#me: repeats to myself one billion times If we all ate the same food and did the same exercise we would still all have different bodies | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

muhammad-ubaidullah-khan · 4 years ago

Text

The Man in Asbestos: An Allegory of the Future

by Stephen Leacock

To begin with let me admit that I did it on purpose. Perhaps it was partly from jealousy.

It seemed unfair that other writers should be able at will to drop into a sleep of four or five hundred years, and to plunge head first into a distant future and be a witness of its marvels.

I wanted to do that too.

I always had been, I still am, a passionate student of social problems. The world of to-day with its roaring machinery, the unceasing toil of its working classes, its strife, its poverty, its war, its cruelty, appals me as I look at it. I love to think of the time that must come some day when man will have conquered nature, and the toil-worn human race enter upon an era of peace.

I loved to think of it, and I longed to see it.

So I set about the thing deliberately.

What I wanted to do was to fall asleep after the customary fashion, for two or three hundred years at least, and wake and find myself in the marvel world of the future.

I made my preparations for the sleep.

I bought all the comic papers that I could find, even the illustrated ones. I carried them up to my room in my hotel: with them I brought up a pork pie and dozens and dozens of doughnuts. I ate the pie and the doughnuts, then sat back in the bed and read the comic papers one after the other. Finally, as I felt the awful lethargy stealing upon me, I reached out my hand for the London Weekly Times, and held up the editorial page before my eye.

It was, in a way, clear, straight suicide, but I did it.

I could feel my senses leaving me. In the room across the hall there was a man singing. His voice, that had been loud, came fainter and fainter through the transom. I fell into a sleep, the deep immeasurable sleep in which the very existence of the outer world was hushed. Dimly I could feel the days go past, then the years, and then the long passage of the centuries.

Then, not as it were gradually, but quite suddenly, I woke up, sat up, and looked about me.

Where was I?

Well might I ask myself.

I found myself lying, or rather sitting up, on a broad couch. I was in a great room, dim, gloomy, and dilapidated in its general appearance, and apparently, from its glass cases and the stuffed figures that they contained, some kind of museum.

Beside me sat a man. His face was hairless, but neither old nor young. He wore clothes that looked like the grey ashes of paper that had burned and kept its shape. He was looking at me quietly, but with no particular surprise or interest.

"Quick," I said, eager to begin; "where am I? Who are you? What year is this; is it the year 3000, or what is it?"

He drew in his breath with a look of annoyance on his face.

"What a queer, excited way you have of speaking," he said.

"Tell me," I said again, "is this the year 3000?"

"I think I know what you mean," he said; "but really I haven't the faintest idea. I should think it must be at least that, within a hundred years or so; but nobody has kept track of them for so long, it's hard to say."

"Don't you keep track of them any more?" I gasped.

"We used to," said the man. "I myself can remember that a century or two ago there were still a number of people who used to try to keep track of the year, but it died out along with so many other faddish things of that kind. Why," he continued, showing for the first time a sort of animation in his talk, "what was the use of it? You see, after we eliminated death--"

"Eliminated death!" I cried, sitting upright. "Good God!"

"What was that expression you used?" queried the man.

"Good God!" I repeated.

"Ah," he said, "never heard it before. But I was saying that after we had eliminated Death, and Food, and Change, we had practically got rid of Events, and--"

"Stop!" I said, my brain reeling. "Tell me one thing at a time."

"Humph!" he ejaculated. "I see, you must have been asleep a long time. Go on then and ask questions. Only, if you don't mind, just as few as possible, and please don't get interested or excited."

Oddly enough the first question that sprang to my lips was--

"What are those clothes made of?"

"Asbestos," answered the man. "They last hundreds of years. We have one suit each, and there are billions of them piled up, if anybody wants a new one."

"Thank you," I answered. "Now tell me where I am?"

"You are in a museum. The figures in the cases are specimens like yourself. But here," he said, "if you want really to find out about what is evidently a new epoch to you, get off your platform and come out on Broadway and sit on a bench."

I got down.

As we passed through the dim and dust-covered buildings I looked curiously at the figures in the cases.

"By Jove!" I said looking at one figure in blue clothes with a belt and baton, "that's a policeman!"

"Really," said my new acquaintance, "is that what a policeman was? I've often wondered. What used they to be used for?"

"Used for?" I repeated in perplexity. "Why, they stood at the corner of the street."

"Ah, yes, I see," he said, "so as to shoot at the people. You must excuse my ignorance," he continued, "as to some of your social customs in the past. When I took my education I was operated upon for social history, but the stuff they used was very inferior."

I didn't in the least understand what the man meant, but had no time to question him, for at that moment we came out upon the street, and I stood riveted in astonishment.

Broadway! Was it possible? The change was absolutely appalling! In place of the roaring thoroughfare that I had known, this silent, moss-grown desolation! Great buildings fallen into ruin through the sheer stress of centuries of wind and weather, the sides of them coated over with a growth of fungus and moss! The place was soundless. Not a vehicle moved. There were no wires overhead--no sound of life or movement except, here and there, there passed slowly to and fro human figures dressed in the same asbestos clothes as my acquaintance, with the same hairless faces, and the same look of infinite age upon them.

Good heavens; And was this the era of the Conquest that I had hoped to see! I had always taken for granted, I do not know why, that humanity was destined to move forward. This picture of what seemed desolation on the ruins of our civilization rendered me almost speechless.

There were little benches placed here and there on the street. We sat down.

"Improved, isn't it," said man in asbestos, "since the days when you remember it?"

He seemed to speak quite proudly.

I gasped out a question.

"Where are the street cars and the motors?"

"Oh, done away with long ago," he said; "how awful they must have been. The noise of them!" and his asbestos clothes rustled with a shudder.

"But how do you get about?"

"We don't," he answered. "Why should we? It's just the same being here as being anywhere else." He looked at me with an infinity of dreariness in his face.

A thousand questions surged into my mind at once. I asked one of the simplest.

"But how do you get back and forwards to your work?"

"Work!" he said. "There isn't any work. It's finished. The last of it was all done centuries ago."

I looked at him a moment open-mouthed. Then I turned and looked again at the grey desolation of the street with the asbestos figures moving here and there.

I tried to pull my senses together. I realized that if I was to unravel this new and undreamed-of future, I must go at it systematically and step by step.

"I see," I said after a pause, "that momentous things have happened since my time. I wish you would let me ask you about it all systematically, and would explain it to me bit by bit. First, what do you mean by saying that there is no work?"

"Why," answered my strange acquaintance, "it died out of itself. Machinery killed it. If I remember rightly, you had a certain amount of machinery even in your time. You had done very well with steam, made a good beginning with electricity, though I think radial energy had hardly as yet been put to use."

I nodded assent.

"But you found it did you no good. The better your machines, the harder you worked. The more things you had the more you wanted. The pace of life grew swifter and swifter. You cried out, but it would not stop. You were all caught in the cogs of your own machine. None of you could see the end."

"That is quite true," I said. "How do you know it all?"

"Oh," answered the Man in Asbestos, "that part of my education was very well operated--I see you do not know what I mean. Never mind, I can tell you that later. Well, then, there came, probably almost two hundred years after your time, the Era of the Great Conquest of Nature, the final victory of Man and Machinery."

"They did conquer it?" I asked quickly, with a thrill of the old hope in my veins again.

"Conquered it," he said, "beat it out! Fought it to a standstill! Things came one by one, then faster and faster, in a hundred years it was all done. In fact, just as soon as mankind turned its energy to decreasing its needs instead of increasing its desires, the whole thing was easy. Chemical Food came first. Heavens! the simplicity of it. And in your time thousands of millions of people tilled and grubbed at the soil from morning till night. I've seen specimens of them--farmers, they called them. There's one in the museum. After the invention of Chemical Food we piled up enough in the emporiums in a year to last for centuries. Agriculture went overboard. Eating and all that goes with it domestic labour, housework--all ended. Nowadays one takes a concentrated pill every year or so, that's all. The whole digestive apparatus, as you knew it, was a clumsy thing that had been bloated up like a set of bagpipes through the evolution of its use!"

I could not forbear to interrupt. "Have you and these people," I said, "no stomachs--no apparatus?"

"Of course we have," he answered, "but we use it to some purpose. Mine is largely filled with my education--but there! I am anticipating again. Better let me go on as I was. Chemical Food came first: that cut off almost one-third of the work, and then came Asbestos Clothes. That was wonderful! In one year humanity made enough suits to last for ever and ever. That, of course, could never have been if it hadn't been connected with the revolt of women and the fall of Fashion."

