- Have you been pining away, wishing for your thinner body?
- When did you last glare at yourself, swearing through gritted teeth that all your problems stemmed from being fat?
The truth is it’s not what you’re eating, it’s what’s eating you!
Back in June of 2006, I read a book that completely rattled my ideas about my body and my relationship to food. A single statement turned my head around in an instant and erased years of food obsession and suddenly gave my life new meaning. For the first time ever I saw myself differently, with more compassion for my body than I ever had before. If you and your body have been enemies for as long as you can remember, would you like to know how to finally make peace with yourself?
Food is not the issue
In her book “Eating in the Light of the Moon: How Women Can Transform Their Relationships with Food through Myths, Metaphors & Storytelling” Anita Johnston, Ph.D. explains why food is not the real culprit behind your challenges with your body.
She explains why it is so seductively easy to fall into the trap of thinking that your weight is the problem. She says that food is not the issue. It’s the Red Herring. A red herring is a term used to describe something that’s designed to confuse or divert attention from something else. The whole obsession with dieting is an illusion that’s been distracting you from looking at what’s really making you want to eat when you’re not hungry. It’s no wonder that you’ve probably faced so much pain and shame with dieting. You’ve been on a wild goose chase. It’s like heading east, looking for a sunset. as long as you focus on blaming yourself for eating that whole bag of Cheetos or overeating at dinner, you won’t have the ability to look beyond and find out why you’re overeating in that moment.
The problem is unless you face those emotions, fears and situations in your life that you’re trying to avoid and sweep under the carpet, your issues with food will never get resolved and you’ll always walk around feeling deprived. So you’ll keep on trying to fight the good fight and that will only perpetuate the cycle of losing and regaining the weight, and keeping you caught up in the ‘poor me’ victim cycle.
Last year I issued a chip challenge to several of the women in my coaching group. I wrote to them and asked them to find out how many potato chips they could eat before they felt comfortable and satisfied enough to put the bag back. One of them wrote back saying, “I have no problem leaving the chips alone AS LONG as I don’t open the bag. But once it’s opened, all bets are off.”
Is that also the case for you? Once the bag, box or carton is opened, is it impossible to stop eating? It doesn’t have to be that way. I’m offering to teach you ways of thinking about food that will make you feel good and safe and in charge, even when your eating goes out of control, you’ll be able to let go and move on because you’ll know that the way that you handle food reflects the way that you’re showing up in life and it’s never too late to change. If you’re looking for a real solution to your eating challenges, you have to go deeper, beyond the food. It’s not the pasta, pizza or pancakes that’s the problem, it’s that compelling urge to eat when you’re not hungry that’s telling you something is not right. Stop blaming yourself for having those urges. They are natural. It’s your body’s way of crying out for help.
I get you. I know exactly how it feels to struggle with food, because I’m on the road to recovery myself. I’ve been learning new ways of thinking about food and my body for nearly 5 years now. I’ve discovered that what’s at play here is your emotions and why and how they must be addressed in order for you to change your relationship with food. You see we have tons of feelings that prevent us from doing the things to support eating less and being more active.
If you want to regain your health and get control of your eating, and live longer and happier, then you need to focus your attention on the right things. That doesn’t mean trying to push yourself to eat less and exercise more. That’s a no-win situation, because in the end your deprivation will only drive you to your next binge.
“Your hormones follow your emotions, not the other way around.” – Dr. Oz
Don’t even try to blame your hormones for feeling crazed around food, it’s not that. To break free of feeling enslaved by the foods you love, you have to handle the emotions that are pushing you to eat out of control. More will power isn’t the answer. If you’re unhealthy and your eating is out of control, it’s not what you’re eating that’s the problem. It’s what’s eating you! Stress is the weight gain drug which actually produces chemicals in your body that can keep you fat. Could you be on overload? Are you ready to deal with the source of what’s really the problem?
Dr. Oz says, your hormones follow your emotions, not the other way around.” I’ll teach you how to handle the overwhelm by using a simple stress relief process known as tapping or EFT.
Derived from the ancient science of acupuncture, you will learn how to tap gently on different comfort spots on your face and hands to relax yourself instantly and take the edge off of any upset. Instead of trying to will your way thin, you’ll use the tapping to change the way that you respond to stressful situations in your life.
That means taking back your power in all areas where you’ve thought of yourself as powerless. That could be the bedroom, boardroom or anywhere in between. By reclaiming your personal power, you’ll feel more in charge, more confident and happier and when you begin filling up on life, you won’t continue to habitually reach for food when you’re not hungry.
I’m here to support you on the road to reclaiming your power over food and your life. Join me each Wednesday evening at 8:00-8:30 p.m. Eastern for my hot new Blogtalkradio show, “Lovin’ the Skin You’re In.”
Have you been pining away, wishing for your thinner body?
When did you last glare at yourself, swearing through gritted teeth that all your problems stemmed from being fat?
The truth is it’s not what you’re eating, it’s what’s eating you!