I’ve experimented with this type of diet this year and i can say this is very accurate to my experience. I’m currently implementing low carb and fasting most of the day and i’m experiencing a lot of clarity and flow. On the second topic i’ve finally began to peruse goals i can work towards every day and i’m able to navigate my time easier and not ruminate about my next move a lot more. I hope you have a good new year 💜
@@woobielocks Sometimes I drink a kombucha tea or black coffee. Black coffee without anything is better for fasting because it doesn’t raise your insulin or active hunger hormones as much. You can have any kind of teas, most of them have varying amounts of caffeine
You descibed it so well, nobody talks about it, it's like being in a dream... I remember when I was a kid I used to pinch my hands to get out of it.. now I don't know how, maybe because it feels like a safe place.. Thanks for your videos
UA-cam suggested a video of yours last night and I am so grateful. I'm just watching in tears because I don't think I've ever felt so understood in my life! Thank you a thousand times. I'm looking forward to starting the daily practice.
Thank you for sharing those three ways of lessening brain fog. I have experienced all of the above and tried all three healthy life changes with better choices and they work.
Omg, when you described the obsession with sweets and complete preoccupation I feel like I was just freed from a solitary prison I didn't even understand. So many years of shame and not understanding why nobody else felt the same obsession.
I've noticed the first cause for myself. Sugary foods give me so much brain fog! Since I've stopped eating sugar and high carb lunches, I feel so much better at work, it's amazing. I'll start working on the other two causes, too. Thank you for this video!
I just did this too. Was going to start healthy keto on 1st of Jan but realised I didn't want to wait to start feeling better, so started a 24 hour preliminary fast and will be leaping into the new year all fired up. Got the news today that my area of the UK is back under strict lockdown rules so going to use my anger about that as energy and motivation.
Hmm, careful there. Keto is pretty demanding plus it was originally formulated for kids with epileptic seizures, and not for weight loss or fitness specifically. If it works for you, it works, but I'd read on it as much as possible. Intermittent fasting is something I do too, only not as a part of Keto. Good luck and all that, though.
Thank you Anna! I not only survived a 5 day coma in late 2018, but I'm learning how to heal carb sensitivity right now. I found quarantine had me eating out of emotional thinking and I began to fluctuate w my goals. Recovery is a daily practice n I think I got trapped a bit in the trauma if quarantine.
Serendipity strikes! I began Bright Line Eating early in 2018, lost 50+ lbs and am maintaining my healthy weight now. Finding your channel has raised my hopes of now healing those other problem areas.... looking forward to running the same experiment with your daily practice that I ran with BLE, and then taking your dating and relationships course. Hello 2021!
The word "fairy" is not a coincidence. So many years I've spend on a different therapies (and so much money gone) and no-one never noticed. I'm watching your videos and I'm startled. Almost everything you say are the things I'm struggling in my life. Even simple stuff like sugar craving. I did notice I have a sweet tooth some time ago but I felt it was something odd about it. Now I know why. Thank you so much for all your work here.
I have been binge eating my way thru xmas since I was young woman. I literally would fall into a seasonal suicidal depression every NOV and would literally not snap out of it until Boxing Day, EVERY YEAR. I hated Xmas so much, one year I seriously wanted to move to Israel as I was hoping to find a country that didnt shove Christmas down your throat! I hope doing this work, I can have my FIRST SANE and peaceful and not binge eating depressing Christmas... I am starting in Summer as I literally dread the oncoming seasonal freaking depression... NO MORE I cant stand it, I just want to sail through it for the first time ever.
Oh my goodness. I think we are related lol. I was the same as a kid with the candy. I have been abstinent in OA since 2012. In about 2017 Igor broke me open and I’ve been getting to the root of why I overeat. CTPSD. Ty Anna. I treasure you. ❤
I've been studying this for a while in order to heal my own body. The cravings have to do with our endocrine system, which gets disrupted by childhood trauma. When we live in a state of fight or flight for so long, our nervous system gets programmed to a hypervigilent state - like a program running in the background that sucks up all your cpu's and slows down your computer. What this results in, is chronic magnesium deficiency, and this is manifested in several chronic diseases, such as diabetes, thyroid disease, heart disease, fibromyalgia and many more. This also causes us to have insufficient and sometimes even deficient vitamin D levels. If your vitamin D is low, you're also low in magnesium because magnesium is needed to synthesize vitamin D. Magnesium deficiency can be challenging to diagnose, because most doctors don't understand how it works (they're not taught this), and yet they understand the importance of vitamin D and will prescribe it to patients to up their levels. The problem is, if they do this with a person who is chronically low in magnesium, it will have a very serious boomerang effect within a few weeks to months (this happened to me). Magnesium is rapidly depleted by stress. It's also rapidly depleted by alcohol consumption and it has been established as fact that most alcoholics are magnesium deficient. It has also been established that most diabetics are deficient in this mineral. Heart disease has also been correlated with this deficiency. They're is not a lot of info regarding thyroid disease, however I can add my own anecdotal evidence on this, coupled with the fact that there have been studies on vitamin D repletion and improvement in thyroid function, coupled with the fact that adequate magnesium must be present for vitamin D synthesis. You can extrapolate the effects of childhood trauma with the likelihood of having any of these diseases, to arrive at my initial assertion that a great many of us who suffered trauma in childhood, are very likely chronically magnesium deficient with sub optimal, or even low levels of Vitamin D So when magnesium is low, you will start to develop extra weight around your middle. Severely low magnesium will cause loss of appetite and severe health risks - but that is considered acute, not chronic, and is usually brought on by something like toomuch vitamin D with not enough magnesium. Low vitamin D levels will cause sugar cravings, and since this is a hormone, it is affecting your endocrine system and can lead to things like insulin resistance, diabetes, hormonal imbalances and eventually chronic illnesses. Dietary magnesium is the best - because this means you have to eat healthy, and that will improve your health - although it is challenging to get enough. I aim for 500mg/ day, because that's what the average person ingested prior to soil depletion and widespread chronic illnesses, but that is challenging for most people. I also supplement, because I'm chronically low and need to. Vitamin D is next to impossible to get the rda in one's diet, but it's still good to eat 8-10oz of salmon/wk, get some sunshine when you can, and pick up the rest thru supplements. When you begin to get your magnesium and D optimized, you will lose cravings and lose belly fat, and find it easy to easy healthy. Dealing with the emotional aspect of healing from trauma is hard enough without having to fight destructive food impulses. Hope this helps. 🩷 Also, there's a free app called cronometer- you can put everything you eat into it daily, and it instantly calculates all your nutrients, so that you can see where you need supplementing. Also, thank you Anna for what you're doing. I found you because the UA-cam algorithms decided I needed you (are they reading my mind???) when healing from my magnesium/ vitamin d deficiencies triggered some old trauma and I realized my physical healing was going to require a deeper, emotional healing. 💜 Thank you, you are wonderful 🧡
I feel like I've spent long periods of time stuck or feeling trapped. This morning I decided to stop ignoring my finances and have spent all day on a plan. I feel happy and invigorated. I quit chocolate for a year several years ago after stuffing it in my face as fast as I could by the large bags. And did that year. Told myself all other options were available, I don't recall binging on anything else. 3 years ago I decided to quit caffeine, soda and energy drinks, caffeinated tea, and also chocolate, and even cosmetics or anything else it's found in. It took me a year to work it out, and I've been fully caffeine free 2 years on the 1st. It's made me less reactive, though I still get triggered by some things, and am keeping a list of those. Im now wanting to get into eating plant based vegan, to clear out a literal fungal infection in my ears and body, as well as other reasons. But I'm still slamming the fast food on the daily. Fruit punch or sprite to drink, not overly fond of either. I quit drinking the red 40 fruit punch and switched to sprite but now crave the sprite. I don't want it to lead to harder sodas, lol. Caffeine causes a lot of issues, without it I still struggle to sleep at night, and learned recently Potassium, and B1,which plants are loaded with help fix that issue. But its also a cortisol rhythm flip, which stress flips it easily. But I learned spearmint helps lower cortisol, so I sometimes drink spearmint tea, though I carefully find caffeine free version. For some reason they add it. I follow several vegans and raw vegans, though Ill say plant based, hoping to get it into me that I'm going to start doing that. Slowly but surely. I feel a small amount of motivation and freedom after the practice, where I feel less stuck to get things done. Though I didn't do it today, but made a decision to not self destruct on an aspect if my finances and figure out what it's going to take to get some things dealt with. I'm interested in this diet survey, I can imagine with my recent binging it's likely high.
I cannot make even the easiest decisions. I want to act and do things, but I see the downsides and I give up. This year I want to accomplish things. Lack of Mental clarity is my disease. Decisions are toxic, too solid, too defining of things I don’t want to admit to. Fear that I am making the wrong decisions that I would be judged by and then rejected. I really want this to stop. It must stop.
Wow! I have been in recovery for about five years, everyday a journey! Brain fog has been a real life problem for me but so hard to explain. I had a vague understanding having done my own research but trying to process it while foggy is difficult. Since I have more clarity now I feel like my IQ has risen about 20 points! Thank you
I went low carb, plus intermittent fasting last spring and lost over 30 pounds. I was more alert and relaxed than I have ever been. I began introducing small amounts of sugar and carbs and spiraled. With the holidays and sweets I’m not in full on brain fog and can hardly function. Jumped back on today. It makes a huge difference for me.
I found this out quite accidently, just from trying to lose weight. I was a massive carb and sugar fiend, which I was forced to cut out in order to have enough food to stay full while keeping within my new dietary allowances. I felt so much mental clarity, and the fewer sugary carbs I ate, the less I wanted, which is UNHEARD of, for me.👍
whats sticky about my situation was not only do I totally relate with the carbs and food problem; it is more layered for me because my family system was emotionally shut down, so how my family coped with that was to just "eat together". Sit there and be together feeling good about food but the conversations were all about surface level shit, nothing authentic nor connecting. So we ate a lot to "save" the family system from facing the problem of emotional neglect.