"Have the Fashions gone," I asked, "that insane, extravagant idea of--" I was about to launch into one of my old-time harangues about the sheer vanity of decorative dress, when my eye rested on the moving figures in asbestos, and I stopped.

"All gone," said the Man in Asbestos. "Then next to that we killed, or practically killed, the changes of climate. I don't think that in your day you properly understood how much of your work was due to the shifts of what you called the weather. It meant the need of all kinds of special clothes and houses and shelters, a wilderness of work. How dreadful it must have been in your day--wind and storms, great wet masses--what did you call them?--clouds--flying through the air, the ocean full of salt, was it not?--tossed and torn by the wind, snow thrown all over everything, hail, rain--how awful!"

"Sometimes," I said, "it was very beautiful. But how did you alter it?"

"Killed the weather!" answered the Man in Asbestos. "Simple as anything--turned its forces loose one against the other, altered the composition of the sea so that the top became all more or less gelatinous. I really can't explain it, as it is an operation that I never took at school, but it made the sky grey, as you see it, and the sea gum-coloured, the weather all the same. It cut out fuel and houses and an infinity of work with them!"

He paused a moment. I began to realize something of the course of evolution that had happened.

"So," I said, "the conquest of nature meant that presently there was no more work to do?"

"Exactly," he said, "nothing left."

"Food enough for all?"

"Too much," he answered.

"Houses and clothes?"

"All you like," said the Man in Asbestos, waving his hand. "There they are. Go out and take them. Of course, they're falling down--slowly, very slowly. But they'll last for centuries yet, nobody need bother."

Then I realized, I think for the first time, just what work had meant in the old life, and how much of the texture of life itself had been bound up in the keen effort of it.

Presently my eyes looked upward: dangling at the top of a moss-grown building I saw what seemed to be the remains of telephone wires.

"What became of all that," I said, "the telegraph and the telephone and all the system of communication?"

"Ah," said the Man in Asbestos, "that was what a telephone meant, was it? I knew that it had been suppressed centuries ago. Just what was it for?"

"Why," I said with enthusiasm, "by means of the telephone we could talk to anybody, call up anybody, and talk at any distance."

"And anybody could call you up at any time and talk?" said the Man in Asbestos, with something like horror. "How awful! What a dreadful age yours was, to be sure. No, the telephone and all the rest of it, all the transportation and intercommunication was cut out and forbidden. There was no sense in it. You see," he added, "what you don't realize is that people after your day became gradually more and more reasonable. Take the railroad, what good was that? It brought into every town a lot of people from every other town. Who wanted them? Nobody. When work stopped and commerce ended, and food was needless, and the weather killed, it was foolish to move about. So it was all terminated. Anyway," he said, with a quick look of apprehension and a change in his voice, "it was dangerous!"

"So!" I said. "Dangerous! You still have danger?"

"Why, yes," he said, "there's always the danger of getting broken."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Why," said the Man in Asbestos, "I suppose it's what you would call being dead. Of course, in one sense there's been no death for centuries past; we cut that out. Disease and death were simply a matter of germs. We found them one by one. I think that even in your day you had found one or two of the easier, the bigger ones?"

I nodded.

"Yes, you had found diphtheria and typhoid and, if I am right, there were some outstanding, like scarlet fever and smallpox, that you called ultra-microscopic, and which you were still hunting for, and others that you didn't even suspect. Well, we hunted them down one by one and destroyed them. Strange that it never occurred to any of you that Old Age was only a germ! It turned out to be quite a simple one, but it was so distributed in its action that you never even thought of it."

"And you mean to say," I ejaculated in amazement, looking at the Man in Asbestos, "that nowadays you live for ever?"

"I wish," he said, "that you hadn't that peculiar, excitable way of talking; you speak as if everything mattered so tremendously. Yes," he continued, "we live for ever, unless, of course, we get broken. That happens sometimes. I mean that we may fall over a high place or bump on something, and snap ourselves. You see, we're just a little brittle still--some remnant, I suppose, of the Old Age germ--and we have to be careful. In fact," he continued, "I don't mind saying that accidents of this sort were the most distressing feature of our civilization till we took steps to cut out all accidents. We forbid all street cars, street traffic, aeroplanes, and so on. The risks of your time," he said, with a shiver of his asbestos clothes, "must have been awful."

"They were," I answered, with a new kind of pride in my generation that I had never felt before, "but we thought it part of the duty of brave people to--"

"Yes, yes," said the Man in Asbestos impatiently, "please don't get excited. I know what you mean. It was quite irrational."

We sat silent for a long time. I looked about me at the crumbling buildings, the monotone, unchanging sky, and the dreary, empty street. Here, then, was the fruit of the Conquest, here was the elimination of work, the end of hunger and of cold, the cessation of the hard struggle, the downfall of change and death--nay, the very millennium of happiness. And yet, somehow, there seemed something wrong with it all. I pondered, then I put two or three rapid questions, hardly waiting to reflect upon the answers.

"Is there any war now?"

"Done with centuries ago. They took to settling international disputes with a slot machine. After that all foreign dealings were given up. Why have them? Everybody thinks foreigners awful."

"Are there any newspapers now?"

"Newspapers! What on earth would we want them for? If we should need them at any time there are thousands of old ones piled up. But what is in them, anyway; only things that happen, wars and accidents and work and death. When these went newspapers went too. Listen," continued the Man in Asbestos, "you seem to have been something of a social reformer, and yet you don't understand the new life at all. You don't understand how completely all our burdens have disappeared. Look at it this way. How used your people to spend all the early part of their lives?"

"Why," I said, "our first fifteen years or so were spent in getting education."

"Exactly," he answered; "now notice how we improved on all that. Education in our day is done by surgery. Strange that in your time nobody realized that education was simply a surgical operation. You hadn't the sense to see that what you really did was to slowly remodel, curve and convolute the inside of the brain by a long and painful mental operation. Everything learned was reproduced in a physical difference to the brain. You knew that, but you didn't see the full consequences. Then came the invention of surgical education--the simple system of opening the side of the skull and engrafting into it a piece of prepared brain. At first, of course, they had to use, I suppose, the brains of dead people, and that was ghastly"--here the Man in Asbestos shuddered like a leaf--"but very soon they found how to make moulds that did just as well. After that it was a mere nothing; an operation of a few minutes would suffice to let in poetry or foreign languages or history or anything else that one cared to have. Here, for instance," he added, pushing back the hair at the side of his head and showing a scar beneath it, "is the mark where I had my spherical trigonometry let in. That was, I admit, rather painful, but other things, such as English poetry or history, can be inserted absolutely without the least suffering. When I think of your painful, barbarous methods of education through the ear, I shudder at it. Oddly enough, we have found lately that for a great many things there is no need to use the head. We lodge them--things like philosophy and metaphysics, and so on--in what used to be the digestive apparatus. They fill it admirably."

He paused a moment. Then went on:

"Well, then, to continue, what used to occupy your time and effort after your education?"

"Why," I said, "one had, of course, to work, and then, to tell the truth, a great part of one's time and feeling was devoted toward the other sex, toward falling in love and finding some woman to share one's life."

"Ah," said the Man in Asbestos, with real interest. "I've heard about your arrangements with the women, but never quite understood them. Tell me; you say you selected some woman?"

"Yes."

"And she became what you called your wife?"

"Yes, of course."

"And you worked for her?" asked the Man in Asbestos in astonishment.

"Yes."

"And she did not work?"

"No," I answered, "of course not."

"And half of what you had was hers?"

"Yes."

"And she had the right to live in your house and use your things?"

"Of course," I answered.

"How dreadful!" said the Man in Asbestos. "I hadn't realized the horrors of your age till now."

He sat shivering slightly, with the same timid look in his face as before.

Then it suddenly struck me that of the figures on the street, all had looked alike.

"Tell me," I said, "are there no women now? Are they gone too?"

"Oh, no," answered the Man in Asbestos, "they're here just the same. Some of those are women. Only, you see, everything has been changed now. It all came as part of their great revolt, their desire to be like the men. Had that begun in your time?"

"Only a little." I answered; "they were beginning to ask for votes and equality."

"That's it," said my acquaintance, "I couldn't think of the word. Your women, I believe, were something awful, were they not? Covered with feathers and skins and dazzling colours made of dead things all over them? And they laughed, did they not, and had foolish teeth, and at any moment they could inveigle you into one of those contracts? Ugh!"

