Because you cannot reign in your desire to overeat, do you chalk it up to “food addiction?” There are studies that seemingly point to food addiction because eating “turns on” the pleasure center in the brain. But the fact is, there are many things that turn on the pleasure center in our brains – and we are not “addicted” to them. Of course food would turn on the pleasure center in our brain. If we did not enjoy eating, mankind probably would’ve become extinct tens of thousands of years ago. We need to enjoy eating so we’ll hunt down that dinosaur to feed ourselves.
Then I have had clients tell me that they do not overeat, really. They just don’t plan well. But if you are overweight, it is because you are overeating. Too much food into the body creates additional weight. That is the only way you become overweight. So maybe you don’t sit down and eat three plates of food at once, but you do eat past satiation. Maybe you snack a lot throughout the day or evening (or both!). At no one time do you feel like you’ve eaten Thanksgiving dinner, but you are putting too much food in your system. That’s overeating.
Another thing I hear a lot is “it just tastes sooooo good – I really love food.” I have yet to hear anyone tell me they hate food. Do you think those who are naturally at a healthy weight are that way because they don’t really love food? Again, loving food is what keeps us alive! Yes, good food can be a great joy in our day. Why turn that joy into pain because you overeat it? The food does not even taste that great once you are no longer feeling hungry. Overeating on something, no matter how good it tastes, is no fun. You’ll walk away feeling like crap every time.
It can be incredibly convenient to tell yourself that you are addicted to food. Why, alcoholics and drug addicts can go “cold turkey” to walk away from their addictions, but you can’t because you have to have food to survive. So you cannot beat the addiction. Right? Great story to make yourself feel better about not being able to figure out what really drives you. But trust me, it is not addiction. It can seem like addiction because it feels so out of control. But it is within your control to stop hurting yourself with food – because that is exactly what you are doing when you overeat. You are hurting yourself. Make no mistake. It overfills your digestive system, bogs down your body, makes your stomach turn acidic. You don’t sleep well at night. Probably your stomach burns or churns, so you find yourself eating Tums all the time. It then increases the weight of your body, so every day tasks slowly become more and more difficult for you. I know it sounds harsh to think you are hurting yourself. But you will not stop hurting yourself until you own that this is exactly what you are doing. Even if you think you are “comforting” yourself with food, it hurts. So what do you do? You make a choice.
The first step is to acknowledge what you are doing, and that it does not comfort you for more than the short time the bowl of ice cream lasts – or the few extra minutes at the dinner table to go from “not hungry anymore” to feeling “wow, I’m full.” You have to acknowledge to yourself that it is the same as punching yourself in the face all the time. Then you make THE choice. You think, “I’d really like to eat the rest of this because it is so good, but it is going to make me feel like crap and I can always have it again at my next meal or a few days from now.” You choose the tough choice to push away the food. Then when you go to bed that night, you discover something incredible. You feel pretty good. You sleep well. You wake up the next morning feeling great. Hmmmm. Comfort. With each decision to not overfill your stomach or pass up a cupcake, you notice how much better your body is feeling and it gets easier and easier.
Will you backslide? Of course. But if you are mindful – if you are paying attention, you’ll notice immediately how crummy you feel because you put too much into your body. The memory of how good it felt to NOT make yourself sick with food makes it much easier to bounce right back to making the decision to pass up the momentary pleasure of overeating to feel the fantastic pleasure of being comfortable in your body. Just try this and see how it feels to not overeat, to not give into the snack. Keep checking into your body to see how it is feeling. How do you feel when you go to bed, when you get up? I want to hear about it in the comments below. See what effect this has on you and then come back here to share so other’s can learn from you as well. We are all on this road together.