Between 2008 and 2011 I underwent a weight loss of 80 pounds during a time I also gained control of runaway thoughts and fears (though the weight loss was partly a consequence of a three-month bout with anemia) and vastly improved my emotional health and self-concept. I don't want that 80-pound number to cause people to think it's beyond their ability; like I'm some whiz kid. I still face lots of challenges, and some of my difficulties are permanent. But here's what I did and anybody can do: Reduce carbs to 8 percent or less (based on store packaging; yeah, those numbers really mean something.) Reduce sugar to as low as practical. Buy NOTHING with High-Fructose Corn Syrup. That stuff is the single greatest reason for the unhealthy overweight crisis. Reduce the portions of what you have been eating (if you weigh more than you should) to about 3/4 of those amounts. Then, to keep you from craving that other 1/4 you are used to... Drink a tall glass or a couple of smaller glasses of seltzer water, club soda, mineral water or plain water. That makes me feel full. And with no High Fructose Corn Syrup, it will be easier to reduce portions. Well there, I didn't want to steal your show, Anna. Just thought I'd add some tips that have worked in my case.
Just found your channel and it’s amazing. I used one of the videos in the middle of a situation! I started changing my overall diet (meaning the way I eat for the rest of my life. I don’t do “diets”). I was obese as a child from both starvation and steroids. After I eliminated a lot of carbs a long time ago for inflammation, actually - I found there was another thing some other people I know with crappy childhoods experience. They feel like continuing to eat - but we noticed - it felt like we were afraid the food was going to run out. We didn’t know when we’d have food, again. This made complete sense. I took the quiz. Once I opened it, I realized I should close it, but I am very very susceptible to quizzes 😂 - by question 2 my brain was screaming (get out).... I did it. So, I am an adult and should’ve backed out of the quiz. I am here because my brain tells me to do crazy things. The quiz is not good for people with eating disorders. It’s a great idea, though, but maybe a note above the link that says “maybe not good for eating disorders” ... I restrict food to the point where I was told not to use any app that logs food - at all. Just feedback on that quiz. BUT 😁 - NOW - I’m going to find a video here for “so - you have CPTSD - and you’ve decided to stop eating entirely, again...” 😁
I appreciate the feedback! I understand not every quiz or meal plan is right for everyone. I appreciate that Susan took this plan from a 12 step program and tailored it to feel more accessible to others- we know she worked a lot with eating disorders and it is a testament to YOUR healing that you can know this is not the right thing for you :) -Cara@TeamFairy
Hi Anna, I watched the "One Year to Heal" video you reference above at 13:15 . I like the changes you identify. One that sticks out to me is #9 (be a good worker). I find this change to be paradoxical in my own life. It seems the introjections and abuses I was subjected to in my dysfunctional origin family, that I work on recovering from, suddenly reappear from bosses and employers. The hierarchy is similar to my origin family, in that I am expected to venerate the employer, or even accept subtle abuses or workplace dangers to keep the employer happy. To me, it feels like being right back in childhood trauma. I have seen weaker colleagues get abused and neglected, just as I saw siblings and neighbor children abused during my childhood. I have even seen "catch 22" situations, where the employee is reprimanded or worse for not reporting or standing firm with some workplace standard, but receives retaliation or dissatisfaction from the employer later for having followed standards and having not "looked the other way." Employers have been known to terminate employees they deem overqualified or who have "outgrown" their internal advancement potential, but sometimes those employees are simply maturing in their own lives and developing confidence--to the point that a boss or employer begins to feel challenged. Those employers essentially banish a good employee, just as many children of dysfunctional families were physically or emotionally banished by parents after those children began to develop their own mature voices and boundaries as adolescents or young adults. This one's a real paradox in my mind and in my life. I am just old enough to remember late industrial America, when employer-employee relationships were seen much more equally in many sectors than they are 30-40 years later, and it was considered by many (including managers and professionals) to be immoral or indulgent to venerate an employer or management echelon. I am aware of labor relations standards in other economically advanced countries, which generally hold much higher regard for the employee both under the law and in workplace practices. At the same time, I know that I and many other Americans will continue to struggle in our careers if we push our own boundaries in a contemporary American workplace, even as we work to maintain those healthy boundaries in our own adult lives. I see this as a horrendous paradox, especially for Americans. If you have any thoughts on this, I would enjoy reading them.
True, unfinished decisions, things keep me stuck. I like to eat some good carbs. I don't usually over do it. But if I have to try to further my "career" with some specific stuff, the brain fog and chocolate stuffing comes easily out. I try to lighten up, learn it is ok to move on, move ahead. I' very customed being stuck.
Dr. Jordan Peterson was asked how to get yourself moving, when you are dead in the water. He said "clean your room". That's funny, but sorting out my personal environment works for me, because it makes me feel so much better.
Anna you have nailed so many things I have been thinking of. I have been in quarantine for two weeks so have been eating from my supplies and garden so no carbs or sugar. Feeling so much better. Thank you for showing me I am not imagining these things.
I had no idea brain fog was a common symptom! I thought I was one of the rare people who had chronic fatigue syndrome, and always felt a lot of shame for having it. Now CPTSD makes more sense, and validates I really did have a toxic childhood. My family was one that looked good on the outside, and even my younger siblings would deny there was anything wrong with my narc/bpd mother, but I was the oldest and had a different focus on me.
Thank you so much for this video! Such a help to have steps to healing since brain fog by definition is chaotic and difficult to navigate. Many blessing to you!
I have it every day & I’m trying to listen to an audio book & I keep repeating the beginning of the same chapter I feel like smashing everything in sight. All I want to do is be able to get lost in a story & concentrate from start to finish.
Mrs Runkle, i thank you so much for this and for all your video's! And congrats for overcoming yourself many situations ! What you do and experienced and how you help us now, is what most of the psy's ( Belgium) are not able to do! They simply do not understand. Whole my life i wondered what was wrong. Today i understand thanks to you. - missed so many opportunities, still today, lost my jobs several times and i never understood why, nobody explains something, sometimes i am even attacked verbally because some people do not accept or understand me. I am intelligent (sorry to say that from myself) and high sensitive but also have lack of confidence and all that, i think makes others feel uncomfortable and they prefer to reject me. Well that is what i think. I think i can calm down better because now i understand what happened to me. I work daily on it and you help me a lot. Many thanks and my best wishes for a happy and healthy new year.
thank you Anna..... finding your channel has been like coming across a little oasis in the desert of misinformation and lies that we have to hike through every day on the Net and in the media .
The research around carbohydrate sensitivity shows that refined carbs - isolate sugars, flours, alcohols - exacerbate addiction and metabolic syndrome, whereas complex carbs - root vegetables, whole intact grains, legumes - do not cause harm and are health promoting for most people. The distinction between refined and complex carbs is important.
This video makes so much sense of why I feel stuck in revisiting childhood trauma. Looking back I can see moments of emotionality and self-sabotage, but I really thought I was over this in my 30s & 40s. I am disabled and, around the time the kids were in their mid to late teens, I lost control of the kitchen and the grocery shopping. Don't get me wrong. My husband and the kids can cook but they don't really understand a balanced diet. I would never say this to my family, but I can tell you guys that I don't actually like pizza, even if it's all handmade from scratch and the cook went to a lot of trouble. I'll check out the link. I'm wondering if this might help my son with his depression. When he does the shopping, the cupboards are filled up with biscuits and crackers, the fridge is full of 4 kinds of fancy cheese and too few vegetables.
I can eat just *atrocious* amounts of white rice. Like, 9 servings of food, if I'm not careful. This was true when I was drastically underweight, and it's still true, now! I have a similar sort of thing with potatoes. And fruit juice. Not so much with cookies or candies.
I have weird ones. I crave Cheese. I have to have it every day. My body forced me to stop eating sugar, it makes me really sick and gives me horrible arthritis. The pain of not having functional joints was enough to get me off it. And until recently, I used energy drinks to just stay functional. Now that I am off all that caffeine, I feel like I went 10 steps backwards, but I know It will get better.
Paraphrasing a well-know self help guru, who shall remain nameless to avoid bias: 'The one foundational key to progress, regardless of what you want to progress toward, is taking action.'
Wow Anna! I didn't know that my indecisiveness was a common feature of cptsd! Also how the heck to you calm your food cravings? Love your videos! I love that you are so gentle and generous with your gifts!
One of my face's so far on this channel. My mother's lost more weight then ever on Keto, but I like fruit too much to do Keto. I have cut processed carbs and refined sugar almost completely , the reason I can't cut it conpletely yet is my body reacts terribly and I get worsening anxiety. I can so much relate to the decision making problems as well 🙏
Thank you. I realized my food problems were a coveting thing. I know now i can turn away from food without a problem knowing im in control of not coveting.
I think I get brain fog at times. The occasional day when nothing seems to make sense. I become overwhelmed with life and confused and I feel detached from reality. It doesn't last long but it's depressing at the time. It's always when I'm on my own. Being with people seems to distract me and pulls me back into the world.
100% true for me - In my youth when I was sharing rent - every time I have a new roommate - I will warn her never to leave chocolate - I can't stop myself from eating it - nothing can stop me - no self will, no guild, no moral or whatever - I am gonna eat it and will not share it with anyone. If I know there is chocolate somewhere in the house I can't settle until I found it and eat it ALL. All my relatives know that no chocolate can survive around me. I can eat 500 grams of chocolate in a few hours - I can't leave it until I eat it all. It is like finding paradise and resisting it, no way.
I dont ususlly comment but I had to on this, it really feels like you are talking to me, I relate to everything you say. This makes me underatand myself more and I want to just say THANK YOU!!!
I would describe it more as a veil, sometimes thin, sometimes thick depending on the situation. Otherwise, you describe it perfectly, how it feels behind it. Great video.