He shuddered.

"Asbestos," I said (I knew no other name to call him), as I turned on him in wrath, "Asbestos, do you think that those jelly-bag Equalities out on the street there, with their ash-barrel suits, can be compared for one moment with our unredeemed, unreformed, heaven-created, hobble-skirted women of the twentieth century?"

Then, suddenly, another thought flashed into my mind--

"The children," I said, "where are the children? Are there any?"

"Children," he said, "no! I have never heard of there being any such things for at least a century. Horrible little hobgoblins they must have been! Great big faces, and cried constantly! And grew, did they not? Like funguses! I believe they were longer each year than they had been the last, and--"

I rose.

"Asbestos!" I said, "this, then, is your coming Civilization, your millennium. This dull, dead thing, with the work and the burden gone out of life, and with them all the joy and sweetness of it. For the old struggle mere stagnation, and in place of danger and death, the dull monotony of security and the horror of an unending decay! Give me back," I cried, and I flung wide my arms to the dull air, "the old life of danger and stress, with its hard toil and its bitter chances, and its heartbreaks. I see its value! I know its worth! Give me no rest," I cried aloud--

. . . . . . .

"Yes, but give a rest to the rest of the corridor!" cried an angered voice that broke in upon my exultation.

Suddenly my sleep had gone.

I was back again in the room of my hotel, with the hum of the wicked, busy old world all about me, and loud in my ears the voice of the indignant man across the corridor.

"Quit your blatting, you infernal blatherskite," he was calling. "Come down to earth."

I came.

#The Man in Asbestos #The Man in Asbestos: An Allegory of the Future #Stephen Leacock #Stephen P. H. Butler Leacock #sci fi #Fiction #Nonsense novels #Future #Past

1 note · View note

j-j-ehlby-writes · 6 years ago

Text

Meet Me at the Chalet || day five.

Eventual pairing: Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Jenessee Borosi)

Word count: ~3.9k

Summary (I suck at these): Jenessee goes on a solo vacation after the release of her first novel. She got a little more than she bargained for when she gets snowed in with her biggest celebrity crush.

Warnings: So much freaking fluff, swearing but blink and you’ll miss it, Tom being Tom

Side note: If you want to read the full short story Jen and Tom act out at the end, you can check it out here!

night one. || day one. || day two. || day three. || day four. || day five. || day six. ||

“Are you feeling any better today?” He asks as I walk into the kitchen the next morning. After actually talking about it with someone it did make my shoulders feel a tad bit lighter. I’ve never told anyone about those feelings. No one knew about my middle of the night breakdowns. Not even my best friend. So to open up to an almost complete stranger felt odd but nice. I also don’t think I would have opened up this much if it wasn’t Tom who was the one listening.

“I do, thanks to you.” I snake my arms around his waist instantly feeling more awake than I did a second ago.

“Lending a listening ear was all I did, sweetheart. You’re stronger than you think. You just have to have more faith in yourself.” He kissed my cheek before returning to the stove.

“Whatcha makin’?” I stand next to him and observe.

“Since you’ve had a rough couple of days, I looked up some American comfort food and found a recipe for this egg casserole with sausage and cheese. It looked good so I decided to try it.” I chuckled at his wording.

“In the Mid-west we call it ‘egg bake.’ You can never go wrong with making an egg bake for breakfast. My family and I have it for Easter and Christmas morning.”

“I’ve never tried it, so here’s hoping it turns out alright.” He sent me a hopeful smile with a hint of terror.

I couldn’t believe how thoughtful he’s being. I mean, I’ve heard he can meet someone and by the end of the day they’re best friends, but I never expected him to be like this. So comforting and nurturing. All I can say is his mother raised him absolutely right.

Half an hour later, we were lying on the couch, stuffed. We ate half of the 9” x 13” pan he made. I don’t know why he didn’t try a smaller pan since it is just the two of us. That usually feeds at least ten people.

“Darling?” He spoke after some time in the silence. “I have to tell you something.”

I sat up to face him. “Okay.” I took in his sudden nervousness. Whatever he’s about to tell me, he’s obviously apprehensive about but it was also mixed with determination.

“I like you.” He started, nearly sending my heart into a frenzy. Even after what happened the past two days, he says that? “And it’s because of how much I like you and how forthcoming you were with me yesterday that I can’t lie to you anymore.”

I flinched at his words. “You lied? About what?” On all accounts, Tom has been known as a very honest man. To know that he lied to me is surprising.

“My name, for one.”

Then it clicked for me. He was coming clean about who he really is to me. He is willing to give up his anonymity because he wants me to know the real him. My heart swelled at the thought.

Now I have a decision to make. When he tells me, do I tell him I knew all along or do I act shocked to find out that he’s actually this big shot actor and not the lowly theater actor he made me think he was?

He continued, “My name is not Will. Well, my first name isn’t. It is my middle name, William. But my name is actually Tom. Tom Hiddleston.” He paused, looking for some sort of recognition in my features. Thankfully, I kept my expression neutral. “And I’m not just a theater actor. I’ve done some movies that have done well and some that have not. Most people would recognize me as Loki from the Marvel franchise. I’m also currently on a TV show in the UK and am in production for another here in the states.” He paused to let that sink in. “I’m terribly sorry for being dishonest with you. When I met you and you didn’t seem to recognize me, I realized I could have a normal interaction with somebody and not have to worry about having a camera in my face. I know it wasn’t fair to not be completely honest with you, but I’m trying to make up for it by telling you everything now.”

“Wow.” I voiced, his earlier words still repeating in my head. He likes me… He actually told me he likes me; the one who just had a mental breakdown a little under 36 hours ago; someone who he met less than a week ago. Never in a million- no, a BILLION years- did I think that would ever happen. Everyone always dreams they’ll be the one who will catch their favorite actor’s eye. Not once did I think that would happen to me…

“I hope you’re not upset with me, love.” I looked in his eyes and saw how truly terrified he was that I would be mad at him. How could he think I would harbor any negative feelings towards this man with a pure heart of gold?

My hand cupped his cheek. He leaned into my hand, eyes never leaving mine. This man is so pure. He’s too precious for this cruel world and yet, here he is.

“Oh you sweet, sweet man…” I shook my head, smiling at how real my feelings for this guy have become within the last few days. “I’m not upset with you. I don’t think it’s even possible for me to think negatively of you.”

He released a huge sigh of relief, a heart-stopping smile breaking his serious demeanor. He pulled me into his lap, wrapping me up in the kind of bone-crushing hug I’ve always wanted from him.

Since he’s been so truthful with me, I decided to tell him the truth as well. “As long as you’re not upset with me for knowing who you were the entire time.”

“Beg your pardon?”

I resumed my original position next to him to face him, placing both hands on his shoulders. “It hurts, doesn’t it? Being lied to. Being told you’re one thing and then learning it’s all a fiction.” I quoted Loki to show I’ve been a fan of his for a while, but not expressing just how much. “Ragnarok.” I whispered in his ear before standing up and going up to my room.

When I came back down with my writing stuff in hand, he was in the exact same place I left him. “Why did you not say anything before?” He asked still bewildered by this turn of events.

“You wanted anonymity.” I shrugged. “I wasn’t about to take away your one chance at a normal vacation. You work hard. You deserve to relax a little and not have to worry about a camera being shoved in your face.” He shook his head in disbelief at using his words against him. “And besides, I wanted to get to know you as you, the man behind the famous actor.” He still was speechless about my confession. He’s about to get another curve-ball thrown his way... “And while we’re being honest, I’ve been keeping something from you too.”

“Oh?” He finally spoke, curiosity taking over.

I fidget with the pen in my hands, keeping my eyes on it. “You know the book you were reading when I got here? Yeah, that’s mine.”

“Beg your pardon?” He says for the second time during this conversation.

“Yep. I wrote it. I’m J.J. Ehlby.” I finally admit. “It’s my pseudonym. It stands for Jenessee Julia Lynette Borosi. J-J-L-B.”

“So all of that stuff you said about not wanting to be published?” He asks, putting the pieces together in his head.

“Not entirely untrue. That’s exactly how I felt before I got published.”

He chuckled after a brief silence. “I know, darling.”

“Say what?” I blurt.

“I knew. You thought you were sneaky with your reaction to my reading it, but I saw that brief panic set in before you erased it. And then it was a complete giveaway when you pronounced the surname. You said it so flawlessly, I knew it couldn’t have been coincidence. With those two things combined, it wasn’t hard to figure out after that.” He shrugged, that mischievous smile returning to his face.

