What Not to Say When You Have a Non-hunger Eating Urge

The brain is an amazing organ, but it’s not as clever or evolved as we think it is. For instance, we may think we’re telling it to do one thing, while it hears our instruction as just the opposite. Not great when you’re trying to avoid unwanted eating. Here’s a common mistake—and its fix—for handing unwelcome food urges. I bet that when you want to deter yourself from heading for the drive-through on the way home from work or getting up from working at the computer to check out what’s in your kitchen cabinets (for the umpteenth time), you’re probably telling yourself something like, “I can’t eat that now” or “I really don’t want to eat that.” It’s a common enough tactic that we’ve been encouraged to take: tell yourself what want to do, not what you don’t want to do, right? Except that these words actually may be driving you to eat! Do this experiment. Read this sentence a couple of times: “I do not want to touch my face.” Keep repeating it and see what comes up for you. First, what are your thoughts about? If you’re like most people, they’re about touching your face. That is, you’re thinking about not touching it, of course, but the subject is front and center in your mind because your words are acting as a reminder to (not) touch your face. This works like telling yourself not to look at the elephant in the middle of the room, which is to say that it keeps you thinking about sneaking glances at the elephant....
Source: Normal Eating - Category: Eating Disorders Authors: Source Type: blogs