I just had this conversation with my husband a couple of days ago. He just doesn't understand that I cannot have bread and chocolate in the house! I told him it was like when our alcoholic friend came over, and we had to hide all of our alcohol. I'm the same way with carbs. If it's in the house and I know it, I have to consume it all immediately. I just can't have it near me. It's so much easier to go without it if I'm not around it and I feel so much better.
Same with me. I don't buy crackers, cookies, chips, candy, popcorn, ice cream, bread, chocolate BECAUSE ONCE I TAKE A BITE, I CAN'T STOP EATING UNTIL THE WHOLE THING IS GONE.
Single
Here 💝💝😍😍🌷🌷
My dad says : I hate sweets, when I see them I have to destroy them 😅😅😅
@@tutejshaja hi 🙋🙋
How are you lovely beauti friend ❤❤😍😍🌷
I was so glad to find out why I did crave them and now if I do, I stop and think about what choice I want to make. Of course I am much older most likely and keeping it out of the house is a great and necessary first step until become more mindful. I have been practicing mindfulness for decades yet this information, all of it for the most part, from CCF has been life changing for me. The only information that checks all the boxes, therapists and doctors have had me all over the place trying to figure out what is going on, so grateful for this woman's wisdom and the courage to share it with others.
"It's like a Hangover that goes on for years."
Yeah. That's exactly how it feels.
Wow quote- 'Brain fog is a supression of your being at every level"
There is so much suppression of one's own wellbeing in this!
I struggled a lot with brain fog. First time I see somebody else mention it. It appeared in my early 20s, despite the fact that I was suffering from CPTSD already in my teens (had 3 years long depression in my teens but no brain fog). Once I begun to do my emotional literacy exercises, the brain fog dissapeared. I would have less and less of it, until finally 1.5 years later it was gone. Clearly it was just a side effect of me supressing my emotions.
Sugar makes me feel awful, but it tastes and feels like a hug in the moment. 😕
2 years ago I started ketogenic diet (as a try to get rid of my insulin resistance), not much convinced at first I noticed that my cravings for sugar and floury foods went away in a few weeks! For good ☺️ Worth trying and not difficult to introduce.
Yes, it really does.
This is what I call them. Replacement hugs, when I know I'm in that place.
Hey, I've struggled with stress eating sugary goods, but after I went on a low-carb diet, I felt so much more energetic and less lethargic. Not saying it's going to fix everything, but it does help a little with feeling better.
Try ripe tropical fruit. Even in a smoothie with LF milk.
It's an entirely different response. Even fresh squeezed orange juice. Add a little salt it tastes great. Sugar relieves normal biological stress. Salt can lower adrenaline.
The high meat eaters pay a price to get their sugar converted from proteins and fat. Make no mistake about it you need carbohydrates and your brain will do anything to get it including dissolving your muscle.
“Trauma can change the way our body responds to carbs.” I feel like my whole life has been explained in that one sentence haha
I went keto 2 years ago. Best decision I've ever made, after choosing my husband
😍😍💝💝
Oh my goodness. Me.
RIGHT. omg
I relate so much to your comment and it just gave me a huge belly laugh 😂 so thank you. I was having a very difficult few days. I needed that ❤️
My brain fog comes and goes. I can tell that it has affected my long and short term memory.
Parts of our brain dont grow id childhood based ptsd
I believe parts shrink from chronic ptsd
Regardless, there r mushrooms like lionsmane n psilocybin that help with rebuilding connections inc new ones new perspectives. I did 10yrs o therapy in 1 night of psilocybin in amsterdam where its legal xD
Meditation scientifically proven to regrow these brain parts that shrink
Over 8weeks of 20min/day i think it was
Myself i aim for 1hr 1st thing,
N hypnosis or a 2nd hr of meditation b4 sleep
@@kimwarburton8490 Kim is right, try the mushrooms. Reishi too. Yuan zhi. Poria. Really I recommend learning about traditional chinese medicine formulas like xiao yao, a good acupuncturist will have herbs. Xiao Yao heals trauma.
@@rubytuesday7653 then i recomend michael seeley for hypnosis
The Third Wave for advances in the science n as a jump off platform
Have fun, its a fascinating topic to study n analyse
I do strongly suggest you learn all the 'bad science stuff' its version of logical fallacies, name escapes me n only example i recall its name of is cherry picking
The PACE trial is a recent hit me where it hurts trial that after years of battling has finally been officially recognised as being full of bad science
They moved the goal posts
They signed their own homework
Evidence deemed moderate-low and low was given the weight of extreamly high evidence. NICE (uk nhs oversight) declared that such low levels of evidence were always rejected in medical science (hence double blind studies etc so that not even placebo/nocebo happens) (because its lifechanging stuff isnt it, they just cannot be too carefull
Its the reasoning behind why allopathic medicine refuses herbalism and other simple remedies like dietry changes)
Simply cos they were biased n their reputations were on the line.
Same here!!!! Mine doesn’t come and go; mine has been with me since I can remember, but it has affected my long and short term memories as well
I feel like brainfog is consuming about 80% of my life. Either when I‘m paralysed with fear or while I numb myself to prevent me from feeling lonely, empty and just like I‘m in the wrong body and the wrong life.
Me 100%
Me too!...Horrible way to live but I feel like an alien in my own body & life daily. So tired of feeling this way.
I had another dramatic event that threw me back to being paralyzed most of the day. This woman's courage to heal and share that journey is such a blessing. It has helped me but I need to look back on every day and just hold on to what I did accomplish. One thing I do to take back my power is do the little things I can do, knowing every step helps the whole. When I need to decide what to do, I find anything I can do to get moving and sometimes leads to getting to the things that are hard for me. Just washing a dish or fixing something to eat, some days just getting dressed is a win. So I take the wins and add them up instead of listing what I couldn'tdoo; some days I just survive to try another day. I pray you find your way soon just remember its each little baby step, falling a lot at the start, to learn to walk. We don't yell at our kids for falling and having to get up again so why does that change when older? We are all learning every day and we all fall, time to let us all be human and not trying to live up to some standard that enslaves us. Blessings for your continued healing.
@@TheQueenRulesAll 👌🌻🤹♀️
I can relate 😥
1. It’s what you are eating: Trauma= food sensitivity..Go off sugar, lower carb intake and choc.
2. It’s what you are neglecting: self care + be real, genuine and decisive abt your life.. decide something and act on it
3. It’s what you haven’t healed: learn to deregulate , keep working on healing and calming triggers
Thank you
thanks for the summary!
Edit suggestion: reregulate. I think the autocorrect changes it to deregulate. LOL.
There is no correlation between trauma and food intolerance and there is no evidence that sugar causes brain fog because most of the world would be complaining of it if that was true but it’s probably good advice in general for health to avoid too much sugar.
@@Mandance I think you are wrong but I can’t remember well enough what studies support this hypothesis to correct you. But if you looked at studies that found no link, I think you might just be looking at the wrong studies.
I’m not sure but I think the mechanism is in the fight or flight response that trauma can cause it diverts energy from digestion obviously. But there’s also studies on the bidirectional effects of the gut brain axis, meaning that your emotional state can influence your gut microbiome too, not just the microbiome influencing emotions. Certain microbes necessary for digestion of specific foods can be wiped out or substantially decreased, leaving a person with food sensitivities they never had before.
I know there’s a lot of research out there and it can be overwhelming, but It’s definitely worth looking into more. I’m not sure how you might have reached the conclusion that you did, but I think it’s off based. I’m curious if you were looking in journals of gastroenterology rather than neuroscience journals, or really what sort of articles you were finding this conclusion in. If you remember the names of the articles you looked at I would be really curious to read them. As well, even when researchers fail to find a link in a preliminary study with a small sample size they’ll often mention this in their conclusions that a larger sample size is needed. I’m finding it hard to believe that any scientists would conclude there was no link when there’s so much evidence to support that there is a link. I’m puzzled.
Edit: I thought I should add that your logic is faulty. To assume that a link between trauma and food sensitivity could only exist if everyone affected by trauma developed a food sensitivity would be to assume that everyone has a similar enough microbiome to be affected the exact same way and that trauma would affect all people the same. I probably don’t need to point out how ridiculous those assumptions would be and how erroneous it would be to draw any conclusions from assumptions like those.
@@tnijoo5109 but my point was, do you have peer reviewed papers that show brain fog is caused by sugar, or that trauma causes food sensitivity? Cause that sounds also more like opinion rather than facts. You could be right of course but there is no way to verify it that I know of.
In the Army I learned that "carbing up" is something you do to prepare for a known stress that is coming. Need to run 6 miles recorded for time, pasta the night before. Need to march 12 miles, go crazy, eat all the carbs you want. I agree that these are biological processes. And to add to that, in 2003, nearly 20 years ago, my unit got in our first real firefight. After we got out of it, our BC took us to a secured area and we had "Nap Time." Airborne Infantry getting Nap Time. He knew about the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems and the "crash" was needed to bring us down and minimize on-going trauma. Now, the military takes this stuff seriously, for dark reasons perhaps, but don't you think the rest of us should get on board for healing reasons and not just to have more "efficient" weapons for war?
I would love to know more about what you know. Yes please 🙏
I know veterans of WWII who are absolutely normal people with families in their 80s and 90s who went through war and I think the difference that made them resilient is that they were fighting for a cause, whereas American soldiers know they aren’t helping the country they are fighting in and so it’s much harder was them to cope with what is essentially a partially evil job.
@@Hello-zf5lq the last point about purpose and ethics is true and a source for Moral Injury (disillusionment). The last 20 years is literally a violation of Jus in Bello and Jus ad Bellum, the morality of war and that IS the worse form of trauma and it IS a social trauma for which you are also a part. WWII, bringing them up I take it you are a Boomer. Y'all worship your parents and hate your children and are wrecking your chance to lead. The AVF (all volunteer force) is in my estimation wrong (evil as you say) and abdicating responsibility is an American sickness larger than this pandemic (the sin if you like).
