Earlier this year I read and so resonated with The Gabriel Method by Jon Gabriel that I decided to use it as the thing that guided me through this journey to a healthier body.  Then, following some advice from my health professionals, I had to go on a ‘diet’ to address the Candida (plus I had advice to eat protein at every meal and drop to low carb).  Thus the first thing that Jon says about this not being a diet was changed in my eyes.

So, I stumbled along, lost 12 Kg really quickly and then stayed 90Kg for the next 6 weeks.  I needed something to focus me again.

My plan is to work my way through The Gabriel Method, reviewing each chapter and working with the information within it.  You are welcome to join me in what will be a discovery of some of the emotional triggers of my lifestyle (eating and activity).  Where I’ve quoted or paraphrased Jon, I will put the text in italics, with the page reference.   Jon Gabriel is also aware of what I am doing here and has offered to help in any way he can – thanks Jon.

Oh man, I just had to laugh!

As I was going through this chapter looking at the parts I had highlighted, the first thing on pages xiii-xiv that hit me was the similarity to what I’m going through right now.  Jon said he followed diets, losing weight quickly initially, then hitting a plateau, only to find that the diet was being maintained just to maintain the current weight (not lose it)!

For me, that is where the feeling of being punished kicks in big time.

Then, there was Jon’s observation that his period of dieting, of doing without, did not help with food cravings – they just got worse.  Then feeling dejected and disappointed, a BINGE would result and you guessed it ………. weight gain!

I felt this comment, particularly feeling ‘like a failure’ when unable to control food cravings and succumbing to them.  Words like ‘all you need is willpower’ resonating in my ears from thin people that just compounded a low self-esteem / self body image.

Why Does My Body Want to be Fat?

On page xv, Jon said that the problem was not his body, but a lack of understanding of how to operate it.  Why did it want to be fat? Why were efforts to force it to be a certain way not working? To quote him … “not only does dieting not work, but if your body already wants to be fat, dieting will only make it want to be fatter”.

This comment struck a chord as i thought about my yo-yo dieting.  Lose 5 Kg. Put on 5 Kg.  Lose 3 Kg.  Put on 4 Kg.  Depressing!

Food Battles and Binges

Jon “hated being so obsessed with food and treating every hunger signal as a battle I had to fight” (page xv).

This is so true! I am so over thinking about food and food choices and then beating myself up when I make a bad choice, which often leads to a BINGE (you know, you’ve already stuffed up, so …. stuff it – yep in my mouth!).

Do What Thin People Do …

On page xvi, Jon say that he “also realised that a lot of other people don’t count what they eat.  They pay no attention to what they’re eating and yet they never gain a kilo”.  Jon calls these ‘naturally thin’ people and they are people who do not have a dysfunctional relationship with food…… no good versus bad day labels, no foods that are taboo, no agonising over food choices.  “They simply eat when they’re hungry and that’s that – end of story”.

So, Jon made a choice to start living like a naturally thin person.  He chose to eat what he wanted, when he wanted it, but with one significant difference …… he made sure that he added certain foods that he knew had nutrients his body needed in a form that could be digested and assimilated.

I think that is a key thing from a mental perspective too – he didn’t try and approach it by denying himself food choices, he approached it by acknowledging that his body had nutritional needs and he had to add them to his diet to help his body.  Jon realised that if his body was to serve him well, he had to give it what it needed as well.

Jon’s observation of himself over that initial time was that his cravings were the same, but gradually he craved not only less food, but also craved more healthier food.  Currently if he’s hungry, he knows it’s for a reason and respects that, rather than judging it.  His tastes have been transformed now, preferring live foods to the things he used to crave so much of – empty calories that starved him of nutrients.  He acknowledged that no matter how much he ate previously, his body wasn’t getting nourishment because there was nothing in the food he was eating to nourish it….. he was starving nutritionally and it’s not surprising that he felt hungry a lot of the time (page xvii).

It’s been such a vicious cycle for me, as for others.  Being overweight with 3 young children I’m always on the go. So, I ate what was quick, often on the run.  This usually meant carb based food.  The fact that I got tired also meant reaching for the quick hit at 3pm ….. carb and sugar based usually!  So, the candida kicks in ……. and it loves to crave sugar to keep it going…… and the cycle continues.

My Plan …

My focus is to get my body to the point where it is free of the candida, plus following Jon’s lead and adding nutrients that it needs to be healthy.  I’m jumping ahead a bit here, but as per Jon’s suggestion, this month I am taking pro-biotics each day, digestive enzymes and omega-3 in the form of Krill Oil capsules (as well as linseeds, chia seeds).  Instead of taking an off-the-shelf multi-vitamin (with Vit E) that may not be right for me or assimilated by my body, I am doing hair analysis to find out what specific vitamins and minerals my body needs.  Then, with Dr Kitty Campion, we will look at what, if anything, I need.  Keep you posted.
What about you?