Do you have little voices? I do and in 8–week Mindful Eating Program, we talk about who is really hungry there -- the “little voices” that might try to convince us to eat even when we’re not hungry and sabotage your weight loss efforts.
I’ve been
able to silence most of mine, but one challenging time is the evenings. Not
every evening, but enough that I recently started paying more attention to see
what was going on and give myself enough of a pause to respond mindfully in a way other
than eating.
Little
voice: You haven’t
had much to eat during the day, so it’s okay for you to eat more tonight.
Response: I didn’t eat much because I wasn’t
hungry, and if I’m still not hungry, how much or little I had earlier today
isn’t a reason to eat.
Little
voice: You’re have
an activity in the evening and you don’t want to get hungry while you’re out.
Response:
Being a little
hungry won’t kill me, or if I’m worried about it, I can bring a snack.
Little
voice: You ate this
much last night and it was fine, so why not do it again?
Response: I was hungry last night, but I’m not tonight.
Little
voice: You won’t be
having dinner until later, and you don’t want to be ravenous when you start.
Response:
If I’m not hungry
now, and I eat, I won’t want anything at dinner. If I get hungry before then
I’ll have a snack, but right now I don’t need it.
Little
voice: You already
had this meal prepared and planned; you don’t want it going to waste.
Response:
It will be going to
waste anyway if I eat it and I’m not hungry – wasted time eating what I don’t
need, wasted energy feeling sluggish and/or not sleeping well, and calories
going to my waist. It’s not worth it.
If I think
about it this, it helps me put aside the desire to eat, saving that for when
I’m truly hungry and will appreciate the food the most. Which doesn’t mean I’m
not still tempted sometimes, but at least I can deal with it better.
No comments:
Post a comment