Episode 85: Best Of – Overcoming Self-Sabotage with Dr. Judy Tsafrir and Rory Linehan

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Best of The Phoenix Helix Podcast

In support of my own autoimmune health, I’m taking a sabbatical for the month of December and releasing two of my favorite episodes from Season 1 that you might have missed. Today’s episode originally aired 3 years ago, but it’s a timeless topic. Sometimes, we make poor diet and lifestyle choices, even knowing that it will cause us pain. In today’s episode we answer the question: “Why do we do this?” And we also offer a variety of ways to overcome this pattern. Dr. Judy Tsafrir is a psychiatrist who specializes in nutritional approaches to healing, using the GAPS Diet and the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol with her patients. Today, she’ll be teaching us what’s going on in our bodies and brains, when we sabotage our own health. Rory Linehan is the blogger behind The Paleo PI (since retired). He has personal experience overcoming self-sabotage and will be sharing his story today as well.

Listen to the Show

Show Notes

  • Intro (0:00)
  • Thank You to Our Podcast Sponsor – Paleo on the Go (2:57)
    • A frozen meal delivery service, they have a large menu of items for the paleo autoimmune protocol (AIP).
    • Use the code PHOENIX for 10% off your first order.
  • Meet Our Guests (3:57)
    • Rory Linehan is the blogger behind The Paleo PI. He got mononucleosis at age 18, that set off health symptoms that never fully recovered: fatigue, facial flushing, and severe dry eye. It took years before he was diagnosed with facial and ocular rosacea. During that time, his health continue to decline and symptoms expanded to include depression, anxiety and digestive distress. Paleo finally turned his health around, particularly the work of Terry Wahls and Sarah Ballantyne. Rory found that focusing on lifestyle and mindset was a key to his healing. Rory’s self-sabotage pattern was hoarding junk food that he would store in his bedroom, and then secretly eat whenever he had a bad day. The way he overcame this pattern was a combination of: (1) changing his mindset and beliefs about himself, (2) creating a vision board that represented his goals which he hung in his bedroom, and (3) making up a list of “safe” paleo treats that would satisfy his need for comfort food on occasion, without sabotaging his healing.
    • Dr. Judy Tsafrir is a clinical psychiatrist and also a teacher at Harvard Medical School. Her personal health history and that of her family, taught her that there was more to mental health than medication. She focuses her work on gut health and the gut-brain connection.
  • Possible Physiological Triggers for Self-Sabotage Behavior (19:51)
    • Brain fog makes it hard to effectively implement a big diet and lifestyle change. Ironically, it’s diet/lifestyle that can eliminate brain fog.
    • Inflammation can make us seek comfort through food, and we get trapped in a vicious cycle of increasing inflammation.
    • Gut Dysbiosis: sugar is the preferred food for a lot of pathogenic bacteria, and that can drive cravings.
    • Excess carbohydrates in the diet cause blood sugar imbalances that lead to more sugar cravings, another vicious cycle.
    • Vitamin deficiencies can affect brain function and decision-making. (Walsh Research Institute.)
    • Hormones affect food cravings – both sex hormones and stress hormones.
  • Possible Emotional Triggers for Self-Sabotage Behavior (32:47)
    • Feeling deprived leads to feeling rebellious, even when we’re the ones setting the rules.
    • If we lack meaning and purpose in life, we can feel “empty” and fill ourselves with food.
    • Childhood issues can manifest as self-sabotage behavior.
    • Negative thoughts and beliefs often lead to negative choices.
    • Feeling betrayed by our bodies can lead to a desire to “punish” our bodies.
    • Fear of change can be a root of self-sabotage, even fear of wellness if we’ve been sick a long time.
    • Sometimes we choose “fitting in” over taking care of ourselves. Healing diets are well outside of the mainstream, and our friends and family often tempt us to go off-diet.
  • Practical Tips for Overcoming Self-Sabotage (interspersed throughout podcast)
  • Outro (57:37)
    • Dr. Judy Tsafrir has a clinical practice in Newton, MA and also writes a blog. You can find more information about her work through her website.
    • Update 2020: Rory Linehan retired his blog, the Paleo PI. He’s still passionate about living a healthy and vital life, but no longer writes online.
    • Eileen (your podcast host) is the author of multiple books, written to help people thrive with autoimmune disease. Learn more on the Books Page.
    • If you like this podcast, follow or subscribe through your favorite podcast app. You can also subscribe to Eileen’s biweekly newsletter.
    • Check out the entire archive of podcast episodes.

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