Health & Fitness
What Are You REALLY Hungry For?
Are you eating because you're hungry or are you eating to fill a space that exists from something else that's missing in your life?
“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”
~ Buddha
I’ve often invited my readers to pay attention to what they eat and how it makes them feel. You can find several articles that talk about this topic on my blog. I know that once you make this connection and decide that you want to eat in a way that supports you and your goals, it becomes much easier to make healthier food choices on a regularly basis. After a while it becomes something that you want to do for yourself and any sense of deprivation goes away.
I have also asked my readers to pay attention to how they are eating. So often we eat on the run, in front of the TV or computer, rather than paying attention to our food. When we savor it and/or share a meal with someone we care about, it can be a completely different experience. Being aware of these things can make a huge difference in the satisfaction that we get from our food and can truly enhance our lives in many ways. If you want to talk about either of these topics, send me an email.
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Today, I want to ask you to focus on WHY you are eating? Are you truly hungry when you have a meal or snack, or are you using food as a replacement for something else that isn’t working in your life? For many people with a weight issue, this can be a big piece of the puzzle and it can also be a piece of the puzzle for those of us who maintain a healthy weight.
So please take a minute and answer this question; are you using food to fill you up where something is lacking in another area of or life? These areas can include love, friendship, family, career, an unhealed wound or even boredom (this may not be the full list). The problem with this is not just the obvious possibility of weight gain and the potential physical and emotional issues that can come with it.
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The greater issue is that when we are not addressing the area(s) of our life that we need to address, we are not getting the most out of life nor are we putting the most into it.
We are often blind to this or, if we are aware, we feel powerless to change it.
So here are some suggestions on how you can begin to address this:
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Start to pay attention. When you’re getting ready to have a meal or snack (or binge), ask yourself “am I hungry”? Did you have a bad day at work or are you lonely, did you have a fight with your spouse, parent or child? When you want something to eat, ask yourself if you really are hungry or are you using food to as a replacement for something else that's missing? Do you feel unfulfilled somehow? Are you punishing yourself for something? Then make a decision to change this behavior.
Look at all the areas of your life and see where you are satisfied and happy and pay particular attention to the areas where you are not. Decide to transform what you don't like in that area (or areas). Just make the decision and you can figure out how to do it once the decision is made. You will find the methods, programs, services, relationships and support you need once you’ve made the decision.
Find something else to do that nourishes you in that moment. Transformation takes time. So for now, until you've worked through it, continue to pay attention. When you recognize that you are eating emotionally find something else to do. Call a friend, take a walk, get some other form of exercise, read a book, take a bubble bath or shower, or if you want just sit with the feelings, face them for what they are and resist the temptation to suppress them with food. Do anything other than the old behavior that isn’t serving you.
END ALL NEGATIVE SELF-TALK!!!! That’s right. Pay attention to your internal conversation and the things you tell yourself. Talk to yourself in a way that you would talk to the person you love most in this world. Think about how you would respond to your child or best friend if they came to you with this issue. To put it another way, get a filter when it comes to your self-talk.
I don’t mean to over simplify any of this. What I want is for you to recognize that when something doesn’t serve you, you do have the power to change it. I wrote this article to inspire you to take action. I am a firm believer that food is meant to give us pleasure and nourish us. Yet somehow along the way, so many of us have learned to misuse and even abuse it. If you want to have a short conversation with me about your personal situation, send me an email and I be happy to set up a time to talk with you, listen to you and make supportive recommendations about how you can get started.
If you find this information interesting and/or helpful, I invite you to join me at Baker Street Yoga on Sat., Feb. 4th from 2:30-3:30 for a talk called CHANGE YOUR MINDSET, TRANSFORM YOUR BODY: The real answers to why you haven't been able to lose weight and sustain it.
The talk is free. You must reserve your spot by sending me an email at Randy@TheConsciousPlate.com.
For more information about the talk vist http://www.theconsciousplate.com/events.html.
