Let me start by acknowledging that I am an emotional eater! There you have it, my confession! I eat when I’m happy, sad, mad, bored, stressed (which is a lot of the time!) excited and celebrating or just because I can!
I’m also someone who routinely “over” eats. There is the second confession! I LOVE good food and when it’s in the cupboards or on my plate, I will eat more than I really need to! Well, actually I probably eat at normal pace like most Australians, which means we don’t know we are full until it’s waaaaay too late!! I read somewhere that eating mindfully and slowly allows the body to register when it has had enough….. Yeah well, that hasn’t been me. No way! I eat in front of the TV, while I’m working or on the run which is very ‘un-mindful’ and I certainly don’t eat slowly because I’m always in a rush or a hurry to get things done, so for me, it’s fast and furious and….it must be fabulous!! Oh and that doesn’t include the fact that I have an appetite bigger than most men!!
Confession number 3…..I have also been known for eating a fair bit of chocolate (I sneak in about 4 to 5 carob bears each day and then I would also have a few large mouthfuls of rocky road when my partner, Matt, has a stash in the house (which is always!!).
Hmmmmmm… so the consequences have been bloating and an extended tummy. I’m putting this down to over eating, distracted eating, emotional eating and eating the wrong kinds of sugar and food! Oh yeah, and I’ve been tested numerous times for Candida and I come up in the severe category!!! Like that is a surprise!!
I’ve done just about every diet on the market: The no sugar, no fruits, no carbs, no fats, no whites, no grains, no fibre….. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Fit for Life, Juicing Diet, HCG, Candida diet, Liver Detox, Soup Diet, Atkins, Meat/No Meat, Dairy/No Dairy, Grain/No Grain and just about every combination of every eating style there is on this planet and none if it works for me!! Not one of them!!! Why? Because the problem is not WHAT I eat, it’s WHY I eat!!
No diet is ever going to work and have any kind of long term impact until we start addressing those of us who eat for satisfaction instead of satiety or fun instead of fuel!!
So, what to do?
Well this is where Mind Over Mouth comes in.
Now we’ve all heard “eat mindfully” and quite frankly, to me, that is just a pipe dream and I may be able to do it for a day or even three days, and then I go back my old, habituated way of eating. So clearly….. that’s not what I’m talking about here.
What I’m talking about is setting ourselves up for success. Setting ourselves up for a change in lifestyle, eating habits, food choices, emotional triggers and also rewards.
For emotional eaters and emotional over eaters, we have to address the entire package, not just the diet!
We have to being paying attention to WHY and WHEN we eat as much as looking at WHAT we eat and HOW we eat it.
Food is more than food to us, it’s a way of celebrating, socialising, rewarding, punishing, chastising, guilt tripping, comforting, medicating, avoiding, alienating, loving, supporting, admonishing and just about every other ‘ing’ you can think of. Now of course, none of these ‘ings’ stated above are the real purpose for food, but because of childhood experiences being good or bad, believes, values, nature and nurture, we are left with a way of relating to food that at best is familiar and at worst is self destructive in the most painful ways physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
If you can see yourself in any of these words, whether it’s just a little or maybe it’s a lot, then join me as I take you on the journey toward freedom and choice throughout this month with my blogs and ultimately with the one hour webinar on the 25th March at 4.30pm.
There is a way through to a new way of relating to food and making peace with your body, mind and appetite and while I promise it will work, it will also take effort. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that in the past you may not have been willing to invest a bucket of effort because there was no certainty of success which held you back from going all the way…..but this time…… if you stay on the ride, are willing to try the suggestions from this series of blogs and the webinar out…. Are honest with yourself and give up making yourself right or wrong, justifying why you’re different and just surrendering to new possibilities….. You will find not only a new version of yourself physically, you will also find self love, self respect, time, acceptance, compassion and creativity!!
Are you ready?
The next blog will be just around the corner!!
Much love