This is true for a lot of professions. Military, medicine and police professionals are expected to be able to see the darkest sides of life and maintain sanity. George Carlin talked about how we use euphemisms to sweep it under the rug. We went from shell shocked to PTSD and take the horror of the issue out of view. I think he is right, we are expected to be automatons and just keep going like slaves, not human beings just a worker bee.
@@TheQueenRulesAll Yes! That is correct. If you are honest, you become a social cynic and if you cannot go there, you double down and continue the trauma. There is no answer that is satisfactory, but I believe the key to trauma is rewriting the narrative.
Wow, I get a something that I call the "Big Nothingness". In social settings, I clam up and can't think of anything to say. I don't usually stay long in that situation or place, as I need to get out of there fast. I start to feel claustrophobic, as if I can't breathe properly . So making new friendships or socializing is something I avoid. I thought it was just me being a weirdo, but this "Brain Fog" sounds a lot like the "Big Nothingness" that I get.
You can get better, it doesn't have to stay that way. I really understand that feeling, I couldn't ever be in those settings either.
-Cara@TeamFairy
GARY E : Thank you verry much for sharing🥰 ! A very good description ! that could be me ....thank you 💐🍀
For many of us when we were not loved or we were abused - Food was love. Food was pleasure and joy and it made us feel good.
Exactly how I feel overwhelmed w choices... Stuck. Unhealed stuff too. Not eating right too. Thanks
@@rubytuesday7653 Thanks for just being there and taking the time to share. You know like I know how it feels to be surrounded by people clueless and or in denial of narcs. And what it's like to have someone actually listen - then respond w kind words. Comforting. Perspective. Yes, we are Strong. THANK YOU.
Ps. Tackling one thing at a time. Keepin it movin. Crazy, I literally have my tangled mess of thoughts put up in a corner of my mind. Close the door. Then open it when each task is complete. If I let it, it creeps up on me. I'm staying as focussed to task as I can. Tuck that static back in.
After being assaulted by a roommate in my apartment in 2016 I went into a downward spiral of traumatic shock which lasted 4 years. I was already suffering from the effects of chronic domestic battery and abuse in the home I grew up in when I was violently assaulted by the roommate in 2016. For everyone else 2020 may have been a terrible year. But for me it was good because I finally managed to arrest the downward spiral and get a stable emotional 'floor' underneath me, so to speak. That's a very very recent accomplishment - as in the last few days. Last month I began adding superfoods to my diet,: cacao powder, beet juice powder, whey protein isolate, and supplements like krill oil and resveratrol. I'm looking forward to amending my diet in healthy ways in 2021 and beginning a daily stretching and moderate exercise program as well.
You sound like I feel. Unfixable, and abused by everyone. How did you do it???
@@woobielocks Well, I'm still mostly broken but I'm not spiraling down the drain anymore. You need to be able to discern, to gauge, whether you're actively circling the drain, so to speak, or whether you have reached a place of stability, however low it might be. I'm in a low and dysfunctional place but I'm pretty sure the ground I'm standing on, crawling on, and laying face down on, is stable. Find the things in life that make you feel safe, calm, and stable, and dwell on those things as much as you possibly can. The most important priority is safety: not being under an immediate, dire threat. I hope you can do it. 🙏💖 I'll tell you one thing, though. Everybody is different so don't take this as gospel, but all throughout my life I've found that psychiatric drugs cause brain damage and rob you of the experience of being present in your own life; and clinical social workers at community mental health clinics are selfish narcissists who will abandon you as soon as they get a better job offer. And those repeated abandonment traumas re-trigger your despair and feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness. So beware. The best thing I ever did for my Chronic-Complex PTSD was to invest $800 of my SSI money in a massage chair; and to start taking CBD oil. Because your muscles and tissues hold toxic chemicals from the emotional traumas and they need to be discharged so you can relax emotionally and begin to recover.
@@jamesmullaney5841 Agreed on the Community social workers. I fired 3, and they all work at Walmart now. Can you imagine how awful it must feel to have a "masters degree" in reading, aka social work, and be working for minimum wage. Nobody around here pays attention to anything I say, so 🤷 a lot of other people must have fired her too. 5 years ago I was on 15 prescriptions a day. I started ditching them, all except my anxiety med. I'm a completely different person now, I feel like sleeping beauty, and I was kissed and woke up, and you can probably guess the rest. I'll run 🏃♂️ out of any situation where I can get tied up. Nooooope. I totally agree with you on the brain damage, I started meds at age 9, by 12 I was drooling, and don't remember much until I was 16, then nothing again until I gave birth. I can only remember the traumas. It sucks. A couple years ago I was being trained by an oral surgeon who was a graduate of Harvard with honors, but he had to stop. The tardive dyskenesia is still too much 30 years later. I took my Risperdal a couple times recently and I'm less triggered, but still like alzheimers at 42. And I can't shut up or sleep. I would like to follow you, and do what you are doing. First thing first, I don't like sweets, except for constant mountain dew. Water? Its the first ingredient. Lol. I add ice. Ice is frozen water. What would be a good substitute??? I'm allergic to alcohol, don't like desserts, but I want that caffeine, and I'm totally addicted to sugar i think. Maybe caffeine, maybe the sugar.
@@woobielocks I seriously recommend CBD oil with no THC content, if you can afford it. It should be standard medicine in psychology. I'm 58 and I used to smoke weed throughout my teens and 20s. I urge everybody to stay away from marijuana, it makes you totally psychotic. But the CBD oil purged of the THC is priceless. There are so many other things. A bowl of oatmeal every morning for 10 days boosts your serotonin levels and stabilizes your mood if you have mood swings. Orange juice and pineapple juice are so good for you, it's like they were given to us by heaven. [They were!]😉The first line of defense has got to be nutrition. And hypnotherapy has immense potential that has yet to be realized as a standardized treatment. Hypnotherapy is far superior to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for chronic problems because hypnosis works on the right brain, where the irrational, unconscious feelings are, whereas CBT works on the left brain, where the rational thinking takes place. For example, I know very well that I'm not worthless. My left brain knows it very well. Yet I feel almost totally worthless. That's because my right brain contains all the emotional pain and traumatic memories. It cannot be improved by appeals to reason. So hypnotherapy ought to be the preferred treatment for deep, underlying, unconscious, chronic issues. The problem is that the social work colleges graduate a new class of social workers every year and they all need to find a job to pay off their student loan debt. That's the real purpose of the community clinic: to act as a sink to absorb all those MSWs every year. A lot of those clinical social workers ought to be directed into hypnotherapy specializations and holistic healing methods. It would do the world a world of good. But that's where you run up against resistance from the pharmaceutical conglomerates, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association. They're making money hand over fist and they want the system to remain as it is, even though it's harmful to the patients. The mental industry in America is a juggernaut which exists solely for its own sake, not ours.
@@jamesmullaney5841 thank you so much. I will definitely try all 4 awesome suggestions. Agree with the cannabis too. I moved to where it's legal (coincidentally I started smoking pot at 9) and at 39, I got tired of it. I wish foresight was 20/20 lol. Thanks again James. I'm going to warm up some oatmeal and grab my daughters juicy juice. Just so happens to be orange pineapple lol. I really appreciate your advice. Thank you. And hey, crappy childhood fairy?? I promise to take a walk later. :-)
I took the food susceptibility quiz.
Before I could start, it made me accept cookies.
That's so funny!!
🤣🤣🤣
🤣😜😂
that was sweet!
😂😂
I’ve never been able to figure out why others weren’t obsessing about brownies, ice cream and chocolate the way I do. I’ve spent my entire adult life stuffing emotions with sugar. I’m learning but it’s still hard. Thank you for being the voice of truth for those of us with childhood trauma. 💗
Good to know that you relate!
I'm going to share a HUGE and simple way that helped me decide things. Go for a walk, when you are at an intersection don't move forward until you've decided 100% which path you want to take. Keep this up for your whole walk. Bonus if you decide why you made your decision to choose that path💕
Great tip!
-Cara@TeamFairy
After being diagnosed wiht hypothyroidism and getting medication to it, the severe brain fog started to go away. My doctor said that C-PTSD has propably contributed into creating the decease.
I had the same thing happen. Thank you for sharing.
There's some great teaching here, but I think for a lot of people the food compulsions developed as ways to avoid or self-medicate their feelings of trauma and/or feeling overwhelmed by choices/indecision.
In my case, it wasn’t until recently that I realized that when I eat junk is to numb my emotional pain, but I still haven’t been able to pinpoint why I overeat when it comes to regular meal times
I just found you yesterday snd I’m SO blown away by your content!! I feel like I just struck a therapy goldmine of clarity!! Thank you for your wisdom and pearls of knowledge 🙏
You're very good at this: honest without being condescending, you understand things that many of my therapists (and psychiatrists) just don't understand. I only wish I'd found you before I had children.
Glad you are here now!
-Cara@TeamFairy
Wow! The carb & sugar thing is totally me! This totally makes sense!
I cannot have bread, bikkies, flavoured milk or chocolate in the house or they "call to me" until they're gone. I'm absolutely an addict. I just thought I was weird!
I also refer to myself as a Dizzy Lizzy because I have brain fog all the time... for all of the reasons you mentioned. This video is very sobering. Thank you for telling the truth. I want to heal. I know I'll need to do it slowly. Thank you for helping me accept that that is ok 🙂💖
Wow! I quit eating sugar when I was sixteen because I noticed how out of control I was. In my early twenties I noticed that sugar exposure had lots of negative mental effects. I can't wait to take the quiz. This is great. Thank you!
