Abstinence Violation Effect and Holidays

Nicole Pierce, ND

First of all, let us decide right now that we are in control of our bodies and that excessive overconsumption and weight gain do not need to be inevitable. A good start is in understanding the Abstinence Violation Effect, otherwise known as the “Screw It” attitude, which tells us that if we feel we fail by eating too much, or by eating “forbidden” foods, we might as well just keep at
it. While many people comfort themselves with food when they're stressed, or on special occasions, one of the most common reactions among chronic dieters is that fatalistic voice that tells us "I've screwed up, so I might as well keep going.”

In Time magazine’s 2008 article “Why Falling Off the Wagon Isn’t Fatal,” Maia Szalavitz discusses this phenomenon. “Most people who try to change problem behaviors — whether it's overeating, overspending, or smoking cigarettes — will slip at least once. Whether that slip provokes a return to full-blown addiction depends in large part on how the person regards the misstep. People with a strong abstinence-violation effect relapse much more quickly. A single slip solidifies their sense that they are a failure and cannot quit, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Alan Marlatt, director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington teaches a technique called "urge surfing" as a way to cope. "The urge is like a wave," he says. "It goes up and down. You don't try to get rid of it, but accept it and let it pass.”

“People tend to think that urges will escalate infinitely if they don't yield to them — but in fact, like a wave, they rise to a peak and then fall. That is, even if you don't give in, the urge dissipates. Indeed, because of the way the brain is wired, each time an addict lets an urge pass without engaging in the unwanted behavior, it weakens the neural connections that underlie the desire; each time he or she rewards the craving with the bad habit, the brain pathways, and the addiction, are strengthened. It helps for people to remind themselves that if they can resist an addictive urge once, it will become easier and easier to do it again in the future.”

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1868965,00.html#ixzz1dncWuj9w

Now is the time to start planning for January's re-commitment to healthier living in 2012. Here’s where the Healthy Body Reset program comes in!

The Healthy Body Reset program is a Naturopathic weight loss program which combines the best in modern medicine with holistic, natural medicine to assist in rapid weight loss and rebalance your metabolism.

If you have struggled to lose weight, tried diet after diet, or feel like there is nothing you can do to keep the weight off, there is a solution! Dr. Pierce specializes in helping people lose weight, especially weight that may be associated with hormonal or metabolic changes. The Healthy Body Reset program uses homeopathic HCG along with a very specific diet to help you lose weight, then a careful food re-introduction plan to help your body stabilize at it’s new weight.

The Healthy Body Reset program is designed to facilitate the proper functioning of your metabolism and help your body work for you instead of against you! This medically supervised program is safe and effective for both men and women- and is individualized for you! Dr. Pierce’s patients have reported life-changing results with this weight loss program because it treats the whole you and not only your weight. This is a serious solution for weight loss because it offers a different path—one that will help you lose the weight and keep it off naturally.

Please call Boise Natural Health today to make an appointment to get you on the right path for a healthier and slimmer 2012.