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HOW I LOST 7% BODY FAT...EATING POP TARTS....IN BED!?!?!

HOW I LOST 7% BODY FAT...EATING POP TARTS....IN BED!?!?!

By: Sarah Biernat RN, CPT
***For those who are totally against pop-tarts please read the bottom***

This is ABSOLUTE truth! I promise there is no fib, but there is much more to this story! If one were to look on my side of the bed they would likely see pop tart crumbs, and that shinny wrapper crinkled on my nightstand. Some nights the crumbs wake me up and I have to brush them onto Jeremy’s side of the bed.Marriage is SO FUN!

But wait, wait, wait. This goes against ALL science and what the fitness magazines tell me to do to lose fat. Eat pure sugar right before bed? This should make me wake up with hips in the shape of pop-tarts or cinnamon buns or something like that, RIGHT? Well, that is not what happened for me.

This is what really happened....

High School was the peak of pop-tart eating days for my fellow classmates. This was also the peak of my anorexia. I was pretty much hungry ALL the time and refused to eat. EVERY DAY at any spot in the classroom I could hear the crinkle of that pop-tartwrapper. This was like Pavlov’s bell for me. That crinkle made me salivate likethose dogs. I used to imagine what it would be like to eat one. BUT I NEVER DID!!

Deep in my brain I had an intense craving for pop-tarts. After college I finally bought a box. At the end of the day I consumed the WHOLE box. The first one tasted great, but then I would have to eat a second because there is two in one wrapper. It would go stale if I left an open one in the box! Guilt and shame would set in so Iwould then decide to finish the box because I can’t be trusted with pop-tarts. Icouldn’t throw them out because that is wasteful and there are starving children! About every 6 months I would think I could control myself and buy a box but the same pattern would repeat itself. This left me feeling like I was weak and had NO self- control.

Over my life my relationship with food has taken on MANY forms. In the last 4 yearsI have found what I call my “sweet spot”. I had developed THOUSANDS of food rules that have occupied way too much of my thinking. In these past 4 years I have been questioning and un-doing many of these rules. NEVER eating pop tarts is one of these rules that I have un-done.

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This is how I conquered my pop-tart addiction:

I have read countless books on emotional eating and how our brains respond to food. Many of these books claimed not feeling deprived is the key to avoiding over-

eating. They suggest buying a large amount of one food you feel like you have no control over. After reading this claim in about 5 books I thought I would go ahead and try this silly little game. I love to experiment with myself.

Off to the store I went and bought 10 BOXES of pop tarts!!!!!!! PRAYING IWOULDN’T RUN INTO ANYONE I KNEW. I even thought of going to a different town to purchase my full of GMOs, hydrogenated oil, and high fructose corn syrup treat. I bought the same flavor because I knew I would want to eat one of each. Buying a large amount of one food is KEY. If you buy brownies, ice cream, chips, insert favorite food, etc. you are likely to binge on a little of everything.

I cleared a shelf off in a hall closet and neatly arranged my 10 boxes. It was like the mecca of pop-tarts. I anxiously awaited my next craving. Strangely, it was a few days later? I found this terribly annoying! Normally one box wouldn’t make itthrough the day, maybe even the hour. Finally, the craving happened right before bed. I opened that shinny wrapper and slowly enjoyed BOTH pop tarts. That is 400 calories consumed in bed of basically pure sugar. I didn’t feel stuffed or have guilt and shame. I also didn’t want to eat more. There were 9+ other boxes and it would be a challenge to finish them to get them out of the house. Off my light went and I slept like a baby.

The next morning was a new day. I didn’t feel hung over or make a vow to only eat spinach. I ate normally throughout the day and excitedly awaited my next pop tart craving. When I would eat through a couple boxes I would replace them. This was so I felt like I had bountiful amount that I couldn’t finish in one day. I kid you not I ate 2 pop tarts in bed every night for at least 2 months straight (ask Jeremy).

Over this time my food rules relaxed and I began eating like my body craved. I find meat and dairy don’t sit well with my stomach and I am not a fan of how animals are treated and processed so I do follow more of a vegan diet. This is by choice, not by a rule! When I relaxed my food rules, I found I frequently WANT to eat fruits, vegetables and beans. I also frequently want to eat apple fritters and peanut butter cups (by frequent I mean DAILY). There are no good foods and bad foods. I let myself not be a “perfect eater”. If I over did something it was ok. I offered grace andunderstanding to myself and ate normally the next time I got hungry. I didn’t try to “un-do” my “imperfection”.

Having the 400 calories of pop tarts was much more effective to weight loss / maintenance and mental health. Rather than eating 100 calories of this and 200 calories of that... trying to match the pop tart craving. This could end up being

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double the calories consumed if I would have just eaten what I was craving in the first place.

Here is what happened over the course of my pop tart trail. I LOST 5 pounds!!! Over the year my body fat dropped 7% eating this way. This was not stressful! It was really fun! This was not following any plan but figuring out what fueled Sarah best and left me feeling IN CONTROL!

There are a few things that happened:

I NO LONGER HAD TO BE PERFECT! There was only one perfect man on this earth and that was a LONG time ago. The more I get to know God and read my bible my need to be perfect greatly diminishes. I just want to do my best with what I know and commit myself to keep learning until I die. The more grace and understanding I offer myself the more I can give to others. When I stop the harsh judgment inward the less I judge others. This is really FREEING!

MY STRESS DECREASED IMMENSLY. I was in a constant state of stress over trying to make sure I ate in a way that wouldn’t make me fat or give me cancer. Stress is really tough on the body. When you are in a constant state of stress hormones are released that make your body HOLD ONTO fat even if you are eating minimal calories.

MY EATING BECAME EVEN AND CONSISTENT. I didn’t have this really low calorieday followed by a really high calorie meal. (This pattern is different from the “high”days we have talked about to boost metabolism) My body wasn’t confused by how Iwas going to fuel it. For me it had been the land of extreme famine OR the land of extreme excess. This tends to make your metabolism totally wacky. When my body trusted it was going to consistently be fed the right amounts it decided it was ok to shed some fat.

I BECAME AN IN TUNE EATER. I truly crave fruits, veg, nuts and beans. Sometimes I crave pop tarts and apple fritters. When I have a food craving that isn’t in a naturalform I ask myself, why am I craving this? Sometimes it is for an emotional reason, I am feeling stressed, anxious, or something is annoying me. I then take some time to process it (prayer and journaling work for me). Sometimes it because I have gotten really busy in the day or been active and my body is like “HELLO I NEED some food that is going to get into my system QUICK”. Both situations I allow myself to havesomething. Both situations I feel in control of my food choices and usually don’tover do it.

You may not have been anorexic, or have Yo Yo’d with food. But talking to many ofyou my guess is there are a few who can relate to cravings and the emotional connection. You can understand trying to fight them tooth and nail, often to feel defeated after! For some buying large amounts of an “off limit” food might not be

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the right option. This worked wonders for me and may help others too. Keep learning, trying new things, and keep reaching out for help. I believe I am in a healthy relationship with food after 18 years of constant learning and growing to understand how I tick. DON’T GIVE UP!

*****I realize that pop tarts are not real food! There is almost NO nutritional benefit from them. But I think my mental and emotional health during my pop tart experiment had far greater benefit to my physical health than harm. I rarely eat a pop tart now and have upgraded to the Trader Joe’s brand when I have a craving*****

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