Be Curious On Why You Overeat

See if you can relate to this story –

We start a diet being super committed. We know that this time, it will be different. We know what to do, what to eat, and it is just a matter of sticking to it! Committed. Yes, this is it! We think “I am finally going to lose the weight”. The first 3 days go great and we feel proud of ourselves. We are well on our way! As a bit more time goes by, the motivation begins to lag and the wheels start falling off. There’s an event we didn’t plan on eating at, there’s a happy hour we didn’t expect, there’s the delicious food in the break room at work, etc. All of a sudden, we notice there is a shift in our mental thinking about our commitment to this diet. We start deviating from what we set out to do. And worse, we start believing the negative mental chatter in our heads….

“This is too hard.”

“I’ll take a break for just this 1 day and start again tomorrow.” (my favorite)

“I don’t know what to eat now. I can’t eat the same foods I have been eating all week.”

“This plan is unrealistic for my life.”

“I didn’t see the scale move so this isn’t working.”

“I am so irritable; is this even worth it?”

“I deserve to eat _________.”

“It’s the weekend.”

Sounds familiar? We have all been there!

Through life coaching, I learned exactly why I would stop following my plan and why I was overeating.

The first step is bringing awareness or consciousness to your eating. By awareness, I mean the deep questions of “why” we are doing what we are doing. Our brains like to stop at the surface level of answering this question since it is easier mentally to stay surface level. For example, I ate “because I wanted to eat this”; “because I was hungry for more”; “because it has been a long day”, etc. However, we must dig deeper than that. Keep asking “why”.

What is really going on? Is there a feeling I am trying to suppress or escape from?

This is a time to be curious. No judging, no criticism, no guilt or shame, please. Just simply digging deep to discover why you ate _______ when you didn’t plan to eat it. Why did the whole pack of Oreos disappear? Write it down. The answer to the why is important in order to get freedom from this behavior in the future. You can’t fix the problem if you don’t know the problem you are trying to fix!

My reasons for overeating…..

“I wanted to feel better.”

“I was restless and anxious, and food took that feeling away.”

“I was tired and irritable.”

“It was something quick and easy.”

“I wanted to enjoy dessert with my family.”

Start noticing your why. Pay attention. Write down your reason. Watch for patterns of this thinking throughout your day/week. Tune into your thoughts. When you know what your thoughts are, you can work to change them to meet your weight loss goals. Permanently.

Are you a pharmacist ready to take your weight loss journey to the next level and get my personalize help?

My 6 week weight loss coaching program has 5 more open spots! We start next week. Contact me if you would like to sign up.

By: Sherry Price