I just got back from the dentist today. Every couple of years I like to get my teeth whitened. Today was the day. At the end of the treatment, my hygienist, Linda gave me a sheet of paper indicating what foods to avoid. She told me don’t eat anything that can stain a white shirt.
In the past, I went late in the afternoon to the dentist, once finished, I dashed to the store and grabbed a can of New England Clam Chowder and some fish and I was good to go. That was back in the dieting days, and with Weight Watchers point counting, I would never have spent 10 points or 500 calories on a bowl of chowder. In essence, I used to look at that meal as a real treat.
Today my appointment was at 9:00 a.m. That left the entire day to mull about thinking about what I could not eat. It felt like torture.
For the past 6 months, I have not been on a diet. I’ve learned to eat mindfully and listen to my body. The result of that is that I don’t binge like I used to and food does not captivate me as it once did. Food and I have called a truce and I have been losing weight slowly but surely.
However today was quite a different story. I was actually told what I could not eat. That made me mad and kicked up the rebel in me. Since cheating on this diet, would only hurt me, I felt all the more overwhelmed by my lack of choices.
Despite all that I know about using EFT to eliminate cravings, and all the great strategies that I have learned to be a mindful eater, I fell headfirst into a mini white hot binge. After shopping and looking for only white or light foods, I poured out the bags on the counter and proceeded to pick at the following: cashews, pound cake with vanilla frosting, white bread with butter and vanilla cookies and vanilla soy milk. Arggh, I was so mad at myself for eating this junk. I haven’t wanted to eat like this for months. Today it seemed important to choose to eat junk.
The point is that binging is very common when people are put on a diet. It brings up feelings of having no choices or control. It feels rotten and I guess that I just gave in at the spur of the moment.
Here’s the rub. When you find that you’ve gone overboard and eaten more than you wanted to, just let it go!!!!
As you approach your next meal, play with your hunger and see if you can get in touch with it and go back to eating in response to your natural hunger signals. Be as gentle as you can and see if you can eat a bit more slowly and really enjoy the tastes involved in the meal. The more that you realize that a binge does not signify the end of the world, the better you’ll feel about it.
Now ask yourself, What gift came wrapped up in this binge? I’ll have to do this exercise myself and let you know as soon as I come to a conclusion. For now, enjoy having a rich assortment of lovely colored foods. Now that I know that I can’t have them, I really want them. I’d love to hear your feedback and comments on my white plight.