I haven't posted for a while, but I've been maintaining a significant weight loss for around 8 months now. There have been some challenges, primarily due to an injury I sustained that meant I had to give up my favorite exercises (running and walking) for 3 months. But I'm getting back into running now and am feeling good. While on a run today, I was talking to someone about my weight loss and I was articulating an idea to them that I just wanted to share in case it helps anyone. A big rule I have now is to tell myself the WHOLE truth about things.
Example: "Food soothes/calms/comforts me when I'm feeling upset"
This is absolutely true. I've known this for a long time and using food as a coping mechanism was a primary reason I was so overweight. And I think if you say this to yourself, it's easy to see why eating would be appealing when you are upset. But while true, it's not the whole truth.
The whole truth: "When I'm eating, food makes me feel better IN THAT MOMENT. Once I stop eating, those bad feelings and the situation are still there. But now I've added some other bad feelings on top (shame, guilt, fear about the future, physical discomfort if I really overeat). And I've added weight to my body, which makes me less healthy, embarrassed about my appearance, etc. I trade temporary relief of negative feelings for more negative feelings and worse health"
Telling myself the whole truth about my behavior and choices has really helped me. Sometimes I might still decide to soothe with food; it's rare that I do that if I tell myself the whole truth, but it's happened a couple of times. But at least then I acknowledge what I'm doing and am making an informed choice. Food = comfort is simplistic and makes it seem like a pretty easy and benign choice. Why would you say no to comfort? The whole truth makes the choice different. I can choose to soothe that way, but then I have to acknowledge what I'm really choosing. I apply this to a lot of situations and it's been transformative in my thinking!
[link] [comments]
from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2Dk0efg
No comments:
Post a Comment