When I say the word “donut”, does that trigger you? Do you want to devour one, right now?
When you see a picture of a donut, is that an even bigger trigger? Do you REALLY want to devour one now?
I remember as a kid watching TV & the Dairy Queen commercial would come on. My sisters & I would watch all the hot fudge drip down the ice cream as the nuts were sprinkled on top. And then came the cherry. It was perfectly placed on the top with whipped cream. I can still see it now.
And for several minutes after that commercial came on, we’d be begging my mom to take us to Dairy Queen. We’d all be counting out our pennies & asking what jobs we could do to get some ice cream.
What would happen if you saw that commercial & had chosen to go on a diet where you swore off eating all sweets forever? I’d be watching that commercial ANGRY! I’d think to myself – “Not fair. I can’t have that. They should ban all ice cream commercials.” And then I’d set the TV on fire. (Not really, but it sounded like a good thing to say.)
When you tell yourself you can’t have something, you want it MORE!! The desire to eat it increases. And, the longer you go without it, the worse it gets. It’s like holding down a beach ball under water. You can hold it down for so long before you have to give in & the ball comes blasting out of the water. In my case, the blasting out of the water meant – EATING EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!!!
I spent 25 years of my life going on a diet & telling myself I couldn’t eat certain foods. 25 FREAKIN’ YEARS!!
I sure wished I knew then what I know NOW! It would have saved me so much trouble & beating myself up. I look at those years as learning years. Years of testing & knowing what DOESN’T WORK! LOL! I dieted my way to be 100 lbs overweight!!! (2 times!)
NOW?!! I DO NOT LIMIT ANY FOODS!! That doesn’t mean you get a free for all. Nope. There’s a method to how it all works.
I LOVE tacos & donuts. They are the foods on my list that I can eat any time, anywhere. I haven’t met a taco or donut I didn’t like. In the past, I looked at them as being on the BAD LIST. NOT GOOD. EVIL. STAY AWAY. (Get the point?)
I no longer have good/bad food lists. Food is just food. Some food nourishes you. I eat those 80% of the time. Other foods are just fun or what I like to call “joy eats.”
I teach all of this in my You, Your Mood & Food Emotional Eating Course, but here’s a quick low down of how it works.
- Cut out sugar & white flour for 3-4 weeks. If you’re an emotional eater, there is a BIG, BIG chance that you have an addiction to sugar. Sugar does a HUGE number on your brain. Like…HUGE!! (White flour does the same as sugar in your brain! yep!) It gives you a big dopamine hit and a rush that feels awesome. Your emotional brain that tries to keep you alive thinks this is a good thing & tells you to EAT MORE!!! Your brain is playing tricks on you. The first thing you need to do is get rid of the sugar addiction & the game your brain is playing on you.
(I can hear you all yelling at me right now saying – “But wait! I thought you didn’t limit any foods! What the heck are you talking about?” Hold onto your hats folks. We’re not done!!)
Notice that I said you would limit sugar & white flour for 3-4 weeks? In order for your brain to work on a fair playing ground, you have to get rid of the addiction to it. THEN…you will bring those foods back in. And when you bring it back in… you’ll do it in a way where the food brings you JOY & you’re not using it as therapy.
Here’s what I teach:
- Completely cut out sugar/white flour for 4 weeks. EAT NONE! You will go through the river of misery & it will be hard. Expect headaches & to be uncomfortable. It is temporary. And…so very worth it when you feel “free” from that addiction.
- Once you’re free of that addiction, you get to decide how you want to add it back in. Everyone who goes through my course learns how to set up their own protocol of what works for them. We are all so different & it’s hard to say what works for YOU & YOUR BODY!! Right? But, for most, it looks a lot like this: NOTHING is off limits. If you want to eat something that has sugar or white flour, you PLAN it in! I eat treats 2x/week. I plan out my schedule & see what’s coming up. Tuesday is a party. I’ll plan a “joy eat” on that night. Friday we’re going out to eat & I’ll plan a JOY EAT then! Awesome.
Why does this work so well? Because NOW, when I see an ice cream commercial, I don’t say – “Oh man! I can’t eat that” and then set the TV on fire.” Nope. Instead, I say – “Yum! I want some ice cream. Let’s plan when I’m going to eat some!”
My brain never gets upset or mad that I’m telling it NO! The answer is always “YES! Let’s plan it in!” You aren’t ever depriving yourself of anything.
WIN-WIN all the way around!!
