THOUGHTS THAT MAKE YOU OVEREAT

by Meg Meranus February 15, 2021

Just eat what you crave when you're hungry.

Huh? That's crazy, I will just eat butter and donuts.

Here's the thing: No you won't.

But years of living with a diet mentality changes the way we view ourselves.

I thought I was a big eater and that if I stopped dieting and listened to my body for hunger cues I would be out of control. I truly believed I would stuff down Twinkies and chips. Because I thought I loved them. I thought I was a big eater.

Why?

Because I thought that the way I ate in between diets was the real me.

You probably think that too.

You probably have a vision of yourself diving into an entire bag of chips after you "cracked" after your last diet. And you think that's the real you.

But. It. Isn't.

The real you is only revealed after you stop dieting.

Why?

Because the way we eat is completely distorted not only by the diet we were just on, but also by the diet we anticipate going on.

And dieters know that there will always be another diet...

It is never just you, eating normally. You are either restricting or overeating.

And, that goes to one of my favorite Healthy Thin Mentality Mantras from our workbook: You don't break your diet, your diet breaks you.

How?

Because you lose the ability to eat for the reason we are supposed to eat: hunger.

Instead you make bargains, "I will eat this and then I will work out." Or you throw food out so you won't eat it. Or you fast all week only to binge on thousands of calories over the weekend.

When you build your Healthy Thin Mentality, HTM, you rediscover normal eating. You stay in the present as you decide if, what and how much to eat.

And, then you notice that you start making food choices that you wouldn't have anticipated. Yes, you do. And you realize:

You need less food to be satisfied than you thought, but this realization does not make you sad.
You love foods you thought you hated, and you don't care for foods you thought you loved.

Building your HTM is healing, joyful and brings you to your happy weight.

It is not a stage. It is not a lifestyle. It is just you, eating normally, in response to hunger, for the rest of your life.