Here’s a challenge you may like to try.
We all have spots in our day when it is particularly difficult not to fall back into the habit of emotional eating.
Pick a time during your day when you tend to want to eat for comfort. Most people who have lived as chronic dieters, have refined certain habits that have been acquired over years of dieting. Some of these habits work and some of them don’t serve quite as well.
Everyone has things that they want to do that take just a few minutes but with our busy lives, it’s easy to forget about them until we are face to face with the irritation that results from their incompletion status in our lives. Do you have a couple of those things that you’ve been wanting to do? Maybe sew on a button, or toss out that old jar of salsa at the back of the refrigerator, you get the idea.
Choose something really small. Recently we did some home renovation and now there is a room in our house that has gotten overrun with boxes, books and the kids’ old furniture. I cringe when I walk by the room. Today I emptied one of those boxes of books and put the books back on a bookshelf. It felt so good after I did it. It was a big Mmmmmmm. That’s the type of thing that I mean.
You may have a makeup drawer that you’ve been dying to organize or you may just want to make a call to a friend to get together for lunch. Choose something that will give you that instant feeling of Mmmmmmm.
After you’ve chosen your Mmmm for the day, do this next.
Before you sit down to that next meal. Take 5 minutes and sit down in a comfortable spot. Place one hand over your forehead and the other hand cradling the back of your neck. You may choose to prop up your hands with pillows. Set a timer for 5 minutes.
Next as you sit comfortably, cradling your neck and head, visualize yourself eating less at that particular meal, see yourself in your mind’s eye, cutting the plate visually in half and looking for the best parts of the food on your plate to eat. You may notice that in your imagination they glow or are respresented more brightly than the rest of the food on the plate. Imagine putting that food in your mouth, seeing yourself gently chewing it, rolling it around in your mouth, noticing the nuance of flavors and texture and repeating the process. Notice the scent of the food and how pleasurable it is.
Now visualize seeing yourself seated at the table and paying attention to various sensations in your body indicating that your biological hunger is satisfied. Imagine smiling as you reach for a napkin and move the plate aside out of your line of vision. Remain sitting there a moment and acknowledge your awareness of your sense of satisfaction.
Now see yourself walking over to a nearby counter or table and wrapping up the leftover food, disposing of it or setting it aside for later. It’s yours, and you can have it whenever you want to. Though now you’re not hungry. Maybe later you say to yourself.
Now in your mind’s eye, eagerly leaving the table and acting on the task that you have chosen. Visualize a big smile that spreads across your face as you finish up your task and see and hear yourself as you clap or rub your hands together signifying a job well done. Notice how good it feels to get it done.
Now go enjoy your meal and after you’re done leave a comment and let me know how this worked for you.