“Well then…” I plop next to him on the couch. “Now that we have that out of the way, can I please get back to my writing? Last night I was in the middle of a scene before you so rudely tempted me with food.” I stuck my tongue out at him before getting my stuff situated on my lap.

He chuckled at me from his seat. “Of course, love.”

We were enveloped in silence once more as my story came to life in my head as I wrote. That’s where I get lost most of the time. Picturing everything in my head like it’s a movie is what drives me the most. It’s when I get stuck on how someone would move or if a certain action is even possible that I struggle. And since I’m usually alone while writing, I have no one to test it on.

I glance at the man who has resumed his new favorite position on my lap and immediately I want to ask him. But after everything that was just aired, I don’t know if that would be the best idea right now…

“You look like you’re struggling with something.” He pointed out a little while later when he noticed the sound of my pen on paper stopped.

I answered him with sarcasm, “Well aren’t you observant?” He chuckled again as he sat up.

“What are you stuck on?” He asked settling into his new position, tossing his arm around the back of the couch and crossing his ankle over his knee.

I let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m having trouble with placement. I want it to feel realistic but I just can’t seem to get it right in my head.”

“Darling, you know I’m an actor. Use me,” He offered. “I’ll help in any way that I can.”

I bit my lip as I thought about the scene I’m thinking of in my head. The characters get extremely close, closer than him and I have gotten. I know he’s used to people being in his personal space, but still. This feels different…

Despite my reservations I know I would kick myself for not taking his help. So within twenty minutes, we had the potential set up in the living room. We found a table and a roller chair we could use for an “office setting.” I sat in the chair, in the position of the narrator of my story. Tom stood about ten feet away where we placed another table to indicate where the doorway to the office would be. I directed him to lean against the table as best as he could. I also reluctantly let him read and study the scene I had so far.

When he assured me he was ready and didn’t need it for reference anymore, I took it back. On cue, he started, “I see some things never change.”

I turned around in my chair. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged, “I’m in town.”

“No, I mean, what are you doing here of all places? Why are you here, standing at the door of my office at midnight?” It was so strange to have the scene I had in my head, come to life in front of my eyes. This must be how a writer for a TV series or a movie feels when their vision comes to life as well…

He ran his fingers through his hair and fixed his glasses on cue. “Erm,” he hesitated, shifting uncomfortably, “I came to see you.”

“Why?” I blurted. “Why today of all days?”

“Because my divorce was finalized yesterday and the first person I wanted to see as a single man was you.” My heart leaps at his words as if he really meant them and was the character I had in mind.

“Divorce?” I whispered, faking disbelief.

He nods as he continues reading from the copy I made. “Shortly after I left, I told her the truth.” I drop my jaw as the character would. “She knew I was acting a bit off, but she never expected that. I told her that we never did anything… and she forgave me. I was stunned, too. That just shows how amazing she is. She asked me if I thought I could forget about you in order for us to work on our marriage. I told her I would do anything to save our relationship. We went to counseling, we spent time just the two of us without distractions to focus on who we were before we had gotten married and it all seemed to be working…” He trailed off. “But no matter how hard I tried, you were always in the back of my mind.” He met my eyes again. “I couldn’t forget about you. I couldn’t stop wondering what you must be doing, if you had met someone else, if you were thinking about me… I must have started a thousand phone calls just wanting to hear your voice again.” He paused to just stare. “I longed to see your beautiful smile or hear you laugh. I just wanted to see you again to see if I truly still felt the same as I did before or if I was only fooling myself. And so, I came back around a year ago.”

“What?”

“I came back to have lunch with my former and your current boss. When we were passing through, I saw you. You were strutting around the office, touching base with everyone. Laughing even.” He stares at me in awe as if he was truly reliving that moment. “You were even more beautiful than I remembered.” He steps into my “office,” “That was all I needed to know nothing had changed for me. You still took my breath away.” He shakes his head in amazement at the ground. “On my way out, I pulled someone aside. That someone turned out to be your assistant. Naturally, I introduced myself. He didn’t seem to know who I was, so he was more than happy to divulge any and all information about you. He raved about how ‘amazing’ it was to work for you and how you were extremely well-liked but seemed like you were ‘hung up’ on ‘your previous boss,’ thinking you were still in love with him. He didn’t go into detail but…” He chuckles again, “I didn’t need to hear anymore. With even the tiniest glimmer of hope that you still felt the same way I did even after all this time… I returned home and told her I couldn’t do it anymore. My heart was no longer in it and she knew that. Filing for divorce was the easiest decision I’ve made in a long time.”

“Okay, now come over here.” I whisper, still slightly affected by this situation. I pointed to the spot I imagined and Tom did this, coming to a stop where I said. I turned my chair to face him. “Kneel.” I broke character for two seconds to throw that in there. He did too, cracking up at my reference. “Okay, okay,” I said trying to get us back on track. “But seriously, drop to your knees.” I directed.

He did as I instructed instantly getting back into character. His eyes relayed the exact emotions I wanted the character to have: sadness, regret, longing, relief… I don’t know how he did it so flawlessly, but that just shows how brilliant of an actor he is.

His eyebrows were furrowed creating the creases in his forehead; the type of creases he gets whenever anything caused him any distress. I’d seen them during multiple interviews and pap photos. I wanted to massage them away every time I saw them, as did the character.

“Okay, now hold still. This is a trouble spot,” I whispered to him as I tried to run over everything in my head. I reached out to do exactly as I pictured. He watched as I did so, the wrinkles disappearing the instant my fingers touched them. His eyes fluttered shut at the contact. He released a shaky breath just like I imagined his character would. My hands were trembling as I imagined the character’s would, not knowing just how much until they came in contact with his skin. I brought my fingers down over his prominent cheekbones. His beard was surprisingly soft to the touch, taking a moment to appreciate it by running the back of my hand down his jaw. His large hand covered mine when it came to his neck, bringing it up to his lips, placing a kiss on my palm. I made a mental note of his action as I didn’t want to break this tender moment.

“The hardest being when I let you walk away from me.” He whispered, locking his eyes on mine, pain and truth written all over them. It nearly knocked me out of my seat. He encompassed everything I expected.

My shoulders slumped in defeat, losing myself in the scene. I slide off the chair as I imagined, falling knee to knee in front of him. He scooped up my hands in his, causing goosebumps to form on my entire body from his touch. He held them, running his thumbs over the backs like I wanted him to. He took a deep breath taking my attention away from our contact. “I love you, darling.” He confessed, making my heart flutter. “I believe I always have. I just didn’t know how much until I’d lost you.”

Maybe this was a bad idea… I thought I could handle doing this with him. I thought I could try and compartmentalize the acting from reality, but with him, it’s nearly impossible. He makes me believe what he’s saying, even though I know in the back of my mind that it’s not true. They’re just words I wanted him to read aloud. Nothing is real about them.

The line I wrote last before getting stuck was “If my heart could fly, it would soar…” and oh how freaking true it is…

“Okay, this is where I got stuck. I don’t know how to get where I want them to go next.” I voiced, needing his input.

“What do you want to happen?” He softly asked as if he were still in character.

“She has been imagining how this moment would play out for six years. To have the man she has been madly in love with for over half a decade finally telling her what she’s only dreamed about him saying for that long… She’s taking it all in.” I release his hands and stand on my knees to be level with the desk. I grab my pen and start writing what I see play out in my head. “She searches his eyes for fallacies, but she obviously doesn’t find any.” I vocalize to him as I write so he can stay in the loop. “She worries that she may have fallen asleep at her desk, but then she looks at their hands. The warmth his hands are giving her is the only tether to the real world she has.”

“And because she doesn’t say anything, he’s anxious.” Tom joined in. “He sees how she’s stuck in her head, so he has to bring her back to him somehow.”

I take a moment to take his suggestion into consideration. I agree that she shouldn’t say anything at first. She’s lost in the fact that he’s in front of her, confessing his feelings for her when she’s only made up conversations like this in her head.

“If she’s looking at their hands, he could use his hand to bring her eyes back to his. He’s missed her as much as she has him so he’ll want to stare into them as much as he possibly can.” He adds, making perfect sense.

“Good.” I write it out as it plays out in my head over and over again. “As for the dialogue, there doesn’t need to be much. There really isn’t much else to say, except for her finally telling him how she feels.”

