Conquering Food, Weight & Body Image From the Inside-Out - continued
Happy New Year! In my last blog on WQ we talked about a fictitious person, “Jane,” who was struggling with the conflict between her desire to lose weight and get healthier and her immediate cravings and urges to eat whatever she wants. As a result we said that Jane had been struggling with 30 to 40 pounds for years. She had been on many diets and she was now trying to keep her New Year’s resolution to get the pounds off but was running into both outer and inner conflicts: Social settings, both with family and at work in which she felt social pressure to eat, as well as those inner conflicts between the urge to splurge vs. the desire to be slender and healthier.
Oh those immediate urges! It is so easy to just gobble down the goody instead of exercising choice sticking with the “program,” whatever that may be. But it can be done, and on a regular basis.
Robert Fritz, famous author and expert on the creative process talks about making a “primary choice,” and then making whatever “secondary choices” will support that primary choice. I highly recommend writing these out - listing all the “secondary choices” you will want to implement on a regular basis (not just once). With them written down on paper they aren’t some nebulous and daunting list inside your head. You now have an opportunity to examine and strategize. You are planning – using forethought about how to handle and make the proper secondary choice in the various sticky situations you find yourself. If you are prepared with strategies and you know your secondary choices you have much more of a chance to develop the positive habits that will help you maintain a slender, healthy body.
Let’s take an example: Your Primary Choice: To reduce your body weight by 30 pounds; and to remain a healthy, active, slender person who eats health-producing foods in moderation for life! Sample Secondary choices:
a. When at family gatherings I will bring salad or veggies with me, since they all eat chips, fried, etc. Or offer to bring grilled, skinless chicken, and other things that will help me prevent hunger but still enjoy eating with everyone.
b. If I go out I will choose sparkling water with a twist of lemon or lime while on weight-reduction, and then on maintenance choose a max 2 wine spritzers or light cocktail.
c. I will consistently find ways to increase movement and energy-using activities in my life. That may be a formal 30 minutes of exercise at least four days a week or it may mean taking up an activity or sport like golf, tennis, volleyball or even ping-pong or an exercise video game.
d. I will consistently spend time with a journal, (or even talking with a close friend) to identify stress I may not be aware of. To prevent stress build-up leading to stress eating I will put myself and what I need to manage that stress on my calendar FIRST each week.
The more secondary choices you list the better your chances of making real and lasting change a reality.
Now that tip being said, logic and lists will help a great deal, and at the same time there are triggers, (both external temptations and internal emotions, cravings, stress, etc.) that may require some additional tools to help you really conquer this issue for the long-term. Many people really feel at the mercy of a food addiction. I was one of them and I know what it takes to recovery from food addiction. As a certified addictionologist I will eventually be blogging on the differences between full-blown food addiction vs. a general negative habit to overeat and/or eat the wrong foods.
There are many, and varying (individual) reasons that may be preventing your long-term health and slender body. In my last blog I introduced the concept of a lasting solution – a holistic one for change from the inside-out – which has worked in both the short and the long term for me and for many, many people. It is the approach that helps across the board, whether you have a negative habit of overeating or eating the unhealthy foods, or whether you have a full-blown food addiction.
You Can Do It!
Dr. Chris
The "I Can" Doctor
Oh those immediate urges! It is so easy to just gobble down the goody instead of exercising choice sticking with the “program,” whatever that may be. But it can be done, and on a regular basis.
Robert Fritz, famous author and expert on the creative process talks about making a “primary choice,” and then making whatever “secondary choices” will support that primary choice. I highly recommend writing these out - listing all the “secondary choices” you will want to implement on a regular basis (not just once). With them written down on paper they aren’t some nebulous and daunting list inside your head. You now have an opportunity to examine and strategize. You are planning – using forethought about how to handle and make the proper secondary choice in the various sticky situations you find yourself. If you are prepared with strategies and you know your secondary choices you have much more of a chance to develop the positive habits that will help you maintain a slender, healthy body.
Let’s take an example: Your Primary Choice: To reduce your body weight by 30 pounds; and to remain a healthy, active, slender person who eats health-producing foods in moderation for life! Sample Secondary choices:
a. When at family gatherings I will bring salad or veggies with me, since they all eat chips, fried, etc. Or offer to bring grilled, skinless chicken, and other things that will help me prevent hunger but still enjoy eating with everyone.
b. If I go out I will choose sparkling water with a twist of lemon or lime while on weight-reduction, and then on maintenance choose a max 2 wine spritzers or light cocktail.
c. I will consistently find ways to increase movement and energy-using activities in my life. That may be a formal 30 minutes of exercise at least four days a week or it may mean taking up an activity or sport like golf, tennis, volleyball or even ping-pong or an exercise video game.
d. I will consistently spend time with a journal, (or even talking with a close friend) to identify stress I may not be aware of. To prevent stress build-up leading to stress eating I will put myself and what I need to manage that stress on my calendar FIRST each week.
The more secondary choices you list the better your chances of making real and lasting change a reality.
Now that tip being said, logic and lists will help a great deal, and at the same time there are triggers, (both external temptations and internal emotions, cravings, stress, etc.) that may require some additional tools to help you really conquer this issue for the long-term. Many people really feel at the mercy of a food addiction. I was one of them and I know what it takes to recovery from food addiction. As a certified addictionologist I will eventually be blogging on the differences between full-blown food addiction vs. a general negative habit to overeat and/or eat the wrong foods.
There are many, and varying (individual) reasons that may be preventing your long-term health and slender body. In my last blog I introduced the concept of a lasting solution – a holistic one for change from the inside-out – which has worked in both the short and the long term for me and for many, many people. It is the approach that helps across the board, whether you have a negative habit of overeating or eating the unhealthy foods, or whether you have a full-blown food addiction.
You Can Do It!
Dr. Chris
The "I Can" Doctor
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