Let’s set the scene. You are at a social gathering and having a ball. You’re feeling confident and looking your very best. You’ve even read about and armed yourself with tips on how to survive such occasions without totally pigging out when you see a beautiful and enormous box of chocolates are being passed around. The host opens the box and you notice her face light up as the golden box shines on her like she’s on stage. You catch sight of the beauties inside and immediately your mouth starts to water. Your mind is now running on adrenaline as a mixture of excitement and fear curse through your veins. Excitement at the very thought of tasting the tiny packages of absolute delight and the fear of the inevitable weight gain should you dare cave in and actually eat one or two or ten!!
The old me, the me before The Anti-Diet, would have caved in and eaten as many as I could possibly have had without appearing greedy. I would then be left with a lasting craving to have more and I would scoff any chocolate I could find once I was home. The thought being that well, I’ve already had some chocolate so I might as well have several to make the most of it. This led to me having tons of it (and other goodies!) because I knew I would need to be very strict with myself the next day! Sometimes, I managed to even refuse having the said chocolates when offered to me but having done that, I would crave chocolate with such vengeance until I would go out of my way to find a shop, purchase a couple of huge, family sized bars and eat my way through the lot until the craving was satisfied. In both of these instances, whilst I was in heaven when eating the chocolates, I would reach an all time low once I’d finished. At that point, I feared the weight gain that was sure to follow.
The new me, is different – VERY different. Given the same situation, which happens every now and then, I am completely calm and prepared. I look forward to my turn, I receive the box with delight and I read through the list of chocolates and what they have to offer with absolute anticipation! I then select ALL the ones I want (obviously, I’ll be polite and refrain from taking the lot lol!). I then, slowly, carefully and mindfully eat each and every one of them. I stop to taste them fully, I notice the texture and the delicious smell each of them offer. The only time I’ll stop is when I am satisfied. It may be hard to believe but when you give yourself permission, you actually end up feeling happier and eat less then if you are consumed by guilt and self-loathing.
If you read this blog, you will know why it is that when we deny ourselves, we eat much more than we would have otherwise. When you see that this is how you will react, by reflex, then you will understand why restricting yourself or forbidding certain foods from your diet is about as useful as a chocolate teapot!
Abundance awakens satisfaction
So next time you have this dilemma, know that satisfaction mode will win over survival mode every time!! Also remember that eating 1 or 10 chocolates from the box will not make you gain weight (A quick search on the internet will confirm you need to eat at least 3,500 extra calories to gain 1 pound of fat). The real reason for gaining is our thought process and actions AFTER having the chocolate. The excitement from eating the chocolate is soon replaced by guilt and self-loathing (to a lesser or greater degree depending on your personality). Once the negative thoughts kick in, you will most likely decide that since you’ve broken your diet, you might as well ‘make the most of it’. This means, you’ll spend the day or days overeating to your hearts content, knowing that you will have to be strict with yourself soon enough. You won’t even enjoy much of it as when you’re stuffing your face, you don’t really enjoy it that much (I know I didn’t). I remember that every time I went on one of my binges, the trigger was almost always when I’d just slightly over-indulged. It took a lot of internal healing to realise this and once I was released from this tendency, I began to have what I wanted and could stop once I was satisfied WITHOUT ever feeling like I was missing out. The result, I literally had my cake and ate it lol!!
I sincerely wish the same for you and wish you the best of luck in your own journey. May you find your way there too!
If you are serious about losing weight but fed up of dieting, please like and follow my blog for great advice and tips to help you finally lose weight for good!
You can also read my book, The Anti-Diet Lifestyle – 4 Crazy Steps to Weight-Loss Success! This book contains all my weight loss secrets in an easy to follow formula. It’s available on Amazon in paperback and E-Book. I am serious about helping you achieve your weight loss goals!!
Written by Sherry Taylor
Author of The Anti-Diet Lifestyle
