Fear of Food

Whenever you start talking about dieting, there are always a series of questions that come up…
What do you do when you eat out?

What do you do at a party?

What do I do when I’m on the road?

How do you avoid all the foods people bring in to work?

How do I handle feeding my family when I’m eating diet food?

There are other questions, but they all follow along those lines… The issue is that you have a strictly controlled dieting environment and the second you step out of it you’re not sure what to do. I’ve been there myself!

Call me crazy if you like, but I was a little afraid of food. Or maybe of my ability to control myself around it.It might have started with the latter, but eventually the two blend together. I created an external locus of control. It wasn’t me who failed. What was I supposed to do when I went to an amusement park one day, a birthday party the next, then went out for dinner with coworkers?

Food isn’t the enemy. For some, the enemy if self-control. For others (like me) the enemy is that very control. Isn’t that the most confusing dieting advice you’ve ever heard? Sorry, but it’s true. Psychology is the biggest part of dieting and to find a strategy that works for you, you have to know yourself. Do you need to count and record every calorie so you won’t be tempted to touch that piece of chocolate cake? Or do you need permission to eat that piece of cake so that suddenly it doesn’t sound as appetizing?

There was a psychological study done years ago in which a group of dieters and non-dieters were asked to eat way too much food at dinner. Afterward, they were offered a choice of also eating dessert. Dieters overwhelmingly accepted the dessert even though they were stuffed silly. Non-dieters turned it down.

Hmmmm…interesting. It sounds like a lot of dieters out there need to give themselves permission to eat the cake. If I can have it tomorrow, then it’s not the end of the world if I don’t have it today. Especially if I’m not hungry.

So what do you do when you go to a party or go out of town, or when your coworkers bring in donuts?

1. Give yourself permission to eat it if you really want it.

2. Decide whether or not you really want it and only eat it if you do.

3. Have a small serving of whatever it is you want.

4. Wait at least 15 minutes before deciding if you want something else.

5. If you do decide you want something else, don’t eat another piece of cake. If you were eating the cake because it’s delicious, it has already filled that goal. If you’re eating it for any other reason, it will never work. You know it. Let yourself have another treat tomorrow. Know this isn’t the last time you’ll ever be allowed something you really want. But also know that right now it isn’t going to fill any holes in your life.