Access The Good Stuff

[Harriet101]

Hi

we all have times when we've been really powerful, avoided addictive foods and felt amazing.

Well yesterday I felt awful but today I started thinking about the times when I just haven't wanted food. I decided to access those powerful 'not interested' feelings at tea time tonight.

I was in quite a relaxed kind of mood anyway (dont try this when stressed) but I did manage it. I just remembered those willpower filled feelings and instructed myself that I really couldn't be bothered with food, that it was boring.

It worked!

Thwe purpose of this thread is to get all of us to remeber specific times we did the right thing food wise, or went for a run in the rain, or helped a friend , or cleared the cupboards of rubbish on 1st Jan...

post your 'good stuff ' here and then see if you can call up the emotion of the memory in order to help yourself today.

It doesn't matter how short lived the feeling was, the point is to get back there to motivate you now.

I'll start. After my hypnotic gastric band, I absolutely lost interest in food for 2 weeks. That's the feeling I went after today.

 

[LastEverDiet]

Hi Harriet
Wow a hypnotic gastric band sounds so interesting!
Great idea to think about past success and feelings of being in control... I'll have to come up with an image I can use when I feel my will-power slipping, maybe from back when I stopped smoking. went from 20 a day to not having smoked at all for years now, so what used to feel like a struggle is second nature now. Hoping a healthy diet will be the same some day!

 

[*sweetpea*]

Really interesting thread, I rarely reply to threads, tend to lurk but this struck a cord. I am a compulsive eater, I eat in secret, very large amounts until I am in physical pain. This has been a gradual thing that has happened over the last 4 years or so. I have dieted pretty much all my life, since about the age of 9, I was very tall at school compared to the other girls & vividly remember comparing sizes of my legs. I have gone from being very slim to now at my largest, I have no excuses, I am very lucky to have a fabulous fella, gorgeous healthy children, lovely house & a job I enjoy. The only part of my life I am unhappy with is me & my weight, which is affecting every aspect of my life. When I think back to my slim (happy within myself) days I can remember the way I felt happy in my slim clothes, I felt almost excited at feeling a little hungry (instead of anxious) & quite proud of the way I looked. I have just this weekend decided to stop "dieting" as such, as I have come to realise its making my put on weight not lose. And since then I have not had a binge, which is a massive thing for me as it wad beginning to happen every day. I am starting to.remember those feelings of hunger as not a bad thing but just as a feeling that I maybe need a little bit of food to keep my body ticking over, after all it just fuel! It's very early days for me, but I just wanted to comment on the opening post as it struck a cord with me, mind over matter! I am also very interested in the hypno band & have been researching it for myself. Please keep us updated with your progress xx

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using MiniMins

 

[Harriet101]

Hello last ever diet and sweetpea - thanks for your comments. It's very easy in our culture to get into negative thought patterns , but I know that focusing on where you want to be is the only way.

This is not thinking positive, which is really another name for wishful thinking, but rather spending as much time as humanly possible imagining and FEELING what your ideal self is.

I have been working on this for quite a while and I am getting a handle on it.

Baby steps to begin with - you have more self control than you think. Eg if someone eats x number of food items (I NEVER name them as that is too provocative) , why didnt they eat more? Because they have the power to control themselves (I remember one time having flu and feeling sick but still gorging myself , so when I had bulimia I could still see that I had some control normally compared to when I had flu).

OK it might not seem like it, or only a tiny amount of control - but it's there and can be built on.

Observe yourself this week and instead of saying 'why did I eat all that?' say 'look, I stopped at that amount of food. I have control'

The hypno band was v useful in that it gave me the belief that I could be full on small portions. As you can see, I am still working on behavioural change.

There is a hypno band thread but I cant post any links yet til i have 50 posts.

So proud you given up dieting sweet pea! Dieting completely misses the point , which is to get your mind on board.