“Should we just see where it takes us?” He suggested. I nodded in agreement. I returned to our previous position after finishing. His hands enveloped mine again, the warmth of them heating up my now cold fingers. I watched as if I could see them warming before my eyes. He let go of one of mine and brought it to my face. He used his thumb and forefinger to take my chin and bring my gaze back to his, just like we described. “Darling?” He whispered.

Both of us were brought up to our knees with the feeling of our bodies longing to be closer to the other, driving us to stay close.

“Is this real?” I asked, feeling like I just came out of a daydream. My hands found their way into his long ginger locks. They were just as soft as I imagined them to be. I would have run my fingers through them every day if he would’ve let me…

“God, I hope so.” He breathes out, leaning his forehead against mine. He wrapped his arms around my waist, our hips connecting. Tingles spread throughout my body at the close contact. My heart was beating so loudly, I’m sure he can hear it.

I froze, knowing what I wanted to happen next with the characters, but I don’t know if I could handle what would happen if we were to do what I was thinking… Oh God do I want to kiss him. I’ve thought about kissing him since the first night. But I didn’t think he would’ve been okay with me doing so. After his confession earlier though, he might be now… However, I can’t let that happen. Because if I were to let myself have what I’ve been dreaming of, I don’t think I’ll want to stop.

So to save us both some awkwardness for the last two days we have here, I pulled away from him. He looked confused as I stood up completely. My knees yelled at me for abusing them more than they’re used to but I ignored the pain. “Okay, I think I can figure it out from here.” I collected my stuff. “Thank you for this. It helped more than you could ever imagine.”

He abruptly stood up as well, clearing his throat. “You’re more than welcome, love. Let me know if you need any more help.”

We both go to our respective rooms for the remainder of the night. As soon as I got back to mine, I kicked myself. I actually walked away from kissing Tom freaking Hiddleston; someone I’ve been dying to know what it would be like for years. I could have had his lips against mine and I made the conscious decision to leave before it could happen. My pre-vacation self would have killed me if she saw who I’ve become.

I wrote down what played out, finding it was exactly right for the situation, but I couldn’t finish it. When I got to the kiss, I couldn’t bring myself to write it. I tried to watch a few of his kiss scenes but that didn’t help at all. None of them can describe what it’s like to kiss him. I want it to be authentic. Had I known that at the time, I might have let it happen for the story… or maybe not. I guess I won’t know.

day six...

Permanent taglist: @elusive-beauty @drakesfiance @im-a-slut-for-an-accent @fantasy-is-my-reality @hiddlephile @naniky

#tom hiddleston #meet me at the chalet #mmatc #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddleston x you #tom hiddleston x ofc #tom hiddleston imagine #tom hiddleston x female!reader #tom hiddleston fanfiction #tom hiddleston fanfic #tom hiddleston fic #tom hiddleston series

19 notes · View notes

carterpennock · 5 years ago

Text

Welfare Food Challenge: Day Five

Friday, January 31

Day five is complete, which means there are only two days left of the Welfare Food Challenge! I had clinical again today, which meant I left the house by 6:00 am. Similar to yesterday, I did not feel like eating that early in the morning. However, I was smarter today and packed a caesar salad for a snack on our first break. While it might not be your typical snack food, it was nice to re-energize with something to eat. In addition, having some food at our first break today completely avoided a repeat of the embarrassment I felt yesterday. After I was done eating, it was time to head back to the unit!

For lunch I enjoyed a bowl of chicken noodle soup. The soup is one of my only meals this week that doesn’t feel like it is missing some flavour. I do not usually add anything to the soup, so I am able to enjoy it just as I normally would.

For supper I made two scrambled eggs and had a banana. The original plan was to make two “dip” eggs (sunny side up), and have them with toast. However, this was going very poorly so I had to resort to turning them into scrambled eggs. When I go home on the weekend from college, my dad always makes the best “dip” eggs for breakfast. Based off of my performance tonight, it is quite obvious that I have a lot of practice ahead of me before I master the “dip” egg technique. Regardless, it was a good supper! I must acknowledge that calling them dip eggs sounds quite silly, but I want this blog to show a genuine version of myself. Me and my siblings have been calling them dip eggs since we were little kids, because we always love to dip our toast in the yolk!

At the end of the day, I am feeling much better than yesterday. Overall I ate more food and at more reasonable times of the day. I must admit that I have not gotten used to not snacking throughout the day. I hoped that as the week progressed my body would become used to their absence, but this is not the case. Instead, I find that I am drinking more water in between meals to curb my hunger. I was curious to know if this was actually working, or if it was producing more of a placebo effect. A quick search online indicated that water truly does suppress your appetite, and is often used as a way to combat obesity (Corleone, 2018). In addition, we all know that water is good for our health, so I guess this is not the worst thing! While I think everyone can agree that water has health benefits, I was not confident in all of the specific purposes it serves in the body. Further research explained that water assists in nutrient transportation, regulation of body temperature, and the avoidance of fatigue (Corleone, 2018).

As I sit here writing this blog, I can see an individual going through one of our campus dumpsters. I see this quite commonly on residence, but it takes on a new meaning tonight. I do not know this individual’s story, but regardless, it is clear that he does not have enough resources to meet his needs. This got me thinking about how much waste we throw out everyday, and how much of our waste could potentially be saved or re-used. After doing some research I found that approximately 58% of food produced annually in Canada is wasted (Second Harvest, n.d.). The vast amount of food wasted translates to roughly $49.46 billion lost each year (Second Harvest, n.d.). I was shocked to learn that 32% of the wasted food could be donated to individuals and communities in need (Second Harvest, n.d.). If this were to happen, I think I would see a significant decrease in the number of people searching through campus dumpsters. Now that I am aware of this, I am going to work harder to minimize the amount of food I regularly throw away. Often when I have leftovers I put them in the fridge, but do not end up eating them all. This is because I get tired of eating the same food and want to make something new. As a result, part of my leftovers usually get thrown away for no logical reason. I now know that this is contributing to an immense amount of waste in Canada, and is really quite selfish of me. To fix this, I am going to watch my portion sizes more carefully when cooking. This will reduce the amount of leftovers I have after a meal so I do not have to eat the same food multiple times. In addition, I now realize that sometimes I just have to “suck it up” and finish the leftovers in the fridge.

I am quite tired after clinical and super excited to head to bed. So, with that, I will see you guys on day six!

References

Corleone, J. (December 2, 2018). Does drinking water help curb hunger? Retrieved from https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/drinking-water-curb-hunger-4001.html

Second Harvest. (n.d.). The avoidable crisis of food waste. Retrieved from https://secondharvest.ca/research/the-avoidable-crisis-of-food-waste/

0 notes

sarahburness · 6 years ago

Text

How Restrictive Diets Mess with Our Brains and Lead to Bingeing

“Your body is precious. It is your vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care.” ~Buddha

When I went on my first diet in my teens (low-carb, it was back in the Atkins days), I wasn’t even overweight. I weighed less than 120 pounds, but my jeans had started to get a little tight, so I thought I needed to lose five pounds or so. At the time, I didn’t have a bad relationship with food; I just ate like a typical teenager—not the best choices.

About two hours in, I remember starting to obsess over the things I couldn’t eat and being desperate to be skinny ASAP so I could eat them again.

By mid day, I “failed.”

I caved and ate…. *gasp, shock, horror*… carbs.

And something weird happened. Instantly, I felt like I was bad.

It’s not just that I thought I had made a bad choice.

I thought, “You idiot, you can’t do anything right. Look at you, one meal in and you screwed up already. You may as well just eat whatever you want the rest of the day and start again tomorrow.”

I think I gained about five pounds from that attempt.

And I continued slowly gaining more and more weight every year after that—and feeling guiltier and guiltier every time I ate something “bad.”

Atkins low-carb miracle cure had failed me horribly and began a decades-long battle with food and my weight.

See, it wasn’t that I thought my choice was bad and then I just made a better choice next time; it was that I felt like I, as a person, was bad.

And what happens when we’re bad?

We get punished.

I didn’t realize until many years later, but those degrading thoughts and overeating the rest of the day were, in part, my way of punishing myself for being bad and eating the bad things.

The harder I tried to control what was going in, the worse it got and the more out of control I felt.

In my thirties I hit bottom, as they say, as a result of trying to follow a “clean eating meal plan.”

Four days into my first attempt to “eat clean” and strictly adhere to what someone else told me I should eat, I had my first-ever binge.

Prior to that, I had some minor food issues. I ate kind of crummy, had slowly been gaining weight, and felt guilty when I ate carbs (thanks, Atkins).

