So, it's raining - perfect eating day. It's also a perfect binge day if it's sunny, if it's my birthday (or yours), when the dog gets sick, when the dog gets well...you get the idea. The food is always there and it's the "most acceptable drug there is". We give it such power - "this doughnut is going to make me happy" "this piece of cake will calm me down" "this ice cream will give me the quick energy I need" - AND NONE OF THIS IS TRUE! It's just food, and we want from it much more than it can give us. It's not the item - it's the experience and expectation that we bring to the situation that is important. If the hunger isn't physical to begin with, there is not enough food in the world to satisfy it. And yet, we cave in to the destructive habits again and again, in an attempt to take care of ourselves, to make ourselves feel better and comfort the uncomfortable feelings. Is all lost? Of course not! Are we doomed to this behavior forever? No way!
Think again! Something is going to take better care of you than eating, than that inanimate food.
What we are looking for can usually not be provided by food, but by other people.
Think of those situations that send you running for the chips. Is there something that you can ask for, something that can replace the unplanned overeating? What will make you feel better at that moment. It isnt food!
Marcia's Blog is a lifestyle change and dieting blog written by a beloved and respected nutritionist/weight loss counselor/lecturer Marcia Bodenstein. She has helped thousands of kosher consumers achieve and maintain weight loss.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
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3 comments:
I think that you are sooooooo right about the food not providing what we need. But it's also true that it's not always possible to get what we need from other people. We have to think of non-eating things that will provide something good and constructive. Sometimes, if I just turn my head and start to move around and do some exercise, that provides a lot of things: diverting my attention elsewhere, giving me that brief boost of energy without involving sugar.
dear marcia,
thanks for the reminder -- i KNOW that the answer is not in more food, but sometime i forget what i know and do what i feel. that's when i need alternatives to eating -- movement, laughter, journalling, prayer--- that are just as much habits as it is to reach for something to eat.
keep provoking me to think!!!
dear marcia,
thanks for the reminder -- i KNOW that the answer is not in more food, but sometime i forget what i know and do what i feel. that's when i need alternatives to eating -- movement, laughter, journalling, prayer--- that are just as much habits as it is to reach for something to eat.
keep provoking me to think!!!
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