Does This Bunny Scare You??

Bunnies like this used to scare me too!

I was sure it was going to make it’s way on my plate and into my mouth- I had no control over the situation!

I would have been “good” all week, and then, just when I was on the brink of getting to my “goal weight” it would be Easter (or insert any holiday here).  There would be mounds of food, delicious fantastic special food.  I had to “gear up” to fight it.  Give myself pep talks and rewards- (If I stay on my diet at Easter dinner, and just nibble some ham, I will buy myself a new pair of shoes…)

I know you know what I am talking about…

How did I tame the chocolate bunny?

Thin Mentality eating got rid of all food fear for me.  And you can do this too.

We are all built from the same set of biological drives.  And guess which drives Mother Nature made extremely strong-  the drive to answer hunger is in the top 3- along with water and sex.

So, stop fighting your hunger drive and you will win the war with the bunny.  Work WITH your hunger drive, not against it.

I have seen commercials lately for a pill that is supposed to make you full sooner.   Don’t resort to some pill whose side effects may possibly only be known after a lot of damage has been done to well intentioned dieters, (remember phen phen?)

Instead, really take your time to reacquaint yourself with your body’s signals.

One of the women in this commercial puts her hand on her stomach and asks herself, am I hungry?  Okay well that is a very good first step.  And it is so sad that someone out there in TV land may see this and think that the way to learn is to take a pill.

No No No.

Just keep paying attention.  Have some food when you are hungry.  How do you feel?  Are your taste buds still singing?  Are you still drooling?  Really, these are signs that you are still hungry.  But we are all different.  I know I say that a lot, but you really need to understand that learning about hunger and absence of hunger is an individual thing too.

Take the time to get in touch with your food preferences, your food requirements, your hunger.

We all know how horrible it is when you have over stuffed yourself and you are miserable asking yourself, “Why did I eat that…”  Right?

That is a very powerful signal to stop eating. But try to really see the early warning signs of eating too much too.  Pay attention to that sigh you take.  Hmmm-  Maybe your body is trying to slow you down?

I don’t know!  It is your body- take some time to check out your patterns.  It is an enjoyable thing to do this.  Honestly.  It gives you power, a calmness over food, and helps you to reconnect eating with hunger.

And that is the key to weight loss: Eating when hungry.  And if you have been overweight for a long time, yes, you may feel stuck.  But the way out is still learning to eat in response to hunger.  And, and this is a big AND, stopping when hunger is quiet.

And guess what-  you need less food than you think you do…

That is not bad news.  I enjoy food now so much more with my thin mentality than I ever did in my life as a dieter.  Overall, I eat less, yes.  But it is better, happier, and I am in charge.  I promise if you can eat when you are hungry, the world is  a good place.

And, the best news, I am not ever scared of chocolate bunnies anymore…