Emotional eating can sabotage any diet or cause people to
pile the pounds back on when they've reached their target
weight. Does that donut have your name written on it? Is
that last chocolate in the box the one that tastes the
best? (And you'd know that because you've eaten all the
others). Are you driven to eat when you are happy or sad or
bored or angry? Do you feel a need to eat because you
"deserve it"; you've had a tough day?
If so, you may recognise that you are eating because of
emotional hunger, not physical hunger. There are many
steps you can take to conquer emotional eating and the one
I recommend you start with is spring cleaning.
Clearing out your life is sometimes essential if you are
going to focus on success.
You may know the phrase "clear the decks". If you have ever
been on board a ship you'll know how important it is to
keep the decks clear. If you trip over something you won't
just have a sore toe and a bruised ego, you could also end
up overboard! If you are walking around the deck trying to
avoid obstacles you'll be looking at your feet, not at
where you are going.
If you clear the decks in your life you'll be able to see
where you are going there too.
So what is cluttering up your life?
Is your work environment a mess? Even for someone like me
(I'm a piler, not a filer) mess eventually gets to me. It
wastes energy tiptoeing through the junk, it wastes time
looking for stuff and it's difficult to keep the air clean
and healthy with an accumulation of fluff. Negotiating the
obstacles will slow you down and, hey, you need to move
quickly for the exercise! Decluttering also makes you
mentally clearer. Perhaps the mess has been distracting you
from your feelings about food. Those feelings need to be
out in the open if you want to conquer emotional eating.
Is your kitchen a mess? Go on, sort out the cupboards and
get rid of the junk. Dried herbs that predate this century,
ready meals that you have "just in case" and munchies that
you keep "for the kids". Who are you kidding? Clear it all
out. Believe me, if you are saving it because you hate
waste you can be assured that keeping a load of barely
edible foods in your house is not going the help the
starving and will only end up on your hips.
Is your head a mess? Yes, you knew I'd get there
eventually. Why are you losing weight anyway? Is it for you
or someone else? Why does it matter? Unless you really know
what weight loss means to you (other than the obvious that
you'll look less chubby) you won't want to do it.
Many of my clients want to lose weight for the noblest of
motives. It often has something to do with health - they
want to stay healthy so they can look after their children
or their parents. One person they don't seem to want to
look after is themselves!
So clear the decks in your head by asking the following
questions:
Who? Who am I doing this for? Myself? My family? My boss?
My cat?
Subsidiary question - are they worth it? If you secretly
feel they're not, you won't feel motivated to make changes.
If you are doing it for yourself it is essential that you
believe you are worth it and if you don't feel this, you'll
have some emotional work to do.
What? What are you trying to achieve? A particular weight
or dress size? If you don't know what you are aiming for
you will only hit the target by accident.
Be clear about your weight loss goals and visualise
yourself at your target weight with all the feelings of
success that go with it. Then you'll be moving towards your
goal.
How? How can you best make small, easy changes that you can
consistently follow? My experience of working with clients
has shown me that weight loss is most successful when they
can make changes that will fit into their lifestyle and
that they will maintain long term. If you consistently eat
smaller helpings or say no to puddings or increase your
daily exercise by five minutes each week you will see long
term changes and a new you.
What change can you make today and every day that will take
you a step further towards your goal?
Clear the clutter in your life and give yourself space to
look at the essentials. You owe it to your slim and
gorgeous self to reorganise your life so you can focus on
the fantastic you!
----------------------------------------------------
Liz Copeland is a Nutrition Coach. She shows people who
find healthy eating difficult how to change their beliefs
and behaviours around food so they can eat well, look good
and feel great. Find her "Live Your Best Life" guide and
the newsletter No More Rabbit Food - weight loss tips for
people who love food at
http://www.tranzformations.co.uk/signup.php .
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