Some people have asked me how I started my weight loss. My first few months in the blog archive explain it all.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

White Noise

I have a condition called tinitus. It means that there is a constant ringing in my ears. The only time I really notice it is at night when the whole house has gone to sleep and it is quiet. If I focus on the sound I can't sleep, and it makes me crazy. I have developed a coping mechanism. I turn on white noise. White noise distracts me from the sound, I can listen to the radio, a fan, my husband reading to me, or even his breathing as he sleeps. By doing this I am distracted and can fall asleep. I love white noise, I think I would be a tired grumpy mess without it.

I have another condition I call lazy eating machinitis. It means that I do not naturally desire to eat healthy or exercises. There is a constant yearning in my soul to eat everything even when I am not aware of it. Sometimes it can get so bad I see a pan of brownies, I stand by the pan of brownies, and then bam... the brownies are gone. During the times that this condition hits the hardest I used to give up, stuff my face, sleep in, get more depressed, eat more, lay on the couch more, etc. I would rather have tinitus.

When I decided to fight this illness I had to find "white noise" to get the constant suggestions my disease (lazy eating machinitus) impales me with. I put gum in the kitchen drawers, in my van and in my purse. Chewing gum is great white noise. During the week before my period I am hit hardest. The white noise for me then is to not grocery shop when I am hungry, or not grocery shop at all. For this you need a supportive friend or spouse, get them to pick up the necessities.

White noise can also include: taking a shower or bath when you would normally be watching tv with a bowl of ice cream screaming for your attention, Taking the kids to a park and having a picnic with portioned out meals for each of you, or watching tv in a room other than the one next to the kitchen. Prayer and scripture study are both wonderful ways to distract you from cravings as well.

One white noise success story just happened. For my anniversary I found on my table 16 beautifully written cards (one for each year of our marriage, one for the future) a dozen roses, fruity pebbles and a people magazine. This white noise came in response to the pleading I make when particularly ill, telling him that it is chocolate that makes me happy. I had to change my song. I came up with something else that makes me happy, and it is getting a magazine I can't justify buying for myself, and my favorite childrens cereal which is still better for me than a basket full of truffels.

I know I am not alone in fighting lazy eating machinitis. We cant forget it is a deadly disease. When it screams at you to stay in bed when the alarm goes off an extra hour early for a walk, Get a distraction, plug your ears and say "I can't hear you!", get a favoirte motivational song or a have your husband kick you out of bed.

This is a diesase that I will always have. I manage it now. It can be done. "Race for the Cure."

13 comments:

Eliza said...

I LOVE this post! I am going to use some of the advice and run with it! I too have this disease and am working on curbing it...I dont know that it will ever be cured, but i can sure be aware of it and curb it! Thanks again for your genius writing inspiration!

talitha said...

Oh, yeah. This is a good one. Very true and very timely for me. Thank you!!

Talitha

Courtney said...

It's nice to finally have a name to go with my chronic condition!

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

Brilliant! I have the same condition and this info has really, really helped. Thanks!

Lucy said...

Hey...I have that too! Not tinitus. The other one.

Good ideas. As always.

Yvonne said...

As always, fantastic. I didn't know what you called my condition, but now I do!!! This was a great help to me. You are so great.

Ice Cream said...

This is just what I needed to read (As I'm dipping pretzels into a tub of coconut pecan icing). I love the white noise idea. I will be thinking about this for awhile and seeing if I can make it work in my life.

Rebecca Blevins said...

I have that too. My kids went trick-or-treating at the library and there are PB cups and mini-candy bars on top of the fridge. Sometimes nothing else will do for me except to eat, no other white noise works. So I caved. Not to the candy...

My white noise was raw broccoli dipped in light ranch. I allowed myself to go crazy. It took so long to chew well enough to swallow that my jaw is tired and I've had my fill without doing any damage.

Now for a cup of almond herbal tea sweetened with Stevia!

mindyluwho said...

I love the analogy,particularly because I have tinnitus as well, so I understand the white noise. For the other condition, I like to suck on Jolly Ranchers for my white noise. They last a decent time and give me just the little edge I need to get past the cravings.

Calamity Jane said...

Thankyou eliza, I am glad to see others willing to admit to this illness. btw, I love your blog! Darling halloween pictures!
happy mommy, I know your name! I love it! - We three syllable named girls have got to stick together.
Courtney, awarness is the first step to healing...
Kimberly, I love being called brilliant by you!
Thanks Lucy!
Yvonne, I wish I lived closer to you, you are great for my self esteem!
my ice cream diary - the image of pretzels dipped in icing was almost too much for my condition I had to really practice the white noise theory. Love the name.
Rebecca, you always have such good ideas, I keep looking for almond herbal tea, it sounds so good!
Mindy - jolly ranchers are a great idea, they really don't go with chocolate so I bet they throw off the whole craving thing. Thanks!

Rebecca Blevins said...

Celestial Seasonings makes the Almond Sunset tea. You might have to get it from a health food store or a store other than Walmart. I got some one year on sale at a hfs and I was hooked! Any place that orders Celestial Seasonings can order it for you. My other favorites are Vanilla Hazelnut and Roastaroma. I think the Roastaroma is kind of like Postum, but better. I think it has a bit of chocolate essence in it, although I don't notice it. No calories!

Unknown said...

Basically i like to comment for the products like this.for the first time i saw that the uses of this White Noise generator i felt very happy.This is very useful for the pupil who facing sleep problems.

Anonymous said...

Eliza,

Nice little blog you have going here. If you're interested in some remedies for tinnitus, this article might help. http://www.newrinkles.com/index.php/archive/make-it-stop-tinnitus-remedies/