Why Do You Eat?
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oEmmao
Posts: 466 Member
“When we want food to be the answer to all our challenges, we ask too much of food and believe too little in ourselves.”
Wouldn't losing weight be so much easier if we only ate to nurture our bodies?
If I was to ask, “Why do you eat?” What would your answer be?
Like most of us, if you're being 'socially honest', and by that I mean giving the answer we believe is the right one, as opposed to what we really think, then you probably would reply by saying something like, “To keep my body nourished; to stop myself being hungry; because eating with others is sociable.”Right?
But if you're being 'really honest', in other words admitting to yourself what sometimes is impossible to admit to the world, you might say, “Most times when I eat, it's to satisfy my needs not my hunger.”
Needs like...
Comfort
Excitement
Love
Reward
Identity
Fun
As well as dealing with the practicalities of losing weight, it's essential to tackle the emotions behind what we do. We know that if we eat less and move more we will lose weight. However, to continue losing weight and to keep that weight off long-term we need to sort out the feelings behind the eating.
Comfort:
There are times in life when all we want to do is snuggle up to something which spells c-o-m-f-o-r-t to us, and that's fine. It's when we turn endlessly to that something that it can become a challenge. For example, aren't there times when you'd love to have your best friend come over and mind you and tell you everything is going to be okay? Does that mean you want your friend to move in with you permanently? Of course not! You know the only one who can make things in your life right is, you. In the same way, food can't make everything better for you; that's your job.
Excitement:
Isn't there something exciting about secrets? About knowing something no one else knows? Eating in secret, having that creamy cake, that bag of chips, that chunk of cheese that no one knows anything about can be 'exciting', as well as tasty. The thing is, it stops being exciting when it becomes a weight gain. The trouble is by then, it may have become a habit. Remove this burden by making a promise to yourself that, from now on, you will only eat food you would be happy to be seen eating.
Love:
Someone once said there are times when we eat to feed the hungry heart and it's true, sometimes that's exactly what we do. But even as we're doing it, we know it's not the answer. Loving ourselves means taking care of ourselves; for ourselves and for the people we love. Better ways to love ourselves can be found more and more easily when we develop the habit of being grateful for what's in our lives, rather than feeling empty because of what we think is missing.
Reward:
Until we come up with a better strategy for ourselves, it's easy to think of food as a reward system. After all, in our society it's not unusual to celebrate success with food. However, if food is the only system we have in place to reward ourselves, we will be in trouble. Set the goal of coming up with 10 different, non-food ways of rewarding success and start using them. Find which ones satisfy you best and use them as your reward system, rather than depending on food.
Identity:
If you have been overweight for any length of time, then chances are your weight is a significant part of your identity; and has been for some time. Sometimes we identify so completely with being overweight that we sabotage ourselves as we near our goal weight. As someone once said to me, “What would I think about, worry about, fill my thoughts with if I wasn't overweight?” If you're used to identifying yourself as a certain weight or size and find it hard to see yourself as slim, begin thinking of yourself as two sizes or two stone lighter and keep thinking it until you are comfortable with that new identity. Continue like this until you are 'used to' being at your goal weight, even before you physically get there.
Fun:
There's no doubt that eating can be fun; trying out new recipes, food from different parts of the word; something to be shared with loved ones. The thing is to know where to draw the line; realising it's the experience, just as much as the food itself which creates the fun. Think about it; what would you do if you had to choose between dry crackers and good company or a fabulous meal on your own. Which would you enjoy more; which would be more fun? Relying on food to provide fun is a bit like putting all your eggs in one basket. Ask yourself, what other ways you can have fun in your life; ways that don't include food.
Of course there is a time and a place and a purpose for everything in life. Sometimes the purpose of food is simply to nourish our bodies; to replenish the calories we have spent. Sometimes the purpose of food is to quite literally break bread with family and friends. But when we want food to be the answer to all our challenges, we ask too much of food and believe too little in ourselves. Food is lovely. Food is delicious. Food is fantastic, but it's nowhere as lovely or fantastic as you are. Within you there is the potential to find all the things you may have been turning to food to give you. With your magical brain, incredible creativity and natural curiosity you can find a healthy way to experience and satisfy your natural need for Comfort, Excitement, Love, Reward, Identity and Fun.
Being slim and healthy is one of the best gifts you can give yourself, so go ahead and treat yourself.
TAKEN FROM: WWW.WEIGHTWATCHERS.IE
Wouldn't losing weight be so much easier if we only ate to nurture our bodies?
If I was to ask, “Why do you eat?” What would your answer be?
Like most of us, if you're being 'socially honest', and by that I mean giving the answer we believe is the right one, as opposed to what we really think, then you probably would reply by saying something like, “To keep my body nourished; to stop myself being hungry; because eating with others is sociable.”Right?
