A lot of us struggle to have reasonable portions of fun foods. We take a bite, and then we want to keep eating until we’ve eaten too much.
Why does this happen?
There are many reasons, but a big one is because we have created unnecessary value in that particular food.
Consider two different eating scenarios involving brownies…
Scenario 1:
You’ve done the work to heal your relationships with food and body, and food is just food now.
There are no food rules or foods that are off limits. You no longer feel like you can’t or shouldn’t eat brownies.
You feel satiated, satisfied, and nourished at all times of the day.
You allow yourself fun foods when they meet your needs.
As a result, you don’t feel restricted or deprived, so food feels abundant – not scarce.
Scenario 2:
You’re in a 1,000 calorie deficit so you can lose 2lbs/week.
You’ve cut out all fun foods, since they are supposedly unhealthy and won’t allow you to reach your goals.
You don’t allow yourself brownies because you can never stop at just one.
When someone offers you a brownie, or you walk buy some at the grocery store, you want them, but you tell yourself you can’t, or shouldn’t eat them.
As a result, you feel restricted and deprived. You’re pushing through your diet, relying on willpower to get by. And food is feeling very scarce.
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In which of these 2 scenarios do you think you’ll be able to control yourself around a plate of brownies?
Anyone who has lived both scenarios will tell you that in scenario 1, you’ll be better equipped to enjoy a brownie and move on. Or, you’ll just ignore the brownie altogether – not because you feel like you can’t have it, but because it doesn’t sound good right now and you don’t want it.
In scenario 2, EVERYTHING sounds good. You’re hungry. You’re feeling deprived. And you’re likely thinking about food constantly.
The scarcity you’ve voluntarily (but unintentionally) created has completely upgraded the value of food in general. And the brownie is now calling out to you.
When, not if, you end up eating it, you can’t stop. How could you? You’re eating something that has such a high value to you, that it’s nearly impossible to stop.
When food has that much value, your feelings surrounding it are intense.
If you’re starving or dying of thirst, food and water are scarce and have an extremely high value. I promise you that you won’t just have just a bite or a sip once you’re presented with them.
You’re going to eat and drink as much as you possibly can. The pleasure response from eating such a high value food is so high that it can be hard to think about anything other than eating more.
This is why you need to devalue your food. It sounds bad, but it really just means leveling all foods so that they are equal in your mind.
If you’re feeling an intense drive to eat certain foods, figure out what you’re doing that is driving that value up (restriction, deprivation, food rules, poor body image, etc).
Start breaking down the limiting beliefs you’ve attached to food – aka heal your relationship with food, and those extra brownies will become an afterthought.
Talk soon…