Overcoming Self-Sabotage

I wanted to post here today an excerpt that I found regarding the DIET guide to emotional eating because it is definitely something that I have struggled with and deal with all the time. I was trying to explain to my mom about my lifestyle change this week. She was having a hard time understanding why now that I'm on goal I still won't eat "normal" foods.

What I told her was likening myself to a drug addict or alcoholic. Those people, once they overcome their addiction, must learn to recognize their triggers, the things that set them off on a binge or in need for a fix. Once they discover what those things are they do what is necessary to avoid them at all costs. For most of them, it also involves removing the temptation all together and not placing themselves in situations where alcohol or drugs would be. For those of us w/ food addictions it is much more difficult. We cannot remove ourselves from food. We must have it to live/survive. Therefore, we have to learn to control it by recognizing and removing our triggers. Those who follow the Kimkins way of life have learned that carbs for the most part are our triggers. For some it's salty flour carbs - pasta, chips, potatos, corn... for others its the sweet sugary carbs - cookies, refined sugars, etc... still for others, it may even be a combination of the two plus high fat foods such as cheeses and dairy products. The point is, in order to be successful at this type of lifestyle change, each person must learn to recognize his/her own triggers or "demons" and overcome them.

So, just as some alcoholics are eventually able to maybe have 1 drink every now and then only because they have recognized their demons and learned to deal with them, so I eventually hope to be able to add some higher carb items back to my diet on an occasional basis. However, I will no longer be able to endulge in my previous lifestyles regularity because I have learned to recognize my triggers and know that if I were to succumb to the "just one" that is so often presented to me, it would set off my emotional and physiological response to one more and one more and one more... thus cycling back into my previous destructive habits. Now... I have proven to myself that this method works for me. If I did dive into a certain "high carb" frenzy and totally give in one day, I could possibly say to myself...well I know the secret to getting it back off... so what's it going to hurt? Once again, that is the thinking that has caused me to fail every other diet that I've ever tried and put the weight right back on. Therefore, by my choice, I choose now and forever more to refrain from giving in to those certain food demons all together.

Here is the excerpt from the D.I.E.T. article:

"Traditional dieting strategies don't work for emotional eaters because the psychological aspects of weight management aren't fully addressed by most plans. Most diet programs don't deal with self-sabotage and the real reasons why we knock ourselves off track. To achieve lasting weight management success, emotional eaters need to go through the following four stages of change.

D - Discover: The first step is to discover our hidden emotional obstacles and understand the food-feelings connection that makes balanced eating so difficult. It's essential to tune in to our inner selves before we can attempt to change our outer appearance. We need to identify the self-defeating thoughts and attitudes, that lead us to sabotage our success with such frustrating regularity. Discovery is crucial because it's impossible to win the weight war until we know who the enemy really is.

I - Invent: Once we've discovered the emotional issues and self-defeating ways of thinking that have always stood in our way, we need to invent a new way of managing our lives and ourselves. It's time to break free from old habits and standard modes of operating. This requires that we invent healthier, more nurturing ways of thinking to combat those self-defeating tendencies.

E - Extinguish: The next step is to extinguish the old, unhealthy ways of thinking, feeling and perceiving as we adopt our newly-invented life plan. Healing old wounds and building new skills will help us deal with life's troubles head on and decrease our reliance on food.

T - Transform: Our final task is to transform our new insights, skills and healing into a positive lifestyle that emphasizes healthy food choices and regular exercise. After much hard work, one of my clients got to this stage and said, "I'm at the point now where exercising and eating right are emotionally uncomplicated." What she meant was that she at last felt free of her old emotional shackles and could now make the commitment necessary for the long-term task of successful weight management.

The D.I.E.T. Plan is a sometimes tough -- but necessary -- process for those of us with emotional eating issues. Remember: Until you deal with the demons, you can't tackle the fat."