Brought up to use food as a comforter (by my very loving family), when I had my own children, I searched for ways of instilling a healthier relationship with food in my own children. I heard of an experiment where toddlers were given unlimited access to a broad selection of foods, from the foods considered to be healthy all the way to those found to be unhealthy, such as sweets and soda pop. It was found that although the children could eat all the sweet and fatty things they wanted, over the course of a month, their choices worked out as a healthy, balanced diet. They somehow knew exactly what to eat without being told. In other words, we are born with this instinct, and it is only when it is tampered with that we lose it. So I applied these principles to my own children, as much as my budget would allow. The result is that both are naturally slim and never have to watch their weight or struggle with food cravings.
So, we are born with an instinct to listen to what our body is telling us. But through conditioning while we are growing up, no matter how well-meant, we lose this instinct. But, we can re-learn it. If you are trying to lose weight, consider re-learning this instinct. You can re-learn to hear your body´s inner wisdom by allowing yourself to eat whatever you want, whenever you need it.
The reason why most people panic when they hear this is that they expect to want plenty of sweets, cakes, soft drinks, alcohol, chips and so on. But they have never trusted their intuition before, so how can they know what it will actually be like? How do they know they will not actually choose an overall healthy and balanced diet? Another reason for panic is the worry that they will not be able to stop eating, if they eat whenever they are hungry. But if you re-train your mind to listen to your body´s signals, you will soon learn how to recognize when you have had enough, and you will easily stop eating when that happens.
The biggest trick here is to get the emotional conditioning out of the way. My favorite tool to do this with is EFT, short for Emotional Freedom Techniques. If you are not familiar with EFT, you can download a free guide to the method from many online resources, or you can have some sessions with a practitioner. If you already know EFT, here are a few suggestions for you to tap on, in order to remove this emotional conditioning.
Setup
Even though my parents said I must finish all the food on my plate, because of starving children in the world, as if by my eating I am feeding them, I deeply love and accept myself.
Reminder
Finish all the food on my plate
Setup
Even though I was given a high-sugar energy drink when I had a cold and still drink it now, I deeply love and accept myself.
Reminder
Energy drink to get better
Setup
Even though my parents told me I couldn’t have my pudding until I had finished my food or completed my homework, thereby elevating the importance of pudding in my mind as a special treat, I deeply love and accept myself
Reminder
Pudding became that special treat
I think you get the picture. Just tap on whatever comes to you, until you find yourself naturally in control of your eating. And then simply become an observer in this situation, observing your new food choices, as gradually but surely, you lose weight. There will be times when the weight might go up a little before it goes down again. This is a natural phenomenon that happens to even naturally slim people. Do not let that get in the way of your weight-loss confidence. You can observe your weight going in the general downwards direction, until it finally settles at a slim and healthier you.
