What’s the deal with wanting weight loss so badly, but having an inability to follow through on a nutritional plan??
Even by the end of day one!
The answer could lie here:
Don’t think about a purple cat.
You just thought and imagined a purple cat, didn’t you. Ok, but now just don’t let that purple cat waive at you. AH! It just did!! 😉
This happens with food, but even worse. We have seen via functional MRI that when people see food, different places in our brain light up leading to increased hunger and decreased satiety (try googling “NIH fMRI appetite”). Then combine this with the addictive qualities many processed foods have, there is just no way to win. No way to make it through even the first couple of days. No way to just “strong arm” your way through the cravings.
It is not “willpower.”
Tips on how to use actual knowledge as power.
- Get maladaptive visible foods ques out of the house
- clean out the pantry
- clean out the fridge
(Small group idea: have a “clean out” picture brag post)
- for those afraid of “wasting” food. Unfortunately the money, the food was actually “wasted” the moment you bought food that had no to little nutritional value. Once you buy it there is no difference if you put it straight in the trash or into your gut. The “waste” was the moment you bought it. So now just get rid of it.
B. Change The Narrative
- It is NOT about what you can’t eat.
- It is about what you ARE eating AND doing for yourself.
- you ARE taking time for yourself
- you ARE eating food that will help you. Heck if you are on a clean eating plan, or trying to cut out sugar, in particular, you ARE maybe for the first time in a long time, actually nourishing your body. And isn’t that really why we eat in the first place? #perspective.
- You ARE on a journey currently.
- Remembering you have eaten all “those foods” in the past, you have had them…A LOT. You will have them again, just not right now.
C. Know your ENTIRE truth
- Do you want “that” food, sure…but what else do you want?
- You “want” food to make you feel better, but will it really?
- You will eat “that” to stay awake, but will it really? or really is it the fatigue-causing hunger hormones to go up, and the “I need to eat to stay awake” is really just those hormones fooling you. The food itself will not suddenly give you energy, in fact, won’t most of what you are about to eat be shuttled into storage?? #
especiallyifitissomethingthati sabouttocauseabolusofinsulin #insulinisastoragehormone # yourbraindoesnotneedinsulintok eepworking - for those who are thinking, but I need some glucose in my cells to keep my “energy up”…my reply would be…is that really the entire truth? Or is the entire truth: do you have plenty of easily accessible glycogen stores around that can be made into glucose, which should be a yes if overweight or obese. And if you have a working pancreas you have insulin around all the time. Do you really need a bolus of sugar and insulin?? That for the majority of us only mildly active people don’t these “boluses of sugars” #nighttimesnacks just go into storage?? Is it reeeeeallly going to be used for your energy needs that night? Or is it actually going into storage #rememberyourentiretruth
- Will putting that down and not eating “that” actually cause you to feel better?? #NSV We call them victories because we do get a sense of good feelings from walking away from “those” foods.
OK, I will stop there as this is getting to be too long already!
In the end maybe just keep in mind what you ARE doing, what you ARE giving yourself, because you ARE sticking to your chosen nutritional plan that WILL get you to your personal goal.
Sincerely,
Jennifer K Hendrix, DO
PS as always this information is for educational purposes only and is not meant to be substituted for medical care or treatment of disease. Educational tips are designed for those with fat mass excess, they may not apply to those who have what would be considered a normal level of fat mass. Consult your Mental Health Provider if have any further questions on how these tips could specifically apply to you personally.
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