These Mind Techniques for Weight Loss look at food and our relationship to it.
1. Think yourself out of bad habits. Bad habits with food don’t have to take down your weight loss goals. Instead, use the power of your mind to fight these bad habits. It will take some doing but you can overcome them.
The best two ways we can think of to help you out of bad habits are: 1 - Positive affirmations and 2 - Start adding more good habits whilst doing the bad habit until the bad is overpowered by the good habit.
2. Look at food differently. Food isn’t your enemy or your friend — it’s neutral. Learn to look at food as a source of nourishment rather than a reward or a way to deal with emotions.
Probably best summed up as 'Eat to Live' rather than 'Live to Eat', we can see food as our friend because without food and nutrients we will die. So even unhealthy food will keep us alive longer than no food at all. Though unhealthy food will not keep you alive as long as healthy food.
3. Picture what food is doing for your body. When you look at what you’re eating, picture what that food can do for your body and how the nutrients will help you feel.
Good point imagine and expect the food you are eating will benefit you in the way it suggests. (Please note if it does not suggest health benefits then the food probably does not have any.
4. Allow yourself to eat when you’re hungry. Losing weight should never mean starving yourself. Listen to your body and feed yourself when your body tells you it’s hungry. Just make sure it’s actually hunger and not boredom or thirst you’re giving into. Likewise, stop eating when you are full.
Listen to your body and know the difference between hunger and emotions. Your body communicates to you, if you listen it will guide you in the best direction for the healthiest life. Let me extend on a couple of examples which back this up. When pregnant women get odd cravings the food they crave normally contain the nutrients they are lacking. The next example is of a friend who has low iron, when she craves spinach and chocolate (both high in iron), she checks her iron levels, every time check get this craving she now knows because she listens. So listen to your body, it will guide you.
5. Eat foods you crave. You can have foods you crave while you’re trying to lose weight if you can do so in moderation. Keeping things totally off limits could cause you to binge.
Point 4 is similar to 5, however this point does highlight that totally avoiding things you like is the wrong way to go because you and your mind will focus on it more.
6. Be conscious. Always be aware of what you’re eating. Eating mindlessly while watching TV can lead to a lot of unwanted and unneeded calories.
Source - totallyzen.com
We at Mind Body Weight Loss love the concept of mindful or conscious eating it just makes so much sense to focus on and appreciate your food. Two Posts we have done on this recently are: 'How to Eat Consciously' and 'The Five Contemplations While Eating'.
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Read more in this series:
Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 1
Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 2
Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 3
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