But a few days into “clean eating,” I was in the middle of a full-blown eating disorder.

The clean eating miracle craze may have made me look and feel amazing, but emotionally, it failed me horribly and began my years-long battle to recover from bulimia and binge eating.

But I thought it was just me. I was such a screw up, why couldn’t I just eat like a normal person?

I saw how much better I looked and felt when I was managing to “be good” and “eat clean,” but within a few days or weeks of “being good,” no matter how great I felt from eating that way, I always caved and ended up bingeing again.

And every time, I thought it was me. I told myself I was broken and weak and pathetic.

Even later, when I started training other people, my message was “If it’s not on your plan, it doesn’t go in your mouth” and “You can’t expect to get the body you want by eating the things that gave you the body you have.”

I wanted clients to feel amazing and get the best results possible, so I gave them what I knew would accomplish those two things.

But, at the time, I didn’t know that it was actually those messages and rules that had created all my own issues with food, and I most definitely didn’t know they would have that affect on anyone else.

I thought everyone else was “normal.” I was just broken and weak and stupid—that’s why I struggled so hard to just “be good” and “stop screwing up.” Normal people would see how much better they felt when they ate that way, and they’d automatically change and live happily ever after.

Ha. No.

The more people I trained, the more I became acutely aware that food is the thing most people struggle with the most, and I started recognizing the exact same thoughts and behaviors I’d experienced, in the majority of my clients.

And almost every single one of them also had a looong history of failed diets.

Hmmm. Maybe it wasn’t just me.

Not everyone goes to the extreme of bulimia, but the more I spoke with other people about their struggles with food and shared my own with them, the more I realized how shockingly pervasive disordered eating and eating disorders have become.

Binge eating is an eating disorder—one that more people struggle with than I ever imagined. Though, most people are horrified to admit it, and many may not even be willing to admit to themselves that they do.

I get that because it’s associated with lack of self-control and gluttony, and there’s a great deal of shame related to both of those things. But it actually has little to do with either, and you can’t change anything until you admit you’re struggling.

And disordered eating in general is even more pervasive.

Feeling guilt after eating is not normal. That’s disordered eating.

Restricting entire food groups is not normal. That’s disordered eating.

Severely restricting food in general in not normal. That’s disordered eating.

Beating yourself up for eating something “bad” is not normal. That’s disordered eating.

Starting and stopping a new diet every few weeks or months is not normal. That’s disordered eating.

Diet culture has us so screwed up that we spend most of our lives doing these things without ever realizing they’re not normal. And they’re negatively affecting our whole lives.

As I was working on my own recovery, I dove into hundreds of hours of research into dieting, habits, motivation, and disordered eating—anything I could get my hands on to help not only myself but my clients better stick to their plans.

It’s so easy, I used to think; there must be some trick to make us just eat what we’re supposed to eat!

But I learned the exact opposite.

I learned that trying to “stick to the plan” was actually the problem.

The solution wasn’t in finding some magic trick to help people follow their meal plans; the solution lied in not telling people what to eat in the first place.

There are many reasons behind why we eat what we eat, when we eat, and even the quantities we choose to eat; it just doesn’t work to tell someone to stop everything they know and just eat this much of this at this time of day, because at some later date it’ll make them skinny and happy.

Our brains don’t work that way.

Our brains actually work exactly the opposite.

As soon as we place restrictions on what we’re allowed or not allowed to eat, our brains start creating compulsions and obsessive thoughts that drive us to “cave.”

Have you ever noticed that as soon as you “can’t” have something, you automatically want it even more?

That’s a survival instinct that’s literally been hard-wired into our brains since the beginning of time.

In November 1944, post-WW II, physiologist Ancel Keys, PhD and psychologist Josef Brozek PhD began a nearly yearlong experiment on the psychological and physiological effects of starvation on thirty-six mentally and physically healthy young men.

The men were expected to lose one-quarter of their body weight. They spent the first three months eating a normal diet of 3,200 calories a day followed by six months of semi-starvation at approximately 1,600 calories a day (though 1,600 calories isn’t even all that low). The semi-starvation period was followed by three months of rehabilitation (2,000-3,200 calories a day) and finally an eight-week period of unrestricted rehabilitation, during which time there was no limitations on caloric intake.

Researchers closely monitored the physiological and psychological changes brought on by calorie restriction.

During the most restricted phase the changes were dramatic. Physically, the men became gaunt in appearance, and there were significant decreases in their strength, stamina, body temperature, heart rate, and even sex drive.

Psychologically, the effects were even more dramatic and mirror those almost anyone with any history of dieting can relate to.

They became obsessed with food. Any chance they had to get access to more food resulted in the men binge eating thousands of calories in a sitting.

Before the restriction period, the men were a lively bunch, discussing politics, current events, and more. During the restriction period, this quickly changed. They dreamt, read, fantasized, and talked about food all the time.

They became withdrawn, irritable, fatigued, and apathic. Depression, anxiety, and obsessive thinking (especially about food) were also observed.

For some men, the study proved too difficult—they were excluded as a result of breaking the diet or not meeting their weight loss goals.

We don’t struggle to follow diets and food rules because we lack willpower. It’s literally the way our brains are wired.

Why? Because from an evolutionary standpoint, we’re not designed to restrict food. Coded into our DNA is the overwhelming urge to survive, so when food (either over-all calories or food groups) is restricted, our brains begin to create urgency, compulsions, and strong desires that force us to fill its needs—and often, even more than its needs (binges).

We cave because our brains are hardwired to. Then the act of caving actually gets wired into our brains as a habit that we continue to repeat on autopilot every time we restrict food or food groups.

And it triggers the punish mode that I spoke of earlier, which only compounds the problem and slowly degrades our self-worth.

So every year millions of people are spending tens of billions of dollars on diets that are making the majority of us heavier, depressed, anxious, food-obsessed binge eaters, and destroying our self-worth.

Now I know all that sounds pretty bleak, but there is a way out. I know because I’ve found it.

It sounds like the opposite of what we should do, but it saved my life.

I gave myself permission to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and stopped trying to restrict. The scarier that sounds, the more you need to do it.

As soon as nothing is off limits, we can begin to slowly move away from the scarcity mindset and break the habits and obsessions created by dieting.

When we give ourselves unconditional permission to eat whatever we want, without guilt or judgment, we give ourselves the space to get mindful about our choices.

We give ourselves the opportunity to explore why we’re making the choices we’re making and the power to freely make different ones because we begin to value ourselves again.

When we remove the guilt and judgment, start to value ourselves again, and work on being mindful, we can begin to notice how the foods we’re eating make us feel and make choices from a place of love and kindness rather than fear, guilt, and punishment.

It sounds too simple to work, but it saved my life.

Rather than telling people what they should and shouldn’t eat, or trying to listen to someone who’s telling us what we should or shouldn’t eat, we have to build a connection with our bodies.

We have to learn to listen to them, to learn to distinguish the difference between physical hunger and emotional hunger. To stop eating when we’re not physically hungry, and to start feeling emotions instead of feeding them.

We have to break the habits that drive autopilot eating. We have to be mindful, trust the wisdom of our own bodies, and make choices based on how they make our bodies feel rather than what some diet tells us is the answer to happiness and being skinny.

About Roni Davis

Roni Davis is certified mindfulness-based, cognitive behavioral practitioner and creator of Cognitive Eating, a revolutionary new approach for healing weight & food issues using the power of, and science behind, cognitive behavioral strategies, mindfulness, acceptance and self-compassion. You can join her mission to rid the world of diets at RoniDavis.com or find her free workshop: ronidavis.com/free-training.

Web | Twitter | Facebook | More Posts

Get in the conversation! Click here to leave a comment on the site.

The post How Restrictive Diets Mess with Our Brains and Lead to Bingeing appeared first on Tiny Buddha.

from Tiny Buddha https://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-restrictive-diets-mess-with-our-brains-and-lead-to-bingeing/

0 notes

allenmendezsr · 4 years ago

Text

The Sugar Freedom Diet

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/the-sugar-freedom-diet/

The Sugar Freedom Diet

Buy Now

12 years ago, I quit sugar, cut the starchy carbs and processed oils, and got the health and energy I needed to live life to the fullest.

The Sugar Freedom Program is the exact eating plan I used to overcome overeating, sugar addiction, and the pain and feelings of unworthiness that were the price I paid for every binge.

Scroll Down To Order Now!

