Weight Loss Articles

 

Food, Weight and Dieting Tips: It's All About Choice
By Amy Phillips-Gary

What kind of diet are you on?

The Atkins and South Beach diets are two very popular weight-loss programs in the U.S. Others include The Zone, Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig. Some make logical sense and others seem to defy the usual beliefs about food and
nutrition.

Not everyone is on a weight-loss diet of course.

Though many of us are. A CBS news quote estimates that 45 million Americans diet each year. About $1-$2 billion per year is spent on weight-loss programs.

That translates into a lot of people dissatisfied with their bodies!

It is not my intention to sell you on yet another weight-loss plan or product. What I want to do is to encourage you to go deeper than the amount of calories or fat you are consuming.

I would like to see more of us-- including me-- take a look beneath the surface of our body size loathing and begin to cultivate more self-appreciation and love.

And I believe that we can also all move closer to having the bodies we're wanting in the process.

I know a bit about dieting and body-dissatisfaction. Like many women (and men as well), I've practiced both since my teen years.

I've tried more extreme methods of weight loss such as self-starving and also more moderate attempts like the tried and true: reasonable amounts of exercise and certain food restrictions.

I've experienced my body as thinner and more fit and also heavier and less athletic or toned. What I've discovered is that my body size and overall health directly relate to how I'm feeling and what I'm doing with my emotions.

Feelings matter.
Regardless of how many times I make it to the gym each week or how many salads I eat instead of chips and cookies, my emotional state of being has a huge impact on my weight.

Of course, when I am feeling worthy and positively about myself, I do rely less on the false comfort of sweets or processed carbs to help me "get through." During these uplifted times, I am more apt to stay physically active and relish more whole foods.

Food is just not such a huge deal when I'm feeling good about who I am.

This is an amazing observation to remember for those times when I am not feeling too great about myself and the habit of battling my body and food return-- sometimes with a vengeance.

Spiritual teacher Abraham goes so far as to declare that, "It's not what you eat that matters, it's how you feel."

For many of us, these words can seem naive and even foolhardy. Of course, our reasoned minds tell us, if I primarily eat pizza and ice cream, my body is going to get larger. There's no way around it!

Is there something to this though? Can it be that the secret to weight-loss is really rooted in how we feel?  What if feeling good, or even feeling improvement, is
actually more important than losing pounds after all?

Even the more mainstream Diet Channel includes emotional aspects in their top 10 dieting tips. They urge readers to find out why they overeat by looking at their emotions. What are your eating triggers?

The Diet Channel experts go on to suggest that those who want to lose weight could learn how to soothe their triggered emotions before turning to food.

Increase your capacity for choice.
When you direct most of your attention to your emotions, you are freer to make choices.

Actually, when you shift your focus away from what you're eating, how much you're eating and how many calories you are burning off exercising and direct them toward how you are feeling, you can know your power.

You, me-- all of us-- have the power to make choices about how we want to live in these bodies we walk around in.

None of us have to feel at the mercy of our obsessions or compulsions around food and our bodies. Additionally, none of us have to feel like victims of our genetics either.

As you learn how to tune in to how you are feeling and deal with those emotions, finding ease and a sense of relief, you can make clearer choices about food and
exercise-- and generally how you want to live your life.

I know that when any of us feel overwhelmed, sad or even angry, it can seem easier to turn to a candy bar for solace rather than diving deeper into difficult feelings.

As much as I intellectually know that I feel deeper relief when I allow myself a good cry instead of holding back the tears with a cookie, the impulse is tough to stop.

If you can relate to this, you might practice pausing. A pause means that you take even a few seconds to check in and ask yourself if you want to continue in the direction you are going.

The pause is where your power to choose resides.

When I barrel on ahead without the pause, I rob myself of the opportunity to make a mindful decision about my next step-- not only in regard to eating, but also life in
general.

Pretty soon, I am not only heavier than I want to be, but I also have an overflow of neglected emotions that yearn to be released and set free.

Diet from the inside out.
If you would like to change your body size or shape, consider going on a diet from the inside out.

Learn how to pause when you encounter difficulties or triggers. You
might still choose to eat that candy bar, but the beauty is you are choosing to do so and possibly after releasing some of those bottled up emotions.

Try to set aside judgments you might be accustomed to make. This can be another huge lesson and tool. How many times are we told-- and tell ourselves-- that particular foods are "bad" and certain behaviors are "unhealthy" while others are "good" and "healthy?"

These dichotomies are not always accurate in every case and they simply don't help us to move into the feeling space that encourages choice and empowerment.

Instead, get curious about your feelings and your experiences. I have learned that I feel lighter and more even-keeled when I choose not to eat animal products and I
stay away from processed wheat.

Does this mean that in order to feel good and be healthy I can never eat dairy or wheat? Not necessarily.

Rather than deem dairy and wheat "bad," I can simply stay curious about how I feel when I eat these foods. It will be more beneficial to me to stop vilifying any food and, instead, make conscious choices as they come up.

And, above all, I can make it my goal to feel healthy, vital and beautiful from the inside out rather than the other way around.

When I know my power and am taking care of my emotions, anything is truly possible.

Today I encourage you to take steps toward knowing your power as well-- when it comes to food, your body, exercise and your life.
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Amy Phillips-Gary is a freelance writer, homeschool mom and personal growth adventurer.





 

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