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: eatnormalnow Source Type: blogs