Pages

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

From Glorification to Demonization: My Hard Rules for Food & Exercise

I have just finished reading "The End of Overeating" by David A. Kellser, an insightful look into the powerful effect of fat, sugar and salt on our appetite and current obesity epidemic. I can totally relate to the author's discussion on how the mere thought of a food can create an intense, almost obsessive desire to have it, which is only relieved when I eventually cave and eat it.


The book concludes with what the author calls "Food Rehab," which is essentially changing the way you think about foods and your eating behaviors, creating rules around eating to prevent the constant battle I feel inside my brain: "I really want this...but it's not good for my diet...maybe just a small bite...you know you can't stop once you start...but I've been so good this week...maybe it'll be different this time...I deserve a treat...it'll make me feel better...I don't care anyways...which results in EITHER no, I do care, I don't want it, walk away OR fine, whatever, I give up, I'll eat it." My goal is to change my mindset so that I don't feel deprived because I'm missing out on a food. I need to take away the belief of food as a reward and replace these thoughts with hard beliefs that the food is "bad, "off limits," not part of my meal plan," "unhealthy fuel," etc. I need to free myself from the all-consuming thought sequence between the Angel vs. Devil battle in my mind. This cognitive-behavioral therapy approach reminds me of another book I've read "The Beck Diet Solution" by Judith Beck, which I think I need to become reacquainted with as it offers lots of ideas beyond the "Hard Rules" to help me restructure my food and eating perceptions.

I've had rules in the past that have been quite successful in helping keep me on track, but somehow, somewhere along the way I forgot them or threw them away, which ultimately led to my current mental anguish with my unsatisfactory weight. SO, today I am creating a new set of food & exercise rules. One of the rules will hopefully be modified over time as I gain control of my binging. Rule number 2 contains the foods I currently cannot control myself around, they cause me emotional turmoil to have in my house and have been major binge-triggers in the recent past. The other rules are permanent shifts I need to make, which I will live by, not in the short term, but as a lifelong dedication to my health and wellbeing.

Hard Rules for Food & Exercise
1. The ONLY foods I will eat at work are fresh fruit, vegetables and sugar/salt-free nuts (aside from the food I bring for my lunch/snack)
2. Foods that I will not even try to keep in my house right now: gluten-free bread products, rice cakes/crackers, nut butters, soy cheese slices, rice roll wraps, granola/energy bars, cereal, and cashews
3. I will exercise at least 3x/week - weights & cardio
4. I will not eat any baked goods containing Wheat
5. I will not get up after I've gone to bed to eat, if I can't sleep or think I am hungry after eating a bedtime snack I will take a sleeping pill
6. I will not stop at the corner store for unplanned snacks
7. I will allow myself 1 cheat day per week where I can go out for a meal, have a wheat-desert/treat item, stop at Starbucks or Tim’s for a specialty coffee and drink wine

My next step is to print off this list to tape on my fridge as a constant reminder of my commitment to myself and my health.

No comments:

Post a Comment