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April 4, 2015I Love Stainless Steel Jewelry
April 8, 2015Recently, I started writing guest blogs for the All Women Stalk Website. Here is a reprint of my recent article.
Do you struggle with not knowing how to keep the weight off once you lose it. In essence, you feel helpless to the draw of food, and you cannot conceptualize a lifestyle scenario where moderation with food is even possible.
For many of us, food seems to be an all or nothing proposition.
The idea of learned helplessness is a psychological term that refers to a person’s unshakable mindset that she has no control over a particular situation. As a result, she gives up trying because she figures it’s no use or that she is destined to be a certain way.
Here are five ways to overcome learned helplessness with food.
1.
Practice eating in moderation.
Do not counting calories or fat grams. Instead, cut down your existing food amounts by half. At first, don’t even try to change the types of food you are eating; just the amount of those foods you are eating.
2.
I allow yourself a few bites of any food you crave.
Just like a great idea will roll over and over in your mind, so will a food craving if you don’t satisfy it. When you get an unshakeable craving for a particular food, allow yourself to have a few bites. But, make sure to separate out the food you are going to eat before anything goes into your mouth.
3.
Do not count all eating as equal.
When dining out or eating with friends, give yourself grace to eat a little more than you would at a typical meal. Learn to differentiate when food is part of the entertainment and when it is just a normal event.
4.
Do not allow yourself to experience serious hunger pains.
Hunger does not help us develop a good relationship with food. The hungrier you allow yourself to get, the more likely it is for you to feel helpless to its draw. But before you eat, take the time to determine if the hunger is legitimate or a symptom of boredom.
5.
Do not call it a diet.
Healthy mindsets with food are established for a lifetime. You don’t need to have a “finish line” in mind.
Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over again, while still expecting different results. I honestly believe that you can change your way of thinking, but you cannot expect to get rid of one mindset without putting a new one in its place. What will your plan for overcoming your helpless feelings with food?
This post expands on an earlier blog post I wrote a blog post on learned helplessness.
Especially if you are a woman, you may be interested in visiting the AWS website.
My article can be found here: http://allwomenstalk.com/u/551f86ad617a49322b8b4567