Thank You Jesus! I’m so grateful I found your channel! Healing is so possible 💙💙💙
I want to let you know this, because it's important to me and I feel that you'll appreciate it too... I found your channel 2-3 weeks ago... I immediately identified with the definitions you provide... And I especially identified with how (my Trauma Response go-to mode is the Freeze Response... And I've been frozen in Freeze Response for a long long time, too long, wayyyyyyy too long)I've been sitting in victim consciousness, having a tantrum, telling God, "it's not fair!!" - because of what I've perceived as heartbreaks, disappointments, let downs, abandonment, rejection and betrayal by God - over the last 10 years... And a couple of years ago I got the "fuck-its" and decided to stop trying because nothing was going "my way"... What I recall felt was "hurt, angry, confused, ashamed, guilty, alone, lonely, rejected, abandoned, forgotten about, invisible and betrayed by God/life... I'd run outta ideas to "fix things", I'd run outta the hope and belief that I was here for a reason... My heart ached and my ego told me that despite the universe being divine perfection, I was the exception to the laws of physics and I was one big Quantum mistake!! And I'm not quite past this yet, but I'm much closer than I was 3 weeks ago!!
You see, I've read hundreds of self help books, watched hundreds of spiritual videos, am a member of countless websites Facebook pages and groups owned by spiritual healers, teachers and coaches... I've taken at least 20 online spiritual healing courses... And I've learnt SO MUCH!! Nothing has been a waste, and I hope to have the privilege to serve others with the invaluable information I've learned, both through my love of learning, and experientially, the wisdom gained along the way... But I'd been in a rut for the last three years... And although I believed I was desperate to get unstuck, my behavior was telling me another story...
I've been consciously on my Spiritual Healing Journey for 20 years... I've been in recovery for just about everything lol... I've been to see healers... I've paid mentors... I'm self taught as I'm the researcher eternal student lol... And I've always been GREAT when life is going my way and I can also self avoid by living in my head, I'm also amazing at fooling myself and others that I'm ok and "get it"...
Well the day came when the man who I'd decided was my "God" dropped his mask and because I'd invested my entire self into the relationship, when he wasn't reflecting my false self back to me, I fell apart... And because I've spent the last 20 years Spiritualizing my ego and never truly letting go unless I'm in excruciating emotional pain and it's to my benefit to do so, all of my little mind jedi tricks and self will stopped working... Threats didn't work, I couldn't run away this time, passive aggressively withholding kindness and being a bitch didn't work (half of the time lol), self distraction didn't work in the long term, tantrums didn't work either... So I withdrew further and further into myself and began disconnecting from life... During quarantine I found temporary relief in chocolate and over sleeping - until the consequences of weight gain and sciatica began to outweigh the seeming benefit... And then I felt more overwhelmed and more despair with the stress of figuring out how to lose weight and fix my right butt cheek 👀😬👀
Anyhow, I'm going on and on I know...
My point - I'd been stuck in a rut for 2-3 years... I've lost everything... I've felt everything from "fuck this" fury to apathy and suicidal ideation... My sparkle has been dulled - and that's very hard for an Empath to get to that point of hopelessness... I can't see the future, let alone tomorrow... But, thanks to you, I'm finally beginning to shift out of the rut I've been in for so long!!
When I found your channel and identified with CPTSD, I was so relieved... I've checked to see if I'm the Narcissist, if I have BPD, if maybe I was a Covert Narcissist... I wondered if I was bipolar or a version of schizophrenia... I've researched so many "disorders"... I definitely know I'm an Empath and I definitely know that I'm wired for addiction... But like a lot of people, when I research, do online quizzes or peruse the DSM-V, I have learned that I have some traits of some disorders, but I don't qualify for anything in particular...
Your videos have helped me to finally "identify the truth" and within this, recognize why I do what I do and think how I think 🤔
It's also helped me with being honest about admitting certain things to myself and my coping avoidant behaviours...
Most importantly, I've finally been able to admit and accept that change is my responsibility... Self pity and being angry over things not going the way I'd hoped isn't working for me... Basically, how you've communicated has gotten through my denial and ego and I've finally been able to accept responsibility for myself and begin to take small steps to get unstuck 💗💗💗 THANK YOU 💜💜💜
I relate to much of this thank you for sharing 🙏❤️
@@MuhammadImran-ln4fz 🙏💜
@@dawnacoxon3111 🙏💜🙏
I am impressed with your Tenacity to: Search, Study, Try Different Solutions, Pick yourself up & Keep Trying. You are a Good Example of Accepting Responsibility For Your Own “Betterment”/ Healing.
I like to think of putting one foot in front of the Other & Step-By-Step, as Long as I am heading in the Right Direction... I am a sure to Arrive at my Chosen Destination, as a Winner!!
When I Feel there is no one in the World... I knock...And God is always there. 🙏🏻
Shannon 💃🏻Damn!🕊 your words and experience are incredibly resonant of my incredible life of curiosity, a shockingly stark poignant réflection, reframed and beautifully articulated with inspiring grace. I bursting laugh so hard at the end I had to go back and listen to Anna again! I am going to subscribe to you because you made my day! Sending you a big smile and a hug from a stranger. Your awesomeness well and stay safe!🌿
my brain fog has been killing me. not even adderall can clear my head, it's unbelievable how debilitating it actually is.
That is so true about the M&Ms. I can’t keep anything in my house, other than things like healthy veggies, fruit, and beans and rice and popcorn. Unless I’m doing really well on Weight Watchers, it’s hard to eat just one serving of anything good and make it last in the house for a week.
I randomly found your channel this morning and I'm so glad I did! I've been on a "healing through journaling" journey since 2012 trying to understand the deep reasons for the depression which is now healed. I realized that there is a lot of inner child healing I still need but because I've already done so much it felt a bit like I was looking for a missing piece. Watching your videos feels like I found that piece. I've done journaling and became vegan in order to heal as well but understanding that CPTSD changes the physical structure of the brain is huge! "It's not just in my head" or something I can simply "snap out of" is so helpful. I've used some of the tools you talk about like getting up and doing a physical task to get out of my thought cycle, drinking water, and making sure I'm eating enough healthy food. This is so validating. I'm not self diagnosing but having these tools makes it easier to recognize. I look forward to learning more. 💜
Welcome!
Whole food plant based eating saved my life. I had severe depression & anxiety. I changed my eating & went from 300 pounds to 150 in 2 years. The diet change, my reparenting myself & no contact changed the way i feel & see myself. I cured myself naturally. Textbook medicine is not about healing it's about return customers. A lot of my cptsd symptoms went away. I only eat clean. Sugar, flour, processed food, caffeine, meat, dairy & oils are toxic to the body.
Good for you Angela!!! You're an inspiration that it can be done!!
I have cut all carbs and sugar and went full vegan two months ago. Ever since my quality of life has dramatically changed. I am able now again to sit and work in silence, something that wasn't possible in a decade. My hormone imbalance and mood swings have balanced themselves out. It's incredible how detrimental carbs were for me. My sleep quality and digestion have improved dramatically. Thank you for confirming this change with this video post.
I love u
Really
I like u
Am alone 😍😍💝💝
I tried lots of diets. There is a great book called "nutrition and physical degeneration" basicaly eat unprocess food, in season, locally grown and well prepared.
I tried so many diet, high fat, carnivore, vege, fasting. And in the end I realised that it doesn't matter what I eat as long as it isn't process food with addictive and all.
First I saw great results maybe it's the change, but then it all came back as it was before. I just ended up puting too much stress over thinking too much about what I could and when I could eat. It was just another way to control and be undecisive. Like you explain when we tried to please other or ask them not to do something that triggers us.
Food was just another trigger that I tried to control. Use it to feel good or control it not to feel.
I had to learn that it isn't good or bad, that no diet was going to save me.
Excatly! I've also tried keto diet, raw food diet, vegan, non-vegan, gluten free (already 20 years ago LOL), low carbs, fasting... educated myself on nutrition so much I'm like nutritionist except not. LOL. It all comes down as A LOT OF STRESS. I've never been into eating any processed foods, yack. So for me a balanced lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet with occasioanal fish is the best. I just eat what I like and it's actually simple, because what I like is healthy. But I don't eat bread usually at all, I find daily bread eating gives me problems. I also don't eat refined sugar at all. Also artificial sweeterners give me huge need to stuff carbs, so I avoid even ocassionally those products. What I have for carbs is oatmeal porridge, millet, pasta, potatos, legumes... But this means I've relaxed my eating habits but I'm not stuffing carbs or food now. I make my own raw choclate if I feel I need it. LOL So it doesn't give me the same sugar eatings loop as would have after factory made choclate with refined or artificial sugars. I can also crab a sandwich if there's no time to eat proper lucnh. I want to eat for living! Not to live to eat and think about food!
It’s hard here in West Virginia all we have is Kroger and Walmart winter especially sucks not only do I just give up on eating well.due to the stress of trying with little options but the gray skies and cold wet snow just makes the comfort food that much more comfortable.
@@sophiasometimes9818 from WV TO CHARLESTON U ???
@@francesjones4496 buckhannon wv
Diet eating kills eating healthy heals
This is awesome to hear
I have experienced brain fog for so long, I can't remember when I had a clear mind!
That’s EXACTLY how my life was! At about age 48, I got a 20-week counseling that healed me of those food addictions. I’m SOOO glad you have the link available for people that want/need it!!! I never knew the connection was to the various N relationships throughout my life (from about age 6 on)...
I was an adult before I realized most people did NOT struggle with the food issues I had. (I just thought they were able to get past them.) My father’s 3rd wife (who “took “ to me-& has stayed with me) shared about “hearing “ from her body about when to stop eating, and about her ability to “eat right.” I was 50 years old before I could do the same; AND it took counseling!...
Only recently has the “Brain Fog “ lifted...
I DO feel better when I avoid flour, sugar, and wheat! There is STILL so, so much food to choose from!
You are SO right: freedom, and peace! Ooh, priceless!!!
There is so much work to do, but it’s so worth it (& I’m worth it!)...
Yea, this is me. My days slip by and turn into weeks and then into months. I can remember feeling clear and sharp, and now things are dull and hazy, and I feel very unproductive.
Try the Daily Practice bit.ly/3608opl
-Cara@TeamFairy
I love this! I started bright line eating about 5 months ago. I’m a 10 on the quiz you are talking about. I totally relate to what you were saying about the m&ms. I dropped 20 pounds in a few months. I feel like I am really on the right track finding your channel this week! Amazing! ❤️❤️❤️
Big hugs to you for your success in BLE! Glad you're here.
