Have you lost trust in your eating decisions and lost trust in your body?
As a psychologist specializing in the area of emotional eating and weight, I work in this area day in and day out. And I see a this as a common theme when women have been on and off diets for many years:
They have lost the connection and lost trust in themselves.
They get confused, right? So, they might be at a food court and it’s like, do I go for the sandwich or the salad or, but I really feel like the chips, what do I do? Right?
And then they go through all these different options, and their awareness is in their head trying to sort of analyze it and they just end up really confused.
They end up unsure of their decisions and often regretting some of their food choices.
They’re not really sure what to do to get on or get back on track…
So, the first thing you need to do when this happens to you is start to get out of your head and get into your body.
The more you’re in your head, it’s not going to do you NO favors.
Most likely, it will lead to either confusion, it will lead to control, or it will lead to being out of control around food. And all three options aren’t helpful or healthy for you.
Now, if you’re in doubt, always come back to your body.
Everything you need is in your body right now.
You have all the answers within you.
And often, if you’ve been dieting, your awareness has been in your head trying to control everything.
So, for so many years we’ve been actually overriding the signals of our body because we’ve been told to trust the diet, to trust the meal plan. That if we’ve got a craving, we just white knuckle our way through it and ignore it, right?
We’ve been ignoring our bodies for way too long.
The key is to start to get back and reconnect with our bodies. To start to listen to our bodies, and to start to tune into our bodies.
So, that’s what I would recommend in terms of where you start is to place your awareness into your tummy when you’re in the food court.
When you’ve got all these different options you’re looking at, place your awareness into your tummy and say, I can have this food if I really want it, but what do I really feel like now?
That comes from your tummy, not your head.
And so it might be like, oh I actually feel like the hot chips.
We’ll then have the hot chips, right?!
There is no good or bad or anything like that. If that’s what you honestly feel like and that’s coming from your tummy…then have the chips but slow down.
Eat It mindfully, enjoy it and savor it. Right?
Do you see the difference?
Because you don’t want to be impulsively choosing and splurging.
When you’re impulsive and splurging, your awareness is in your head. When you’re savoring and enjoying your food, your awareness is in your body. That’s a key distinction.
Now, when you ask that question, you have to make sure that your awareness is in your tummy and not your head.
If you ask that question and your awareness is in your head, chances are you’re going to be out of control around food and you’re going to get like, five packets of chips!
Because you’re going to start to rebel against the dieting and control mindset. Some of these old control patterns are going to play out.
So try that out.
Keep coming back to your body.
If in doubt, come back to your body.
Keep connecting and tuning in with your body.
This is the key to change and the key to Food Freedom!