But if you're being 'really honest', in other words admitting to yourself what sometimes is impossible to admit to the world, you might say, “Most times when I eat, it's to satisfy my needs not my hunger.”
Needs like...
Comfort
Excitement
Love
Reward
Identity
Fun
As well as dealing with the practicalities of losing weight, it's essential to tackle the emotions behind what we do. We know that if we eat less and move more we will lose weight. However, to continue losing weight and to keep that weight off long-term we need to sort out the feelings behind the eating.
Comfort:
There are times in life when all we want to do is snuggle up to something which spells c-o-m-f-o-r-t to us, and that's fine. It's when we turn endlessly to that something that it can become a challenge. For example, aren't there times when you'd love to have your best friend come over and mind you and tell you everything is going to be okay? Does that mean you want your friend to move in with you permanently? Of course not! You know the only one who can make things in your life right is, you. In the same way, food can't make everything better for you; that's your job.
Excitement:
Isn't there something exciting about secrets? About knowing something no one else knows? Eating in secret, having that creamy cake, that bag of chips, that chunk of cheese that no one knows anything about can be 'exciting', as well as tasty. The thing is, it stops being exciting when it becomes a weight gain. The trouble is by then, it may have become a habit. Remove this burden by making a promise to yourself that, from now on, you will only eat food you would be happy to be seen eating.
Love:
Someone once said there are times when we eat to feed the hungry heart and it's true, sometimes that's exactly what we do. But even as we're doing it, we know it's not the answer. Loving ourselves means taking care of ourselves; for ourselves and for the people we love. Better ways to love ourselves can be found more and more easily when we develop the habit of being grateful for what's in our lives, rather than feeling empty because of what we think is missing.
Reward:
Until we come up with a better strategy for ourselves, it's easy to think of food as a reward system. After all, in our society it's not unusual to celebrate success with food. However, if food is the only system we have in place to reward ourselves, we will be in trouble. Set the goal of coming up with 10 different, non-food ways of rewarding success and start using them. Find which ones satisfy you best and use them as your reward system, rather than depending on food.
Identity:
If you have been overweight for any length of time, then chances are your weight is a significant part of your identity; and has been for some time. Sometimes we identify so completely with being overweight that we sabotage ourselves as we near our goal weight. As someone once said to me, “What would I think about, worry about, fill my thoughts with if I wasn't overweight?” If you're used to identifying yourself as a certain weight or size and find it hard to see yourself as slim, begin thinking of yourself as two sizes or two stone lighter and keep thinking it until you are comfortable with that new identity. Continue like this until you are 'used to' being at your goal weight, even before you physically get there.
Fun:
There's no doubt that eating can be fun; trying out new recipes, food from different parts of the word; something to be shared with loved ones. The thing is to know where to draw the line; realising it's the experience, just as much as the food itself which creates the fun. Think about it; what would you do if you had to choose between dry crackers and good company or a fabulous meal on your own. Which would you enjoy more; which would be more fun? Relying on food to provide fun is a bit like putting all your eggs in one basket. Ask yourself, what other ways you can have fun in your life; ways that don't include food.
Of course there is a time and a place and a purpose for everything in life. Sometimes the purpose of food is simply to nourish our bodies; to replenish the calories we have spent. Sometimes the purpose of food is to quite literally break bread with family and friends. But when we want food to be the answer to all our challenges, we ask too much of food and believe too little in ourselves. Food is lovely. Food is delicious. Food is fantastic, but it's nowhere as lovely or fantastic as you are. Within you there is the potential to find all the things you may have been turning to food to give you. With your magical brain, incredible creativity and natural curiosity you can find a healthy way to experience and satisfy your natural need for Comfort, Excitement, Love, Reward, Identity and Fun.
Being slim and healthy is one of the best gifts you can give yourself, so go ahead and treat yourself.
TAKEN FROM: WWW.WEIGHTWATCHERS.IE
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Replies
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Excelent post, thank you for sharing:flowerforyou:0
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Thank you for posting this; I really needed it right now.
:-)0 -
Don't forget, sugar is like a drug to the brain. You get the little high just as if you used any other drug. One reason so much sugar is added to food you buy, and just like they added nicotine to cigarettes. We are inundated by billions of dollars of advertisements to do nothing be buy food that is not healthy.0
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This post should be a must read for any person attempting to lose weight. Thank you.:flowerforyou:0
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Good one! Thanks for posting~ :drinker: :flowerforyou:0
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great post
specially identity part it reminded me of saying I believe in {{fake it to make it}}0 -
This post should be a must read for any person attempting to lose weight. Thank you.:flowerforyou:
Agreed~0 -
Excellent read. So true, so true. I thank you from the heart. I can identify with all of the listings. I am getting better.0
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cant take the credit as i got it from www.weightwatchers.ie
but i really liked it and it makes a whole lotta sense to me :blushing:0
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