Confidence versus Discernment in Making Eating Decisions
Many disregulated
eaters insist they can’t possibly resolve their eating problems without being
confident that they will. Although confidence is touted in generating success,
it can be a red herring. Truth is, you can be confident and still make poor decisions,
as you well know when you consider the times you’ve felt absolutely certain that
you’ll never binge or diet again. So, agreed, confidence is not the key to
recovery?
Instead, how
about the quality of discernment
which is synonymous with judgment, clear-sightedness, discrimination, and
insight? Now there are some useful qualities. Your poor track record with food
isn’t due to lack of confidence, but to a deficit in discernment—poor insight
into the cause of your eating problems, failing to allow yourself to consider consequences,
and not taking into account a host of feelings and beliefs which drive
disregulated eating.
For example, most
of us have seen horror films in which the young hero, after hearing that an
alien is on the loose nearby, heads down to the pitch black basement from which
emanate other-worldly grunting and growling sounds getting louder with each
step he takes. While every fiber of our being silently screams, “No, no, don’t
go there!” down, down he goes. In that moment, all the confidence in the world
isn’t going to save our hero from what’s lurking at the bottom of those stairs.
In fact, confidence is likely to keep him moving and thinking, “I can do t...
Source: Normal Eating - Category: Eating Disorders Authors: eatnormalnow Source Type: blogs