Every overweight person wants to love themselves, master their eating and become the person they really want to be. Our relationship to food can be the doorway to achieving that. Though, like baking a delicious cake, you need good quality ingredients and specific instructions in order to achieve it. Here are some of them:
A cup of self-love
We need to be guided by love. But perhaps you know that already! The question is “how do I do that?” In my professional opinion, the first thing to do is give up dieting, scary as that can be. Fundamentally, diets tell you what to eat and when and what you really want is to get that guidance from inside yourself. This is true love!
A large dash of pleasure!
Yes, you read that right! Let’s face it, we eat for the pleasure that it gives us. The pleasure of beautiful chocolate melting in our mouth is sensational! Yet, pleasure from food can have negative consequences. To reach our ideal weight we need to pay attention to the many other pleasures that are in our life that we have not been paying attention to.
A pinch of healthy anger
When we say “Damn it! I can’t do this anymore. There has got to be another way.” That’s when we use anger the way it is meant to be used – to protect ourselves from what isn’t working. When you start to say “NO! I will no longer be influenced to buy that diet product” or “NO! I will not allow this advertisement to make me feel worthless” or “NO! I will stop dieting because it sure isn’t working and there’s got to be a better way”, that’s when your life can really change.
2 teaspoons of open-mindedness
Unless you are willing to do something new, go where you’ve never gone before, admit that you may be wrong, trust your intuition and common sense, you will remain trapped in the narrow world of the dieting mentality.
1 heaped tablespoon courage
Learning to love yourself and treat yourself with kindness may mean letting go of incorrect thoughts and beliefs that no longer serve you. It may mean telling yourself the truth and speaking that truth to others. It may mean losing some friends or risking people not liking you. It may feel like you’re out there on the skinny branches, feeling vulnerable and unsure of yourself. What ever it is, it’s going to take courage.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
Steve Jobs
A cup of perseverance
It takes time to change habits. Learning to listen to your body takes practice and that takes time too. In a short program you may learn what to do to heal your relationship to food and even start to implement some new strategies but you’ve got to be patient and give yourself time to let the results unfold. Persistence and perseverance will see you successful.
A well stocked kitchen and the right tools
It can be difficult to lose weight naturally and reclaim your mastery over food. Learning effective and practical tools is important as is gentle feedback and community support. Doing a training program and joining a community of like-minded people is important for your success.
Make sure you’re on the next Weight Freedom Webinar to learn more about how you can become wonderfully free around food and weight.
