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Permanent Weight Loss: How You Do Food Is How You Do Life!Weight loss happens easily when your life is in balance. Permanent weight loss is about transforming your relationship with all of life. The relationship you have with food is a mirror of the relationship you have with life. How you approach food is how you approach life. Your relationship with food exists in the larger context of your life. Your eating style is a reflection of your internal state. If your eating is out of balance, so is your life. If your internal state is stressful and chaotic, your eating style will be also. You eat how you are. When your life becomes more balanced and peaceful, so will your eating. Dieting is never effective for long because it doesn't address the context of your life. Permanent
weight loss is really about lifestyle and spiritual change: finding new
ways of
nurturing oneself, learning to manage stress, and finding new ways of
being in
the world that support one’s spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical
health. As Zen teacher Cheri Huber wrote in her wonderful book with the same name, "How you do anything is how you do everything!" To make peace with food you have to make peace with yourself. The
Binger and Compulsive Eater – I can’t get enough! If you are compulsive with food you will be compulsive in other areas of your life. You will live life compulsively. If you are a binger you might find yourself bingeing on other things besides food. You may be a binge drinker, a binge shopper, a substance abuser, a hoarder, or a collector of things. You may have an obsessive-compulsive type personality. You’re the consummate consumer. You feel empty inside. You can’t get enough because you feel you aren’t enough. There is a large hole inside of you calling you to fill it. You are filling the void with substances, people, and things. Your life is probably chaotic. You may be very impulsive, with poor self-control. After a binge you are filled with shame, and self-loathing. You have very low self-esteem. You
have a hard time setting boundaries and saying no in life. You are a
people
pleaser. You may be quite angry and resentful but never show it. You
stuff your
feelings with food. You may isolate a lot. You're secretive around
others about
how much you really eat. Food is your friend, lover, and main source of
comfort.
Your motto is, “Food is my friend and tranquilizer!” *Note: This information is not meant as medical advice or to diagnose a medical problem or eating disorder. If you suspect you have a problem check with a medical doctor or mental health professional. Click here for eating disorder resources. You’re
obsessive, perfectionistic and a bit of a slave driver. Others may see
you as a control
freak.
You may feel superior to people who have less control than you do. You
are
probably judgmental and critical of other people. A good day for you is
when you
have followed your diet to the letter. You are very hard on yourself when you show any loss of control. You see food as being in two categories "good and bad." If you have a little slip this can be used as an excuse to be "bad" and then indulge until you decide to diet again. Life becomes defined as either on a diet or on a binge. You probably have few interests in life. You may be a workaholic or type A personality. You may sacrifice yourself for your family. You feel virtuous when you are doing without. This depriving, rigid attitude will be seen throughout your life. You may be a martyr. You feel resentful a lot. People just don’t seem to appreciate your sacrifices and all that you do for them. You may use food as a reward for being so good. Sometimes you lose control and then you can’t stop eating. This leads to a binge. Your response to this is to get angry and disgusted with yourself and become even more depriving. “Your motto is, “ I'm in control! I can do it myself! ” You may be a chronic dieter or borderline anorexia, binge eating disorder, or bulimia. You may find yourself alternating between the extremes of a chronic dieter and a binger. I went long periods where I would deny myself food and other things, and then I would start to binge on life and food as a response to my deprivation. *Note:
This information is not meant as medical advice or to diagnose a
medical
problem or eating disorder. If
you suspect you have a problem check with a medical doctor or mental
health
professional. For eating disorder resources click
here. The
Anorexic – I want to achieve perfection Your
life is about extreme self-denial. You
hate yourself for being human and having needs. You starve yourself
hoping to acheive perfection. Your life is barren. You’re afraid to be
visible in the
world. Your sense
of self is poor or non-existent. You are caught in a
life and
death struggle. You are
struggling with the basic needs of living. You may secretly wish
to die. You have yet to make a
real
commitment to live and be seen in the world. Your motto is, “I hate myself for being human. I wish I didn’t have needs.” *Note: This information is not meant as medical advice or to diagnose a medical problem or eating disorder. If you suspect you have a problem check with a medical doctor or mental health professional. For eating disorder resources click here.
If you are a mindless eater, you are a person who lives in their head most of the time. You are out of touch with your body. You are often overscheduled, and over committed. You may be a workaholic. You probably have trouble-saying no. You may pride yourself on how busy you are and how much you get done in a day. Your mind is very active, thinking about all the many things you have to do. You go from one activity to the next, without ever really being there. You live on autopilot. Your busy, busy, busy. You are always thinking about what you have to do next. You know your unhappy but don’t feel motivated to change anything. You spend your free time zoning out in front of the TV, on the computer, or playing video games. You usually eat when watching TV, driving, or doing other things. You grab food on the run and have no time to exercise. You finally plop yourself in bed at night exhausted and wake-up to jump on the treadmill again in the morning. Your life is spent going through the motions. Your motto is: “Life’s a grind – then you die!” You are probably severely overweight and out of shape. You’re pursuing you dreams. You may have a cause that you’re passionate about. You have good relationships with friends and family. You’re passionate about living life to the fullest. Life’s not perfect, but your grateful for all that you have. Your excited about what you’re doing. You look forward to waking up in the morning to start another day. Food’s great, but so are lots of other things in life. Eating well is part of your balanced, healthy lifestyle. You have a few vices, but indulge them in moderation. If you overindulge once in a while, you don’t beat yourself up about it - you’re human. You just get right back on track the next day. Whatever you are doing in life, you bring your full attention to it. You live in the moment. You're a master! Your motto is, “Live your bliss and flow.” How
you do food is how you do life! Related
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