The Missing Link

Every time you eat a morsel of food, whether a meal, a snack or a bite of someone else’s, you’ve made a decision in your brain to eat. Many times those decisions are made just below the level of consciousness, on autopilot. Take for example, having cocktails out with your friends. They serve bowls of nuts and other crunchy delights. Have you noticed how easy it is to keep putting your hand in the bowl until they’re gone, even when a part of you was counting how many calories and fat grams you consumed in the past 10 minutes of mindless grazing?
How about when you’re at Costco and they’re giving out samples and you taste several just because they’re there and they’re free?
You can learn to slow those decisions down so that you can enjoy being out and not regret what you ate or drank afterwards.
Mindful awareness is the missing link for permanent weight loss!
It involves planning ahead so that the hors d’œuvres or freebies don’t catch you by surprise. If you know you’re going out on a Friday night, decide ahead of time how you want to talk about the night the next day. Maybe you’ll want to have an extra 300 calories that day—that’s ok, just don’t make it an extra 1500 instead. And by all means, savor those bites. By being mindful, you’ll have the choice of saying how nice it was to hang out with friends relaxing after a long week rather than “I can’t believe I blew it.”
Yes, it’s a bit of work to pay attention in the moment and plan ahead, but aren’t you worth that extra effort?
The difference between us and our evolutionary ancestors is that we have the ability to be mindful. Find the missing link and lose weight for good.
Ellen is a psychotherapist in private practice in San Francisco and Redwood City, California. She specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and incorporates the use of mindfulness into the treatment of depression, anxiety, and emotional overeating. She runs a holistic weight loss program called Center for Thoughtful Weight Loss, www.thoughtfulweightloss.com. You can email Ellen at ellen@thoughtfulweightloss.com