I quit sugar in 2008, and my health transformed in such a wonderful way, that I knew I had to share my discovery with the world. I began reading every book I could get my hands on about how sugar, grains, and processed seed oils can drive overeating.

When friends and family members saw the results of the changes I made, they all asked,

I answered: “Eat For Yourself.”

By 2013, I knew I had to write this program to share my solution to the hunger, cravings, and sadness that were the result of my old eating habits. I am forever grateful to the doctors and researchers like Dr. Eric Westman and Gary Taubes who inspired my new way of eating. I am a theatre professional, not a doctor or registered dietitian, so I can’t tell you how to eat, but I can share exactly what I ate in order to quit sugar and gain the health, happiness, and energy I always wanted, and to maintain my healthy lifestyle for over 10 years.

Back when I struggled with sugar addiction,

my episodes of out of control overeating would start with a food as innocent as a ripe banana. But seconds later, after taking the first bite, the overwhelming urge to to consume more sweet and creamy foods would take control of me, and I would enter an unstoppable feeding frenzy.

My Binges Lead to A Decades Long Addiction.

I would inhale the banana, and move on to cereal. Handful by handful I’d try to satisfy my hunger. But it wasn’t enough. I’d work my way trough the freezer, kitchen, and pantry consuming all of the “Treats,” I could find. Thirty minutes, even sixty minutes would pass.

Full to the point of feeling sick, I’d finally stop because the snack food had run out, ashamed of what I had done. I would do my best to leave enough snacks behind so that my roommates, and later my son and husband wouldn’t wonder where all of their food had gone.

But I knew. It caused me decades of embarrassment and social isolation.

I can only hope you’ve never experienced anything like this…but if you have…you can relate. You know the powerlessness of the being in “binge mode.” You know the post-binge shame. You know the highs and utter despair found in the lows of sugar addiction.

How can I describe the devastating power of that first bite to someone that has never experienced it?

One small bite of a glazed donut, and my taste buds would demand more as my heart would be sinking at the same time. And every single time, I would tell myself, “Oh no Catherine, you’re doing it again. Stop, just please stop,” my rational mind would cry out.

But it was no match for the demons, the addiction, the powerful forces behind the binge. Nothing could beat them – or so I thought, until I discovered one powerful secret solution…

At the time though, I did everything I could to avoid detection.

It’s bad enough to be caught in the middle of yet another binge by your sugar addiction, but it’s even worse when someone catches you taking THEIR food, even AFTER they specifically warned you again and again.

To this very day, the expression on my friend and roommate Beth’s face as she asked me to stop eating her cereal when she was out of the apartment haunts me. She looked puzzled, and so disappointed in me. I was supposed to be her friend, yet I was stealing her food to feed my addiction.

It was so devastatingly embarrassing.

I was a grown woman, for crying out loud. I was working as an actor, singer, and dancer in Los Angeles, so a healthy body was essential for my work. I was independent, on the verge of success, and yet I couldn’t even control myself around children’s breakfast snacks.

That afternoon confrontation with Beth was one of the most humiliating moments of my adult life.

Every binge brought on a terrible aftermath.

Shame was the consequence of my sugar addiction, and the morning after was the worst. My throbbing head, aching joints, and puffy face were obvious symptoms of my sugar hangover.

I was always depressed after those episodes (that were repeated over and over), and it wasn’t just because I was disappointed in myself.

The depression was also a physical reaction to food that was like a poison to me.

If you’ve never felt the compulsion to keep eating long after a food stops tasting good, you probably won’t understand my helplessness.

If you can stop eating after 2 Oreos or a handful of potato chips, you might think I’m exaggerating, and making excuses for overeating.

That’s fine, I understand that some people can enjoy sugar and starchy foods in a rational amount and stop eating them when they want. I can’t. Parts of my brain love certain foods just a little too much.

I’ve cried over that a lot. Thankfully, I found understanding from the women and men who have felt what I feel whenever I eat the sugar, flour, and fake fat combination that is my drug, my poison, my kryptonite.

Why did I steal and eat those foods? The momentary rush they gave me was so overwhelming, so powerful, that I was willing to give up my dignity for it.

So how did I finally break this miserable addiction that kept me from having the body, the energy, and the self respect I needed to eat for health and happiness?

I found a way to eat something else.

And I’ll get to that, but first, let’s face the facts…

70% of Americans are overweight.

35% are considered obese.

But I’m not shocked, nor will you be when you learn just how pervasive this highly toxic and addictive ingredient is in North American food today.

You see, it’s everywhere…

Get in your car to go to work or take the kids to school, and you can’t avoid it. There are fast food joints on every corner, ice cream and yogurt shops in every strip mall, candy and snack stores at every gas station, there are even candy and chip racks at the hardware store!

Go to the grocery store, where you expect to find nutritious, satisfying food to make at home, and this food is hidden in places you would never expect.

It’s in salad dressings, condiments like mayonnaise, whole grain bread and cereals. Even in a healthy snack like yogurt there can be as many as 5 teaspoons of this addictive substance that acts just like a drug in in the pleasure centers of the brain.

Once you start eating it, it triggers the release of the fat storing hormone insulin, while it blocks the brain’s ability to recognize signals from leptin, the hormone that tells you when you’re full.

You would stop eating it if you could, but there’s just one problem.

It’s so over-stimulating to your hunger and appetite, that it’s the only food you crave!

What Do You Do when the only Food You Want to Eat is the Food That’s Keeping You Fat

Before we get to that, I want to tell you why it’s my mission and my passion to bring you a solution to the pain of being overweight.

My name is Catherine Gordon, and I will never forget the day I was put on my first diet by my pediatrician.

I was eight years old and I remember him vividly, because he was very handsome, and he had these really great, big, brown eyes.

I was horribly embarrassed as I sat there on the examining table, at eight years old, in my rolls of fat.

The Doctor looked me in the eye and he said, “So, Cathy, how would you like to count calories?” And I said, “Okay!”

Like I thought counting calories was going to be the most fun thing in the world.

The doctor didn’t even send me home with a food plan or a diet. He just sent me home with the idea that I was more than 20% overweight for my age and height, and that I needed to count calories.

At eight years old I started counting calories, and I was hungry for the next 35 years.

Now you may think I’m exaggerating a little bit, and yes there were times when I wasn’t hungry, but it seemed like the only time I wasn’t hungry was for a few hours right after a binge.

At that point, I was miserable… and ashamed.

So, for the next 35 years I cut calories, I watched what I ate, and I did my best to eat low fat.

I tried every diet that came along, and sometimes I would succeed for a little while. I could be “good” for three days in a row, then I would just freak out and eat everything in sight.

I’m sure you’ve been there, and that you know how much it hurts to fail at fat loss.

So I am going to reveal to you an approach to permanent weight loss that is so simple, you may even have a hard time believing it. After all, I know what that’s like.

The truth is that staying on a diet is nearly impossible in a world where billions of dollars are being made every year on the foods that make and keep us fat. I did everything I could to limit how much I ate so that I could get over being fat and get on with really living, and then, finally, as middle aged Mom, everything changed.

In 2008, I found a solution to my hunger problem, my fat problem, and my diet problem.

This solution worked so well, that even in my 40’s, I was able to win the second Turbulence Training Transformation Contest, even with thousands of people all over the world voting.

In just four months, I went from borderline obese, to a normal, healthy bodyweight.

Back in 2008, I was telling everyone about the great new exercise plan that was transforming my body, but I kept the most important fat loss secret to myself:

I started eating in a completely new and different way.

I didn’t tell anybody how I was eating. I kept how I was eating to myself. In many ways I felt like a fake.

I was getting support from friends and family, but I wasn’t telling them the truth.

Why? Because the truth about what I was eating was the absolute opposite of what all of the experts, diet programs, and weight loss gurus had been saying since I started my first diet in 1972!

I think it’s time… no, I know that it’s time, to share the truth with you about what I really did to finally lose fat for good.

I remember I how desperate I was to lose weight in in high school. I wanted to be popular, and get asked to dances, but I was the chubby girl with the good sense of humor. Not the girl you ask on dates. So I started cutting calories really hard.

I did everything I could think of to eat fewer calories: low fat, one salad a day, even eating nothing but fruit. It simply didn’t work, and I knew that I had to find a better way.

Later, when I was in college, I tried a commercial diet that cut my calories to 950 a day, and that required daily weigh-ins.

I remember feeling weak, and unable to concentrate.