😍😍💝🌷
I agree . I started eating healthy and eliminated sugar completely. Sugar is evil. My depression is gone . I still have my memories and I cry but it doesn’t ruin my whole day. The thing is people cheat eating sugar and it doesn’t work. I just stopped sugar zero sugar and I don’t even crave it at all. My skin is like a baby’s butt. But I can tell you, if you are strong enough to stop eating sugar, the experience after that will make you not want to eat it at all. Eliminate natural flavors, carrageenan, and crappy oils( canola, sunflower, palm, peanut.....
And soy oil. Yeah, soo important to eliminate crappy (polyunsaturated) oils! However, though some of us may be more sensitive to sugars, sugar is not evil. Your brain will die without it. .Flour should go though.
Have you read Dr. M. Greger's books :-)
Yes I agree but sugar almost every product has sugar, what I meant is A person can get the sugar from fruits, from healthy food not from chocolate unless it’s dark and not in big quantities not from a KitKat not from a Twix not from chocolate milk not from cakes. Man made sugar is evil. that’s where people are going wrong. People need to start reading the ingredients on every package if they cannot pronounce it is bad put it back should only have five ingredients tops because some products needs emulsifiers and that is understandable
I was the kind of person that used to say well I don’t eat much of anything so I can eat whatever I want and that thinking was messing up my system. I just wish that somehow people will give it a try but without cheating and it’s going to be hard and it might take two weeks for some people but I can guarantee that they will never go back to eating the way they were eating. I have suffer with depression since I was a little kid and let me tell you I feel free I feel like somebody just got me out of a prison. I know that people are going to say well that doesn’t work the same way for everybody maybe that everybody was cheating on the side or was not reading the ingredients like riboflavin, fructose, corn syrup, all of these are the same as sugar. What I’m saying works for everybody but not everybody will read ingredients . Those ingredients I mentioned will trigger a craving in the brain in your system to go and eat more. Somebody can be telling me well these cookies said that they are made with natural flavors so it must be good, And that is why it’s not working for them so then they go back to eating the same or even worse food. it’s not as easy as it seems, we need to start reading the ingredients and people need to stop buying these products that Are killing us mentally and physically. Refusing to buy those products will make the industry change the ingredients. I just want to scream to the world Depression will be gone believe me try it I want you to have a happy healthy life
@@zazzyz4558 The body can make glucose from proteins (gluconeogenesis) and the brain in particular can run on ketone bodies (ketosis). It really depends on the form of sugar intake also. Sugar cane is primarily sucrose, which is split apart in the intestinal lining into fructose and glucose. Fructose is good for rapidly replenishing liver glycogen, but too much will turn into fat and cause liver issues. Glucose triggers the insulin response and is better for energy in other systems, but can function as an antinutrient if it's chronically coming in alone (it requires other cofactors to be used correctly). I read a paper a while ago that found a blood sugar spike brought rats with actual brain damage back to near control level performance, but of course after the initial high it cannot last or be sustained indefinitely.
The majority of the modern food supply is poison. And it's cumulative. As it wears you down in some aspect those weakened systems open the door for other types of poison to be worse, like you see in leaky gut. The average person is suffering a constant halide bombardment via fluoridated and chlorinated water, brominated vegetable oils (which are junk and rancid on top of it). Halides block uptake, transport, and use of iodine. This affects the immune system, brain develeopment, and the thyroid. On top of it you have wireless devices, which absolutely and most certainly are directly biologically active, and on top of DNA damage and oxidative / nitrosative stress, will also cause endocrine issues particularly adrenal and thyroid failure in susceptible individuals. There will be an initial high (hyperthyroid) followed by a collapse into hypo, with or without antibody indications of hashimotos, Graves, etc. I haven't bothered to check, but I wouldn't be surprised if the reference ranges for "normal" thyroid function have been gradually reduced over the decades.
Every one of your videos feels like a breath of fresh air for me, I cannot believe that I’m barely realizing what I’ve been suffering with my entire life at the age of 33. THANK YOU.
I’m a 9 too! I have been overindulging over Christmas but I’ve been eating well this year and lost weight so I agree how helpful it is. Happy New Year everyone.
Great job Rum, a new year to start again just around the corner! Happy New Year!!
You are? I’m a 1w9. My strong nine wing can make the brain fog even thicker.
@@rubybelladonna7926 and a happy New Year to you Ruby. 👍
We do food... sugar because it sedates. It's like a drug and it's addictive. Dopamine dopamine dopamine....
My problem is not eating or eating to much and/or bad things. It depends what I'm struggling with... depression or anxiety.
I watched a poscast called "Change your brain: neuroscientist Andrew Huberman" he explained that dopamine is actually something that is released when we do something that gives us pleasure.
Addictive behavior are giving us short term pleasure and then narrowing the things that gives us pleasure overall.
Dopamine should be release when we do things like sport, socialising, working...
He explained that the goal is to look for long term goals and reward the process, small steps to recieve pleasure.
And that before the pleasure there is always pain "stress confusion and agitation" but if we push threw it and reward small steps dopamine kicks in and it became easier.
Then with rest, deep breathing it becomes learn behaviour and next time it is easier to push threw the pain no matter the context.
For example if you run 10 miles reward yourself each miles, dopamine kicks in and it give you energy to go for the next mile.
Then deep breathing and deep rest make new neuronal connexion.
Like you need to warm up(stress agitation confusion) exercise(doing the work), finish(reward), breath, deep sleep, and do it again, for muscle to grow, it the same for new neuronal connexion.
Look it up, it might interest you !
I gorge on chocolate and sugar when I'm depressed and I want comfort. I don't eat at all when I'm extra anxious.
Been working hard on myself for almost 6 years now (with professional help too). Resolving a lot of past issues, taking action and getting many amazing results, including surviving deep depression and rebuilding a crashes psyche or soul into a new "me". But the last 2 years or so i found myself on a platuea. Still have deeper "things" that don't feel right, get trigger, negatieve feelings, etc. I could not figure it out. Trying many things.. i keept searching and moving. And bow that's to you, i found this "label" CPTSD. Normally I don't care too much for the labels. But from what i hear from you and the recommended bool CPTSD from Pete Walker. This aligned for 95% with the remaining "issues". Its almost magical how much it aligns. So currently i am taking more amazing action, now with the knowledge of CPTSD, you and Pete Walker. Thank you so much!
I know that “membrane”. A separation from the moment, the world. It’s disassociation. I never knew what it was until I started my healing journey from from a 34 yr narc marriage, preceded by a verbal lay abusive alcoholic narc father (and silent mother who did not realize it was abuse I was experiencing). Great word, Anna!
Thanks for sharing :)
-Cara@TeamFairy
Trauma effects your relationship with food which makes brain fog worse. A fairly well known neurologist, Dr. Daniel Amen, also talks about how certain foods can cause brain deregulation.
Love Dr. Amen’s stuff, so interesting!
Ms. Anna I’ve experimented with this type of diet this year and i can say this is very accurate to my experience. I’m currently implementing low carb and fasting most of the day and i’m experiencing a lot of clarity and flow. On the second topic i’ve finally began to peruse goals i can work towards every day and i’m able to navigate my time easier and not ruminate about my next move a lot more. I hope you have a good new year 💜
Do you drink juice? What do you do for fast when you wake up?
@@woobielocks Sometimes I drink a kombucha tea or black coffee. Black coffee without anything is better for fasting because it doesn’t raise your insulin or active hunger hormones as much. You can have any kind of teas, most of them have varying amounts of caffeine
@@innervision97 thank you!!!
You descibed it so well, nobody talks about it, it's like being in a dream...
I remember when I was a kid I used to pinch my hands to get out of it.. now I don't know how, maybe because it feels like a safe place..
Thanks for your videos
UA-cam suggested a video of yours last night and I am so grateful. I'm just watching in tears because I don't think I've ever felt so understood in my life! Thank you a thousand times. I'm looking forward to starting the daily practice.
Thank you for sharing those three ways of lessening brain fog. I have experienced all of the above and tried all three healthy life changes with better choices and they work.
Omg, when you described the obsession with sweets and complete preoccupation I feel like I was just freed from a solitary prison I didn't even understand. So many years of shame and not understanding why nobody else felt the same obsession.
I've noticed the first cause for myself. Sugary foods give me so much brain fog! Since I've stopped eating sugar and high carb lunches, I feel so much better at work, it's amazing.
I'll start working on the other two causes, too. Thank you for this video!
Great start!
-Cara@TeamFairy
Thankyou. ive been trying to cure my brain fog for years now.
I just did this too. Was going to start healthy keto on 1st of Jan but realised I didn't want to wait to start feeling better, so started a 24 hour preliminary fast and will be leaping into the new year all fired up. Got the news today that my area of the UK is back under strict lockdown rules so going to use my anger about that as energy and motivation.
Hmm, careful there. Keto is pretty demanding plus it was originally formulated for kids with epileptic seizures, and not for weight loss or fitness specifically. If it works for you, it works, but I'd read on it as much as possible.
Intermittent fasting is something I do too, only not as a part of Keto. Good luck and all that, though.
The dissociation and intense anxiety never stops, and I also have an unsolvable sleeping problem and don’t work sexually.
We have a lot of resources for you on the website if you'd like to start trying something new :)
crappychildhoodfairy.com/
-Cara@TeamFairy
Thank you Anna! I not only survived a 5 day coma in late 2018, but I'm learning how to heal carb sensitivity right now. I found quarantine had me eating out of emotional thinking and I began to fluctuate w my goals. Recovery is a daily practice n I think I got trapped a bit in the trauma if quarantine.
Yes, a lot of us had some "relapses" when it came to carbs :)
-Cara@TeamFairy
Serendipity strikes! I began Bright Line Eating early in 2018, lost 50+ lbs and am maintaining my healthy weight now. Finding your channel has raised my hopes of now healing those other problem areas.... looking forward to running the same experiment with your daily practice that I ran with BLE, and then taking your dating and relationships course. Hello 2021!
