All right. The parties are over and the dishes are put
away. The leftovers are gone. It is January 2 and you are
just getting up (unless it was YOUR turn to walk the
dog…sorry). What is the first thought that comes into your
head? Your New Year's resolution, of course. And I bet it
goes like this: "today I start the (fill in the blank)
diet, and THIS time it is going to work!"
Before you get started, may I make a rather unusual
request? Why not make your new diet a "non" diet? That's
right; why not give up dieting for the New Year? After
all, you have been on and off diets so many times you've
lost count. You have never been able to keep the weight off
which makes you feel lousy about yourself, right? So why
not try something new this year? Why not make this year's
resolution about learning to become at peace with food?
Perhaps I should explain a bit.
Let's face it-diets do NOT work. Or to put it another way,
all diets work: while you are on them. The problem is once
you go ON a diet, eventually you go OFF that diet, and the
weight just comes back, right? So, think about what would
happen if you stopped dieting? Allow yourself to give it a
moment's thought.
Is it scary? Probably. You are so used to following a
diet, being told (by a piece of paper, a television
personality or the latest diet book) what to eat, and when
to eat it. Now, you have to throw all that away. What's
going to happen?
At first, you may gain a little weight. Why? Because you
are so used to depriving yourself of the foods you love
that when you take away that restriction, it's all you want
to do. But guess what? After a while, when you realize
you can eat those chocolate cookies whenever you want, you
learn to eat them only when you are truly hungry for
chocolate cookies (not because you are sad, depressed or
any emotion except chocolate cookie hunger). And, more
importantly, you find that you are satisfied with less
cookies.
One of the many problems with dieting is that you have been
depriving yourself for so long that you are afraid to trust
your own judgment about what is right for you. You have
developed such a difficult relationship with food that you
no longer know what it feels like to be hungry.
Becoming "at peace with food" is a journey that involves
developing a new relationship with food. Instead of being
marked by frustration and disappointment, by fear and
competition between you and the food you eat, food takes
its place as one of the many activities in your life, along
with family, friends, working and being active. And, like
these other activities, it becomes pleasurable.
Becoming at peace with food is learning to trust yourself
again-to make the right choices for yourself. It results in
no longer fearing food, but loving food and all the
activities related to cooking, eating, and living.
Let's start this New Year by accepting ourselves, becoming
at peace with ourselves, and at peace with food.
Good luck and have a happy new year.
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For free tips to becoming At Peace With Food, articles, and
links to nutritional resource websites, visit
=>http://www.AtPeaceWithFood.com/freetips.html
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