Hello hunger- and binges that would hit just about every ten days when I couldn’t take my crazy-strict diets any more.

After that I headed off to Hollywood to break into the acting business, but my weight got in the way.

If I was really strict with my eating- and my new weight loss tools were diet pills, smoking, and caffeine, I could force my weight down for a few weeks at a time.

I had success on the stage, and I could get work in commercials, but I absolutely had to starve myself to get thin enough to work on camera.

I wanted to be thin so badly, and I was so determined to succeed at finally getting to my goal weight.

Still, no matter what I tried, I would always end up binging or over-eating.

I tried other diet plans – the big commercial programs where they sell you nearly all of the pre-packaged the food you are supposed to eat, but the problem was this: I would buy a box of their special low-calorie breakfast bars…

…but because of this ONE addictive ingredient, I would eat the whole box before I even got home from my weekly weigh-in!

It was crazy. I thought I was nuts. I thought there was something really, really, seriously wrong with me.

I kept putting on weight… year after year. At my top non-pregnancy weight , I weighed 185 pounds at 5’1’ tall. Yes, clinically obese at a BMI of 35.

After 35 years of cutting fat and counting calories, I had literally dieted my way to obesity.

But then, it struck me… almost like a bolt of lightning. What if I did the exact opposite of what the “experts” had been telling me to do?

What if I didn’t use the breakfast bars or the boxed meals? I asked myself…

What Would Happen if You Eliminated This One Ingredient, and the foods that rapidly break down to this ingredient in the body, and That’s the Only Thing You Had to Focus On?

For 12 weeks, I used this approach. I didn’t use any magic pills or consume any boxed dinners.

I simply eliminated this ONE ingredient and here’s what happened…

I got down to my normal BMI and went from 155 to 117 pounds.

Note: These results are not typical, but they do reflect my experience.

It was my dream weight, which for years before, was not achievable, and certainly not maintainable.

it’s been more than 10 years since the contest. I’ve not only kept it off, but my physical transformation led to an emotional transformation as well.

My mindset changed… and yours will, too. It’s much simpler than you think, too.

Please understand, some of my most powerful eating strategies aren’t exactly politically correct, but I know it’s time to share what finally helped me get the health I needed, for good.

You Eat This Toxin Every Day and You Don’t Even Know It

This is exactly why 35% of Americans are obese and almost 70% are overweight.

The experts tell us it is all about making better choices.

All we have to do is take personal responsibility and our battle against belly fat would be over.

They also tell us that the key to our success is “moderation,” as well as being told to exercise more and more every day.

It’s these ideas that are holding us hostage, and keeping us from achieving the simple goal of losing fat!

Sugar, the ONE ingredient, that when removed, will put your body into optimal fat-burning mode (and unlocks your full potential to burn fat) is hidden in your kitchen as you’re reading this.

So even if you’ve been on a “sugar-free” diet, you’re still consuming this addictive toxin, and it doesn’t stop there.

It’s pretty simple to cut sugary sodas and candy bars out of your eating plan, but what about the foods that break down into sugar as soon as you eat them?

Yes, the bagels, muffins, cereals, and pastas that the USDA claims should be the foundation of our diet turn right into sugar in the bloodstream.

In fact, new research shows that industrial food full of processed sugars, fats, salt, and chemicals are powerfully addictive. And sugar is the worst culprit.

It’s these foods that drive our desire to eat more of it.

It’s Time To Take Control and Take Back Your Body from This Addiction

But how do we stop eating it?

To put it as simply as I can, when my students at my fitness studio ask, “How do I get off of sugar?” I answer, “Eat something else.”

What is that “Something else?” It’s real, unprocessed food that will satisfy your hunger, end your cravings, and allow you to stop obsessing over fat-storing foods.

Obviously, eating real food will “reset” your cravings, as well as your hormones to optimize fat burning. .

However, if it was just a matter of turning on a switch and choosing these foods, wouldn’t everyone be doing it?

And how would you know you’re eating foods without these hidden sugars?

After 35 years of addiction, 12 years of healing, and five years of research, I’ve put the most vital information and methods for quitting sugar into the system that’s available here:

The Sugar Freedom Diet…

With this simple approach, you can learn how to replace addictive foods, and discover a NEW freedom you’ve never experienced.

On the Sugar Freedom Diet, you can replace sugar and the foods that break down quickly to sugar, and you can lose your cravings once and for all.

It really is simple when you know how to shop for and prepare the fat burning foods that will satisfy your hunger at last. I’ll also show you what to order at restaurants, and even what you can eat when you’re on the road for business or on vacation in order to stay off of sugar, without hunger and cravings.

So here’s what you get with the Sugar Freedom Diet.

Why is it simple?

1. The menus are already written for you, including easy recipes that show you exactly how to put together the breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks that will have you ending cravings, burning fat, getting rid of bloat, and losing weight starting in just days.

2. You get strategic emergency foods to eat instead of the typical snack foods that have been keeping the fat on your body.

3. In as little as 24 hours you will feel your cravings, food obsessions, and overwhelming appetite disappear. You will become satisfied on real nutritious food, and thank heaven we’re not talking about cabbage and melba toast! Your menus are full of simple, tasty dishes you will recognize, and actually want to eat!

If you’re committed (and I set it up so that you will be), you’ll have an amazing 3-day start on your new body.

Yes, these are the exact meal plans that will get you off of sugar by showing you exactly what to eat instead.

I know Sugar Freedom works. I have maintained my weight long enough that I was able to become a member of the National Weight Control Registry. Members of the NWCR are studied by researchers worldwide because we have been able to document a weight loss of at least 30 pounds, and keep it off for at least one year.

The amazing discovery that I am sharing with with you is that there are foods that you can buy and prepare that will satisfy your hunger, and give you the energy and vitality you need in order to lose weight for good. I promise to show you exactly what they are so that you can get rid of the huger and cravings that are blocking your fat loss- guaranteed!

You’ll get instant access and can start within minutes for …

Try Sugar Freedom Risk Free for a full 60 days

I want you to feel 100% confident in your decision to purchase Sugar Freedom so I’m going to back your purchase today with my try it, you’ll love it, or you’ll get every penny of your purchase price back money back guarantee.

I don’t think there’s a more risk free way of making you this offer. If for any reason you decide that Sugar Freedom is not right for you and your family then simply email me using the contact link at the bottom of the page any time during the first 60 days of your purchase and I’ll give you a full refund – no questions asked.

Now imagine doing this for just 3 days.

Imagine your life 72 hours from now without the burden of cravings and obsessing about food…

…suddenly, you see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Imagine yourself enjoying your day without the constant hunger that’s caused by typical dieting. How much weight will you lose when the fattening foods that used to call your name completely lose their power to entice you?

This is what you get with Sugar Freedom.

You are going to take some of the momentary pleasure that you were getting from the food that was driving you crazy, and you’re going to learn to put that pleasure into your life and your lifestyle.

When you are satisfied on “Freedom Foods” you will get so much more enjoyment out of exercising, dancing, gardening, drawing, or spending time with friends and family.

You’re going to become aware of how much easier it is to enjoy your life when you aren’t obsessing about food. This is the greatest gift of the Sugar Freedom Program.

So you’re going to get the Sugar Freedom Plan. You’re going to get the shopping list for the Three-Day Sugar Strike, and you’re also going to get the shopping list for the four-week Sugar Freedom Diet. Plus, you’re going to get my best recipes and tips for preparing Sugar Freedom meals that are tasty, super satisfying, and easy to make… without the cravings!

It’s all here, because I’ve been there: Trapped in The Dieting/Overeating Cycle, and The Sugar Freedom Plan is exactly what made me break out at last.

You’ll finally discover the simplicity of losing weight when the foods that help you shed fat are the very foods you actually want to eat.

You’ll discover how simple it is to walk away from sugary, starchy junk food when your hunger is completely satisfied.

This isn’t a “eat less and move more” system like you find everywhere else. In other words, you can’t change what you eat, or how much you eat- until you can manage your appetite!

You’ll discover how to do this and much more.

This is your “Get Out of Sugar Jail” card. You just have to play it.

So if you’re ready to destroy your cravings once and for all and finally get the body you deserve on YOUR terms… Let’s get started, Catherine Gordon, A.C.E., CTT, Member: National Weight Control Registry Author, The Sugar Freedom Diet

youtube

0 notes

allenmendezsr · 4 years ago

Text

The Sugar Freedom Diet

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/the-sugar-freedom-diet/

The Sugar Freedom Diet

Buy Now