You sound like you have gotten to a good place. Ready for sharing your life. I wish you joy.
@@marnellkent3682 thanks for your kindness. I wish you well also.
Brilliant! That's exactly how I've felt and existed for decades. I didn't know these things were from CPTSD, and thank you for this video, Anna!!
Glad it was helpful!
Just how many times I rewound 30 seconds and more because of the brain fog 😅😒 great video definitely 👍
Glad you stuck around to see it all!
I am crying.
The word "fairy" is not a coincidence. So many years I've spend on a different therapies (and so much money gone) and no-one never noticed. I'm watching your videos and I'm startled. Almost everything you say are the things I'm struggling in my life. Even simple stuff like sugar craving. I did notice I have a sweet tooth some time ago but I felt it was something odd about it. Now I know why. Thank you so much for all your work here.
I have been binge eating my way thru xmas since I was young woman. I literally would fall into a seasonal suicidal depression every NOV and would literally not snap out of it until Boxing Day, EVERY YEAR. I hated Xmas so much, one year I seriously wanted to move to Israel as I was hoping to find a country that didnt shove Christmas down your throat! I hope doing this work, I can have my FIRST SANE and peaceful and not binge eating depressing Christmas... I am starting in Summer as I literally dread the oncoming seasonal freaking depression... NO MORE I cant stand it, I just want to sail through it for the first time ever.
Great plan!
Oh my goodness. I think we are related lol. I was the same as a kid with the candy. I have been abstinent in OA since 2012. In about 2017 Igor broke me open and I’ve been getting to the root of why I overeat. CTPSD. Ty Anna. I treasure you. ❤
I've been studying this for a while in order to heal my own body. The cravings have to do with our endocrine system, which gets disrupted by childhood trauma. When we live in a state of fight or flight for so long, our nervous system gets programmed to a hypervigilent state - like a program running in the background that sucks up all your cpu's and slows down your computer.
What this results in, is chronic magnesium deficiency, and this is manifested in several chronic diseases, such as diabetes, thyroid disease, heart disease, fibromyalgia and many more. This also causes us to have insufficient and sometimes even deficient vitamin D levels. If your vitamin D is low, you're also low in magnesium because magnesium is needed to synthesize vitamin D.
Magnesium deficiency can be challenging to diagnose, because most doctors don't understand how it works (they're not taught this), and yet they understand the importance of vitamin D and will prescribe it to patients to up their levels. The problem is, if they do this with a person who is chronically low in magnesium, it will have a very serious boomerang effect within a few weeks to months (this happened to me).
Magnesium is rapidly depleted by stress. It's also rapidly depleted by alcohol consumption and it has been established as fact that most alcoholics are magnesium deficient. It has also been established that most diabetics are deficient in this mineral. Heart disease has also been correlated with this deficiency. They're is not a lot of info regarding thyroid disease, however I can add my own anecdotal evidence on this, coupled with the fact that there have been studies on vitamin D repletion and improvement in thyroid function, coupled with the fact that adequate magnesium must be present for vitamin D synthesis. You can extrapolate the effects of childhood trauma with the likelihood of having any of these diseases, to arrive at my initial assertion that a great many of us who suffered trauma in childhood, are very likely chronically magnesium deficient with sub optimal, or even low levels of Vitamin D
So when magnesium is low, you will start to develop extra weight around your middle. Severely low magnesium will cause loss of appetite and severe health risks - but that is considered acute, not chronic, and is usually brought on by something like toomuch vitamin D with not enough magnesium. Low vitamin D levels will cause sugar cravings, and since this is a hormone, it is affecting your endocrine system and can lead to things like insulin resistance, diabetes, hormonal imbalances and eventually chronic illnesses.
Dietary magnesium is the best - because this means you have to eat healthy, and that will improve your health - although it is challenging to get enough. I aim for 500mg/ day, because that's what the average person ingested prior to soil depletion and widespread chronic illnesses, but that is challenging for most people. I also supplement, because I'm chronically low and need to. Vitamin D is next to impossible to get the rda in one's diet, but it's still good to eat 8-10oz of salmon/wk, get some sunshine when you can, and pick up the rest thru supplements.
When you begin to get your magnesium and D optimized, you will lose cravings and lose belly fat, and find it easy to easy healthy. Dealing with the emotional aspect of healing from trauma is hard enough without having to fight destructive food impulses. Hope this helps. 🩷
Also, there's a free app called cronometer- you can put everything you eat into it daily, and it instantly calculates all your nutrients, so that you can see where you need supplementing.
Also, thank you Anna for what you're doing. I found you because the UA-cam algorithms decided I needed you (are they reading my mind???) when healing from my magnesium/ vitamin d deficiencies triggered some old trauma and I realized my physical healing was going to require a deeper, emotional healing. 💜 Thank you, you are wonderful 🧡
Someone actually verbalized what I'm dealing with, holy SHIT thank you
I feel like I've spent long periods of time stuck or feeling trapped. This morning I decided to stop ignoring my finances and have spent all day on a plan. I feel happy and invigorated. I quit chocolate for a year several years ago after stuffing it in my face as fast as I could by the large bags. And did that year. Told myself all other options were available, I don't recall binging on anything else. 3 years ago I decided to quit caffeine, soda and energy drinks, caffeinated tea, and also chocolate, and even cosmetics or anything else it's found in. It took me a year to work it out, and I've been fully caffeine free 2 years on the 1st. It's made me less reactive, though I still get triggered by some things, and am keeping a list of those. Im now wanting to get into eating plant based vegan, to clear out a literal fungal infection in my ears and body, as well as other reasons. But I'm still slamming the fast food on the daily. Fruit punch or sprite to drink, not overly fond of either. I quit drinking the red 40 fruit punch and switched to sprite but now crave the sprite. I don't want it to lead to harder sodas, lol. Caffeine causes a lot of issues, without it I still struggle to sleep at night, and learned recently Potassium, and B1,which plants are loaded with help fix that issue. But its also a cortisol rhythm flip, which stress flips it easily. But I learned spearmint helps lower cortisol, so I sometimes drink spearmint tea, though I carefully find caffeine free version. For some reason they add it. I follow several vegans and raw vegans, though Ill say plant based, hoping to get it into me that I'm going to start doing that. Slowly but surely. I feel a small amount of motivation and freedom after the practice, where I feel less stuck to get things done. Though I didn't do it today, but made a decision to not self destruct on an aspect if my finances and figure out what it's going to take to get some things dealt with. I'm interested in this diet survey, I can imagine with my recent binging it's likely high.
I cannot make even the easiest decisions. I want to act and do things, but I see the downsides and I give up. This year I want to accomplish things. Lack of Mental clarity is my disease. Decisions are toxic, too solid, too defining of things I don’t want to admit to. Fear that I am making the wrong decisions that I would be judged by and then rejected. I really want this to stop. It must stop.
You sound like me.... 😳😳😳
Wow! I have been in recovery for about five years, everyday a journey! Brain fog has been a real life problem for me but so hard to explain. I had a vague understanding having done my own research but trying to process it while foggy is difficult. Since I have more clarity now I feel like my IQ has risen about 20 points! Thank you
That's great!
-Cara@TeamFairy
I went low carb, plus intermittent fasting last spring and lost over 30 pounds. I was more alert and relaxed than I have ever been. I began introducing small amounts of sugar and carbs and spiraled. With the holidays and sweets I’m not in full on brain fog and can hardly function. Jumped back on today. It makes a huge difference for me.
Today is my first day as a Brightline Eater. I'm very excited. I have taken all of your suggestions and I'm starting to feel better.
How great! 14-Day Challenge?
@@CrappyChildhoodFairy yes 😊.
I found this out quite accidently, just from trying to lose weight. I was a massive carb and sugar fiend, which I was forced to cut out in order to have enough food to stay full while keeping within my new dietary allowances. I felt so much mental clarity, and the fewer sugary carbs I ate, the less I wanted, which is UNHEARD of, for me.👍
Yes, me too!
I went to Carnivore and not only cured my health problems but also helped my brain fog.
I’m so glad to have found your page!! Thank you!!💕💕
whats sticky about my situation was not only do I totally relate with the carbs and food problem; it is more layered for me because my family system was emotionally shut down, so how my family coped with that was to just "eat together". Sit there and be together feeling good about food but the conversations were all about surface level shit, nothing authentic nor connecting. So we ate a lot to "save" the family system from facing the problem of emotional neglect.
Great insight, you're on your way!
-Cara@TeamFairy
Between 2008 and 2011 I underwent a weight loss of 80 pounds during a time I also gained control of runaway thoughts and fears (though the weight loss was partly a consequence of a three-month bout with anemia) and vastly improved my emotional health and self-concept. I don't want that 80-pound number to cause people to think it's beyond their ability; like I'm some whiz kid. I still face lots of challenges, and some of my difficulties are permanent. But here's what I did and anybody can do:
Reduce carbs to 8 percent or less (based on store packaging; yeah, those numbers really mean something.)
Reduce sugar to as low as practical.
Buy NOTHING with High-Fructose Corn Syrup. That stuff is the single greatest reason for the unhealthy overweight crisis.
Reduce the portions of what you have been eating (if you weigh more than you should) to about 3/4 of those amounts. Then, to keep you from craving that other 1/4 you are used to...
Drink a tall glass or a couple of smaller glasses of seltzer water, club soda, mineral water or plain water. That makes me feel full. And with no High Fructose Corn Syrup, it will be easier to reduce portions.
Well there, I didn't want to steal your show, Anna. Just thought I'd add some tips that have worked in my case.
Just found your channel and it’s amazing. I used one of the videos in the middle of a situation! I started changing my overall diet (meaning the way I eat for the rest of my life. I don’t do “diets”). I was obese as a child from both starvation and steroids. After I eliminated a lot of carbs a long time ago for inflammation, actually - I found there was another thing some other people I know with crappy childhoods experience. They feel like continuing to eat - but we noticed - it felt like we were afraid the food was going to run out. We didn’t know when we’d have food, again.
