What are we really hungry for? Exercise 35, 36, 37, & 38
Lose weight without dieting? HOW?!?!
By getting to the root of why you overeat in the first place! "Why Weight," written by Geneen Roth, is a non-diet book that contains exercises designed to help compulsive eaters learn how to stop using food as a substitute for handling difficult emotions or situations. You'll also learn how to enjoy eating and still lose weight naturally. This program offers reassuring guidelines on:
-- kicking the scale-watching habit forever
-- learning to say no
-- discovering other pleasures besides food
-- learning the difference between physical and emotional hunger
-- listening to and trusting your body's hunger and fullness signals
Each week at least one exercise will be posted and you are encouraged to share your answers, thoughts, etc..
Please share any insight, ideas, articles or other information that you may have.
Complete the following sentence:
I can’t/don’t want to sit down while I eat, and I can’t eat without distractions because…
[size=4 ]Exercise 36 [/size]
Most of us believe that if we really let ourselves enjoy food, we’d never stop eating. Do you think that?
If I really began enjoying food…..
[size=4 ]Exercise 37 [/size]
The ways in which I distract myself from eating are:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Each time you eat and distract yourself this week, write down the distraction. No judgments. Just awareness.
[size=4 ]Exercise 38 [/size]
Make a list of the ways you eat that don’t count as eating.
It doesn’t count if
1
2
3
4
Each time you eat for the next week and don’t count it as eating, check the way in which you do it. Again, please don’t judge yourself. Just notice what you do.
Complete the following sentence:
I can’t/don’t want to sit down while I eat, and I can’t eat without distractions because…
This is something that I'm currently working on. I am sitting at the table to eat when I'm alone, because if I watch TV and sit on the couch, or nibble when I'm standing, it often leads to a binge, or at least to eating things that I didn't plan on eating.
I really resisted forcing myself to do this, because i love to watch TV and eat -- the total veg experience! But I need to be able to control my intake and that just makes it harder. I do like to read while I eat. I guess I feel like I will be bored if I eat without distractions.
[size=4 ]Exercise 36 [/size]
Most of us believe that if we really let ourselves enjoy food, we’d never stop eating. Do you think that?
If I really began enjoying food….. I would be more satisfied and probably eat less. I find that when my food is in control I enjoy it a LOT more than when it's out of control. It feels good, and like I'm fulfilling my real needs, and nourishing myself. It's so much better when you're actually hungry.
[size=4 ]Exercise 37 [/size]
The ways in which I distract myself from eating are:
1 reading
2 listening to the radio
3 listening to music
4 watching tv (see above)
5 thinking about other things (surely that's allowed!)
6
7
Each time you eat and distract yourself this week, write down the distraction. No judgments. Just awareness.
[size=4 ]Exercise 38 [/size]
Make a list of the ways you eat that don’t count as eating.
It doesn’t count if
1 No one sees
2 I'm standing up
3 I didn't intend to eat
4 It's only a little bit
Complete the following sentence:
I can’t/don’t want to sit down while I eat, and I can’t eat without distractions because…ummm, I always do sit or even lie down when I eat, but I always have a distraction going on, either work, reading, talking to someone, or surfing the net ... because these things and others enhance the experience of eating for me ... I enjoy the food more. The problem is that it then becomes a Pavlovian dog thing ... when I read I want to eat, etc., so it gets hard to stick to the amount of food I should be having.
Most of us believe that if we really let ourselves enjoy food, we’d never stop eating. Do you think that? No. I think that if I DON'T enjoy food, I will continue eating until I get the experience I am after. I've proven this to myself time and time again.
If I really began enjoying food … I would eat less because I would need less to satisfy myself.
The ways in which I distract myself from eating are:
1. Working
2. Driving
3. Reading
4. Internet
5. Watching the Olympics
6. Socializing
7. Sitting in car and listening to NPR
8. Sitting in car and thinking
Each time you eat and distract yourself this week, write down the distraction. No judgments. Just awareness. This is a good idea for my journal.
Make a list of the ways you eat that don’t count as eating.
It doesn’t count if:
1. I decide it doesn't count; sometimes I can't take the pressure of managing my eating and dealing with everything else, so I just decide to eat whatever, put a box around it mentally and leave the box behind as I continue my journey. Usually I make a note of this in my journal but don't enter the calories into my computer records; but I retain awareness that my numbers will be a little off. This works pretty well at bringing me back into control when I feel life is too anxiety producing.
Each time you eat for the next week and don’t count it as eating, check the way in which you do it. Again, please don’t judge yourself. Just notice what you do. It IS a good idea to note this each time it happens. Self-knowledge is power.
What are we really hungry for? Exercise 35, 36, 37, & 38
