Could this be a Cravings breakthrough??

[SedonaSun]

Hey y'all, I just had an amazing discovery!! I'm not sure if it's just me, but I'm guessing the rest of you might "suffer" from it, too.

Back when the song "Devil Went Down to Georgia" was popular, I was a teenager helping my mom renovate a house. For some reason, this is where my mind goes back to when I hear the song. And most of the food we ate there was toast or crackers with Mauna Laua (sp?) cheese in the tub (like Swiss Almond, Port Wine, etc.)

That song just came on the radio and guess what I immediately started "craving" (though it wasn't really strong enough to be considered a craving)--crackers with that cheese!!! It's been about 25 years since we worked on that house!

Okay, so think for a moment... how often do you hear a song or smell something and get "taken back" to another time and place where that song or smell was "burned" into your brain.

So now I've been wondering why I get nighttime munchies so much. Well, now I'm thinking it's because the past 10 years I've had jobs where I'm home in the evening and I get bored and graze through the cabinets and refrigerator. Well, I believe that pattern is "burned" into my brain, that's just "what I do" even though I don't want to do that anymore.

"They" say that it takes 3 weeks to break or form a habit, but I'm skeptical of that, at least when it comes to food and especially since so many have mentioned lately about "cheats" they've faced and craving patterns that strike regularly.

If that's true, then I'm assuming it's going to take time to "burn" new habits into my brain, but the good news is that if that's true, then there WILL come a day when I stop craving SAD foods at night. Or, I'll start craving raw foods regularly instead. There IS hope!! :D

So maybe...play popular or favorite songs or CDs when you're eating particular foods... and maybe even have a song for each food. Play it when you're making and eating it. Establish a connection between, for example, Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" and zucchini pasta.

So then... and I'm just following what seems like a logical progression here... if you get SAD cravings, play a song that's "linked" to raw foods and maybe, just maybe, the SAD cravings will go away. Or when you hear the song at work or in the car, you'll think about a salad or pesto stuffed mushrooms or a portobello burger or raw ice cream.

Any thoughts??

[sweetgoddess]

Wow, what a great idea! Start creating an association...brilliant.
The other day it suddenly got very damp, dark, cold and drizzly and i craved a coffee with force. I realized later, after giving into that that I used to cozy up with a coffee when I first moved to the pacific northwest and the damp made me feel achy..coffee would warm me. So you raise a valid point with cravings being tied to a feeling or moment.

I will start playing music when I eat a fabulous raw meal..and try creating healthier associations and comfort memories. hmm this could be something!

[Rawkinlocs]

Sedonasun, this is INCREDIBLY hilarious to me! When I had that Twinkie...the craving DID come from a childhood memory that was brought on by, of all things, me watching a DVD of old Three Stooges episodes!

I was watching it the other day and as the music played and just viewing it, my mind went back to when I was about 7/8-ish and I'd come home from school and in the afternoon, they used to air The Three Stooges on tv and I'd watch that, while eating a Twinkie!

That's what triggered my craving for one!

Whenever I hear the theme song for Friends, my mind takes me back to when we used to live in WA; it takes me back to when I worked at JC Penny Salon and a lot of women wanted the "Rachel cut".

I can definitely see what you're saying...so how DO we make NEW things get ingrained in our brains and how can we (if we can) get rid of the old?
I think you're absolutely right...now when I watch these Three Stooges shows, I'll be eating maybe, banana-flax crackers with almond butter and honey or something, eh?

Good thread and good suggestion Sedona!!

[SedonaSun]

I'm hoping its possible to purposely make new connections. It seems the ones I have are just linked to usually emotional issues (usually around guys :rolleyes: ), but sometimes just really inane, can't-believe-I-still-remember-THIS type memories.

However, at the very least, if we're aware that certain things trigger SAD food memories and cravings, then like you mentioned, we can be prepared ahead of time with a raw alternative, or at least recognize that the "craving" isn't because of something we need, but simply something we remember.

Perhaps someone out there with more psychology background can shed some light on burning old food associations and creating new ones...

[rawpriestess]

Hi,

this is called Neuro Associative conditioning.

Basically, it is you see, hear, smell, taste or touch something, and if you do it often enough while doing something else you will associate to it, much like pavlov's dogs.

Feed the dog, ring a bell, feed the dog, ring a bell, pretty soon all you have to do is ring the bell and the dog will salivate.

There are ways to change this without having to go through 3 weeks, or anything like that.

it is called a pattern interupt, what you do is you interupt the pattern, while you are in the middle of it.

so, let's say Cherie is watching the 3 stooges, and the second she thinks of a twinkie (and she will because she has been programmed to), she needs to immediately do, think, or feel something else, like when I was talking in the other thread about how to think of bread as dehydrated maggots, that come back alive when you eat them. So,think of the twinkie this way, of juicy creamy maggots, inside a yellow bunch of dog poop, Now, really think of this, almost taste it, trust me, if you do this a few times, you will never want a twinkie again.

This can be done with anything,

If you saw the movie "Shallow Hal" and you saw Tony Robbins, take Hal back to a time that he was particularily shallow, then he placed his hand on Hal's forehead and said "out demons" this was a pattern interupt.

But the reason, I do it with food, and in a most disgusting way, is because we are dealing with food here.

It works really well, otherwise I wouldn't have so many clients.

[Rawkinlocs]

RAWPRIESTESS!!! Girl that was intense! Juicy, creamy maggots inside of yellow dog poop. Oh, to get that vision in my head...I'll NEVER touch a twinkie again. Oh I LOVE this...I will want to find these kinds of things for ALL of my weak spots!

I remember Sweetlips telling me about someone who called pizza a mucous, pus pie! LOL! Now that is a "lovely" way to see pizza, right!

Yeah, I loved Shallow Hal.

[VeganVixen]

yeah whenever used to wolf whistle at my horse (so he comes for his meal from the pasture) he gallops up ,bucks and snorts wanting his food ,unfortunatly a really big idiot did that at a show while I was riding and it must have been a good day because he just pricked his ears up and gave a snort - so I now ring a cowbell to "shave and a haircut"....