Friday, April 25, 2008

Why do we Overeat?

A ClubFYM Diet Question

I am sharing a post that was created by a Fit Yummy Mummy in ClubFYM who has some encouraging and empowering thoughts on why we choose to overeat and how we can overcome this self-limiting habit.





"I'm posting this as I believe there may be quite a few ladies out there who get stuck in the diet-binge cycle that I'm very familiar with. Here are some of my thoughts which have helped on the whole overeating sabotaging dilemma.

Something I do now which has helped me a lot is I think in longer time lines.

I used to always start out 'gun ho' (is that the saying?) and be really strict basically expecting too much too soon. It was all about the weight, weight, weight... I'd be on the scales thinking "wait a minute I've been killing myself for a week eating so strictly and exercising and I've lost one lousy kilo?"

Do you think like this?

It's really not a successful way of thinking. The all or nothing attitude is not realistic. I've tried it countless times.

I've since adjusted my expectations. Small improvements at a time is what works. Even though you may be thinking as I have in the past-'No way that will take way too long' and maybe your mind set is the same as mine was, that if I slip up and have one cookie then that's it-the rest of the day is completely ruined...I've stuffed up .

This is exactly why we fall into the same mentality and vicious cycle.

I know I still fall into this mentality sometimes but a hell of a lot less now that I've adjusted my expectations and not expect all or nothing from myself. Maybe some people who have never had an eating problem can do that but I can't.

I've already eaten a giant oatmeal raison cookie this morning but it is the way I chose to view this in my mind that determines if I will go into a downward spiral or continue through the day following my plan again. This morning I chose to see it as one cheat. If I have 6 cheats throughout the whole week (6 out of 42 meals!) that is WAY better than ruining the whole day which will turn into two days, three days etc...

I might not be 15% bodyfat with cut arms but hey I'm feeling better about myself than I did a few months ago. And what's not to say that I have 15%BF and cut arms one day, but it's not my burning desire anymore to get it by this date or I've failed.

Then there are the other slip ups which happen when we are feeling crap and decide to eat crap to make ourselves feel even crappier.

How insane is this?

If you think about it, the decision that determines our whole day happens in a few seconds. Getting up from the couch and walking into the kitchen, or driving into a drivethrough, or putting something in our shopping trolley that we know shouldn't be in there.

Do you relate to these scenarios?

How about we play these scenarios or other ones that you go through in our heads, visualize them, and in the visualization choose to say STOP in our heads and take the time to think about the consequences and then think about the times when we have felt our best...when we are eating right and feeling great.

If you visualize this enough you will jog this memory the next time you actually do the scenario in reality. If you start becoming aware of what you are thinking you can change your thoughts to better ones and that can change your whole day....your whole life...one thought at a time."

~ Milo

ClubFYM


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