The Non-Dieters Mindset for Weight Loss - Pt. 2: Be Aware of the Guilt Factor

Be Aware of the Guilt Factor The labels we place on our food and our eating experiences

can create the kind of guilt and self-punishment which Diet marketers prey on. Negative emotions connected with food is the fastest path to becoming a diet junkie. We have that constant whip of condemnation permanently attached to our backs, rating our worth based on our intake. Depending on the extent of our perceived overindulgence or lack of discipline, we administer appropriate punishment in terms of how we allow ourselves to feel on a scale of ashamed and guilt ridden to very ashamed and very guilt ridden. To help get some of that guilt out of your system try to: Depersonify Food: When we personify food, we make it a friend, companion, counselor, pacifier, etc. Depersonifying food means that you can see it more clearly, so that you see the food itself, not the identity youve forced on it. Food is not just for subsistence, but it certainly isnt meant to play human roles either. Identify more intimately with all aspects of the meal from preparation to the table: One definite way to accomplish this is to actually cook a meal, be part of, or at least watch a meal being prepared from scratch. The entire process, from deciding what to cook or finding a recipe from a magazine, cookbook or food show to gathering ingredients needed either at the supermarket or from the kitchen pantry, demands full involvement.

Such involvement can really intensify the connection to the food being prepared. Greater appreciation for the meals we eat doesnt however give us a free pass to go crazy and eat just for eating sake. One reason I believe that we overeat and eat so hurriedly is because our thoughts are on instant gratification; to get our sugar fix or chocolate fix or salt fix. Identifying more with all aspects of the meal, not only the final taste satisfaction factor, may help make us less absent minded at our meals and aid in us eating more wisely. But you need not become a cooking diva in order to identify more intimately with a meal. As I said before, just being present in the kitchen or being part of some aspect of the actual food preparation or looking with intent at a cooking show can help. If you are one who blesses their meal before eating, this process also presents an opportunity to gain a deeper, more positive connection with your meal. There is a version of blessing a meal Id like to suggest which would easily suit even those who are not deeply religious. It comes from Louise Hay, who is well respected in the field of self-improvement, and the blessing comes from her Morning and Evening Meditation audio. She suggests that every time you eat to bless the food with love and thank it for giving its life to nourish you, the emphasis here being on gratitude. This concept is even more meaningful when the general thank you to the food is directed to the specific parts of the meal. For example for even a simple fried egg and breakfast sausage meal, gratitude can be extended to as far back as the chicken who laid the egg or to the pig or cow whose life was sacrificed to make the sausage to finally the person who devoted time to preparing your meal. So if you are of a certain religion, mealtime grace need not end once youve thanked which ever Higher Power you believe in. The extra minute or so really thinking of the path this food has taken to get to you and acknowledging that journey to some degree through a simple thank you, is equally important. So you say thank you to the hands which tended the field to grow the roasted veggies on your plate, or the apples plucked from trees to make the cold glass of apple juice you later sip with your dinner meal etc. How can you then have any negative emotions about food youve taken this little extra time to reacquaint yourself with?

The Non-Dieters Mindset for Weight Loss - Pt. 2: Be Aware of the Guilt Factor

By: Bruce Chen

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