Tuesday, October 13, 2009

DAY 65 It's Not About The Food

Hi Journal!


I don't talk a lot about food because, for me, it's not about the food. It is not about managing food, it is about managing my emotions...so that I don't use food inappropriately. Food is nutrition, not medication.


It's not about the food!


So I have been trying to change my thinking about food...how I view it....to sort of put it in it's proper place, it's true role.





I want to keep me focused and not drift off into having a party in my mouth, eating soley for taste. I want to make my nutrition choices on the basis of health, not just what tastes yummy. Here is the little list I have to help me do that:


I want to remember that Food:
  • is my BUILDING MATERIAL
  • is for ENERGY
  • stokes my METABOLIC FURNACE to burn fat
  • is for my GOOD HEALTH 


I have gone through phases in my life where I tried to lose weight and eat healthy:


My vegetarian phase...
My tofu phase...
My wholewheat/whole foods phase...
My Superfood phase...
My herbs and supplements to excess phase...
My juicing phase...


And there are probably a few more I am forgetting right now...but the thing they all had in common was that I was looking for "the answer", the magic bullet, a cure, that final way that would fix me. But the answer was not outside of me... it was INSIDE of me.


When I finally GOT IT that it was NOT ABOUT THE FOOD...then I could put my focus where it belonged...changing ON THE INSIDE, so that whatever decent nutritional program I chose would be just fine, and would work. It was secondary to the REAL problem for me, which was inside my head...my thinking.  


I finally got it...that I don't have a WEIGHT problem...I have a MENTAL problem!! I had to change my thinking...which will change my relationship to food, and how I use it. I want to USE food, not ABUSE food. 

It is just that...food. Not comfort, not a medication, not an entertainment, not a distraction, not a way to avoid pain, not just for immediate pleasure or a lift of mood.



For me...IT'S NOT ABOUT MANAGING THE FOOD, IT'S ABOUT MANAGING MY EMOTIONS.




From Dr Phil's book:  "You will want to resist things that are new and that you don't understand...you can overcome this by consciously taking on the attitude of a willing spirit."


My verse for today: "The Lord is my strength and song...and I will exalt Him."


My quote for today: "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom."--Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor.

Enjoy the Journey,

Loretta
=^..^=




9 comments:

financecupcake said...

I am in the middle of writing a similar post. I got bored halfway through and decided to check out your blog. :) Emotional eating is horrible. stress drives me to eat and want to stay full all day. I use food to numb myself. My weight did not used to be a problem because I never had a lot of real stress. I don't know how to deal with stress and emotions. You seem to have a good handle on it! You are so right about it being a mental thing!

Retta said...

Hi CinciMom11,
Great minds think alike!
The most useful source that taught about handling emotions that I can highly recommend was Dr Phil's book "The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution". I would say about half the book touches on this in one way or another...you can still do your own nutrition plan, but the techniques in there will help you tremendously! I don't have it all down...I am still learning to be consistent.

And wouldn't you know, just about 10 minutes ago I finished listening to a podcast interview that was on this very subject!! It was soooo good...I believe the same way as her, that this journey has more than one component. It has nutritional, yes, but also mental, emotional and spiritual aspects. It was a great interview. If you'd like to hear it, here is the link:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yzut7lu

I am going to her youtube site now and see what she has there. Oughta be interesting!
Loretta

Anonymous said...

i love that kitty picture...I'm gonna go put it on facebook...

This is my problem as well, I am an emotional eater and part of my problem is simply eating at night. There are so many reasons why I do it and I need to think of an equal amount of feel good reasons why I shouldnt.

Anonymous said...

you know...I dont see an email follow up comments box...

Retta said...

Hi Nancy,
Me too! My biggest time when I need to be the most aware is nighttime...especially after Jim goes to bed...and then especially if I am genuinely hungry! Small snack...fine. But too often that small snack has a way of growing or morphing into a goodie-fest!

Oops...I changed the wording about comments...I didn't even catch that when I turned off the Word Verification dealie, that it changed the look. Now all you have to do is click the little button next to "Subscribe by Email." Thanks for the heads up!
Loretta

Karen Elizabeth Brown said...

I'm struggling so much at night that I have to give myself a lecture almost every night right now. As I was typing, I think I realized why - I do a lot of writing at night and I'm feeling stress to get it typed up. Am I hungry? Maybe just a little, but not so I need a meal.
This was a good blog entry today. It has helped me a lot.

Shelli Belly said...

The emotional rollercoaster I'm cashing in my ticket.

Anonymous said...

cool now I know how to subscribe... :-)

As for my eating at night, I wish I was less of a night owl. I am going to try try this week to always have something to drink that fills me up at about 9 pm and see if that helps. Even some diet hot chocolate would probably work. Last night I had diet jello...to me thats a good night if all I have is jello!!!

Retta said...

KAREN: I'm glad it helped you! It seems lots of nite owl types have similar issues with nightime eating.

SHELLI: Yes, it does feel like a roller coaster at times. :-) Glad to see you doing so well.

NANCY: Yes, it IS hard to switch when it feels so natural to be a nite owl! Jello....hmmm...that sounds good, I think I will get some made up, it always fills me up and doesn't "cost" much the way of carbs/calories.

Thank you all!
Loretta

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