Subscribe Feed (RSS)Weight Loss-Let The Mind Games Begin Eating
November 7th, 2005 by admin | Filed under Uncategorized.You’d think that something like this would be relatively simple, but unfortunately
- as with everything today - that just isn’t so. Weight control and weight loss
aren’t just something that happens; they take a complete understanding of why
we eat, goal setting, and effort in order to achieve any kind of long-term success.
So if you do plan to lose weight, your first step needs to be the understanding
of why you are eating the way you do.
We eat for two main reasons: physical and emotional.
The physical reasons for eating are more obvious than the emotional ones.
We feel hunger pangs - the body’s signal that it needs fuel for building and
maintaining itself - and we respond.
On the other hand, emotional reasons can be much less direct. There are a large
variety of reasons that we may choose to eat, and it is important that each
of those reasons be identified before we begin any kind of weight loss effort,
including diet change, habit change, and nutritional reprogramming.
We learn from a very early age that food serves an important purpose in our
lives other than basic nutrition. Consider the following common experiences
Being given a lollypop from the doctor after being “brave” through the
booster shot.
Snacking through exam time to keep energy levels high for more efficient
studying.
Being rewarded with a special dinner or dessert after achieving well on
an exam.
After all of the positive reinforcement that food makes you feel better, it’s
no wonder so many of us look to food to help fill our emotional needs when they
are not being otherwise filled in our lives. Unfortunately, that lifestyle is
also a fast road to weight gain.
Fortunately, it is possible to break away from that emotional connection to
food. As aforementioned, the first step is identification. Keep a journal for
a minimum of one week that records everything you’ve eaten, when you ate, where
you ate, and how you were feeling emotionally when you ate. Then, at the end
of the week, look through the journal in search of patterns in emotions linked
to your eating behaviors. If you need to, take a second week to record more
data.
Once you have identified the pattern, try using an alternative action to deal
with your emotions other than eating. For example, if you’re most likely to
eat chips while you watch Sunday night television because you’re feeling antsy
about work on Monday, drink water and take up an activity such as knitting,
keeping a diary, folding laundry, or anything else to keep your hands busy so
that you won’t eat.
You can also take the time to deal directly with the emotions that you have
identified. Call a friend to vent, join a yoga class, or talk to a counselor
or therapist. If you work on the emotions that are causing you to eat in the
first place, the triggers won’t even be there anymore.
By recognizing your emotional habits, you’re well on the right path to controlling
your eating habits, and achieving much more effective weight loss.
Mark Louis is the webmaster at whatsgood4u.info whatsgood4u.info A site where visitors can
see the latest information on whatsgood4u.info/mainsitemap.php weight loss, whatsgoodforu22.info diet success as well as useful hints and tips for weight control and fat loss.
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