This made complete sense. I took the quiz. Once I opened it, I realized I should close it, but I am very very susceptible to quizzes 😂 - by question 2 my brain was screaming (get out).... I did it. So, I am an adult and should’ve backed out of the quiz. I am here because my brain tells me to do crazy things. The quiz is not good for people with eating disorders. It’s a great idea, though, but maybe a note above the link that says “maybe not good for eating disorders” ... I restrict food to the point where I was told not to use any app that logs food - at all. Just feedback on that quiz. BUT 😁 - NOW - I’m going to find a video here for “so - you have CPTSD - and you’ve decided to stop eating entirely, again...” 😁
I appreciate the feedback! I understand not every quiz or meal plan is right for everyone. I appreciate that Susan took this plan from a 12 step program and tailored it to feel more accessible to others- we know she worked a lot with eating disorders and it is a testament to YOUR healing that you can know this is not the right thing for you :)
-Cara@TeamFairy
Hi Anna, I watched the "One Year to Heal" video you reference above at 13:15 . I like the changes you identify. One that sticks out to me is #9 (be a good worker). I find this change to be paradoxical in my own life. It seems the introjections and abuses I was subjected to in my dysfunctional origin family, that I work on recovering from, suddenly reappear from bosses and employers. The hierarchy is similar to my origin family, in that I am expected to venerate the employer, or even accept subtle abuses or workplace dangers to keep the employer happy. To me, it feels like being right back in childhood trauma. I have seen weaker colleagues get abused and neglected, just as I saw siblings and neighbor children abused during my childhood. I have even seen "catch 22" situations, where the employee is reprimanded or worse for not reporting or standing firm with some workplace standard, but receives retaliation or dissatisfaction from the employer later for having followed standards and having not "looked the other way." Employers have been known to terminate employees they deem overqualified or who have "outgrown" their internal advancement potential, but sometimes those employees are simply maturing in their own lives and developing confidence--to the point that a boss or employer begins to feel challenged. Those employers essentially banish a good employee, just as many children of dysfunctional families were physically or emotionally banished by parents after those children began to develop their own mature voices and boundaries as adolescents or young adults.
This one's a real paradox in my mind and in my life. I am just old enough to remember late industrial America, when employer-employee relationships were seen much more equally in many sectors than they are 30-40 years later, and it was considered by many (including managers and professionals) to be immoral or indulgent to venerate an employer or management echelon. I am aware of labor relations standards in other economically advanced countries, which generally hold much higher regard for the employee both under the law and in workplace practices. At the same time, I know that I and many other Americans will continue to struggle in our careers if we push our own boundaries in a contemporary American workplace, even as we work to maintain those healthy boundaries in our own adult lives. I see this as a horrendous paradox, especially for Americans. If you have any thoughts on this, I would enjoy reading them.
You described my experience right on. Most of my life I haven't really felt "present" in my life!
It's a coping mechanism, probably served you well as a child and forutaly you don't need it now :)
-Cara@TeamFairy
True, unfinished decisions, things keep me stuck. I like to eat some good carbs. I don't usually over do it. But if I have to try to further my "career" with some specific stuff, the brain fog and chocolate stuffing comes easily out. I try to lighten up, learn it is ok to move on, move ahead. I' very customed being stuck.
Dr. Jordan Peterson was asked how to get yourself moving, when you are dead in the water. He said "clean your room". That's funny, but sorting out my personal environment works for me, because it makes me feel so much better.
Me too. His advice is usually right on.
Anna you have nailed so many things I have been thinking of. I have been in quarantine for two weeks so have been eating from my supplies and garden so no carbs or sugar. Feeling so much better. Thank you for showing me I am not imagining these things.
How interesting, an accidental healthy diet :)
-Cara@TeamFairy
I had no idea brain fog was a common symptom! I thought I was one of the rare people who had chronic fatigue syndrome, and always felt a lot of shame for having it. Now CPTSD makes more sense, and validates I really did have a toxic childhood. My family was one that looked good on the outside, and even my younger siblings would deny there was anything wrong with my narc/bpd mother, but I was the oldest and had a different focus on me.
I'm so glad you found the channel :) -Calista@TeamFairy
Thank you so much for this video! Such a help to have steps to healing since brain fog by definition is chaotic and difficult to navigate. Many blessing to you!
Thank you!
-Cara@TeamFairy
I have it every day & I’m trying to listen to an audio book & I keep repeating the beginning of the same chapter I feel like smashing everything in sight. All I want to do is be able to get lost in a story & concentrate from start to finish.
Mrs Runkle, i thank you so much for this and for all your video's! And congrats for overcoming yourself many situations ! What you do and experienced and how you help us now, is what most of the psy's ( Belgium) are not able to do! They simply do not understand. Whole my life i wondered what was wrong. Today i understand thanks to you. - missed so many opportunities, still today, lost my jobs several times and i never understood why, nobody explains something, sometimes i am even attacked verbally because some people do not accept or understand me. I am intelligent (sorry to say that from myself) and high sensitive but also have lack of confidence and all that, i think makes others feel uncomfortable and they prefer to reject me. Well that is what i think. I think i can calm down better because now i understand what happened to me. I work daily on it and you help me a lot. Many thanks and my best wishes for a happy and healthy new year.
That explains allot. My short term memory is totally shot.
thank you Anna..... finding your channel has been like coming across a little oasis in the desert of misinformation and lies that we have to hike through every day on the Net and in the media .
These realizations make me sad and even crying sometimes. But I realy want to HEAL! So it´s worth the effort :) THANK YOU !!!
You can do this!
I don't think I've ever been out of brain fog
:)
My brain fog has gotten markedly worse "post" Covid and in the midst of my divorce. It's so bad it's getting frightening.
Try Daily Practice if you haven't yet bit.ly/3608opl
-Cara@TeamFairy
The research around carbohydrate sensitivity shows that refined carbs - isolate sugars, flours, alcohols - exacerbate addiction and metabolic syndrome, whereas complex carbs - root vegetables, whole intact grains, legumes - do not cause harm and are health promoting for most people. The distinction between refined and complex carbs is important.
This video makes so much sense of why I feel stuck in revisiting childhood trauma. Looking back I can see moments of emotionality and self-sabotage, but I really thought I was over this in my 30s & 40s.
I am disabled and, around the time the kids were in their mid to late teens, I lost control of the kitchen and the grocery shopping. Don't get me wrong. My husband and the kids can cook but they don't really understand a balanced diet. I would never say this to my family, but I can tell you guys that I don't actually like pizza, even if it's all handmade from scratch and the cook went to a lot of trouble.
I'll check out the link. I'm wondering if this might help my son with his depression. When he does the shopping, the cupboards are filled up with biscuits and crackers, the fridge is full of 4 kinds of fancy cheese and too few vegetables.
You are a great storyteller with your life experiences, well done madam!
Thank you so much!
I can eat just *atrocious* amounts of white rice. Like, 9 servings of food, if I'm not careful. This was true when I was drastically underweight, and it's still true, now! I have a similar sort of thing with potatoes. And fruit juice. Not so much with cookies or candies.
I have weird ones. I crave Cheese. I have to have it every day. My body forced me to stop eating sugar, it makes me really sick and gives me horrible arthritis. The pain of not having functional joints was enough to get me off it. And until recently, I used energy drinks to just stay functional. Now that I am off all that caffeine, I feel like I went 10 steps backwards, but I know It will get better.
It's my understanding cheese is addictive! The food stuff is so hard to manage but good for you for getting off sugar!
-Cara@TeamFairy
Paraphrasing a well-know self help guru, who shall remain nameless to avoid bias: 'The one foundational key to progress, regardless of what you want to progress toward, is taking action.'
Yes. And yet that has been stripped from so many forms of help. No wonder so many people suffer!
Wow Anna! I didn't know that my indecisiveness was a common feature of cptsd! Also how the heck to you calm your food cravings? Love your videos! I love that you are so gentle and generous with your gifts!
One of my face's so far on this channel. My mother's lost more weight then ever on Keto, but I like fruit too much to do Keto. I have cut processed carbs and refined sugar almost completely , the reason I can't cut it conpletely yet is my body reacts terribly and I get worsening anxiety. I can so much relate to the decision making problems as well 🙏
Good work!
Thank you. I realized my food problems were a coveting thing. I know now i can turn away from food without a problem knowing im in control of not coveting.
You have quite a very unique content, I feel that, I am fighting this everyday
Hhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm I'm almost 63 and have always just known my brain is damaged from childhood long before I ever heard anyone else say it.
I think I get brain fog at times. The occasional day when nothing seems to make sense. I become overwhelmed with life and confused and I feel detached from reality. It doesn't last long but it's depressing at the time. It's always when I'm on my own. Being with people seems to distract me and pulls me back into the world.
You're not alone!
-Cara@TeamFairy
100% true for me - In my youth when I was sharing rent - every time I have a new roommate - I will warn her never to leave chocolate - I can't stop myself from eating it - nothing can stop me - no self will, no guild, no moral or whatever - I am gonna eat it and will not share it with anyone.
If I know there is chocolate somewhere in the house I can't settle until I found it and eat it ALL.
All my relatives know that no chocolate can survive around me.
I can eat 500 grams of chocolate in a few hours - I can't leave it until I eat it all.
It is like finding paradise and resisting it, no way.
I dont ususlly comment but I had to on this,
it really feels like you are talking to me,
I relate to everything you say.
This makes me underatand myself more and I want to just say
THANK YOU!!!
I would describe it more as a veil, sometimes thin, sometimes thick depending on the situation. Otherwise, you describe it perfectly, how it feels behind it. Great video.
I
Love
Love u u u 😍😍😍😍
Really
I like u u u u 💝💝💝💝
I am alone 🌷🌷🌷🌷