It's Not Magic but We Know a Few Tricks
Body Cues Key to Healthy Eating
Everyone knows there’s no magic to losing weight — it’s simply a matter of expending more calories than you consume. But simple doesn’t mean easy. Losing weight is difficult and complicated — and no one method works for everyone.
Written by Colleen Lantzy, MA, LMFT, LPC
Weight loss that encompasses lifestyle changes requires a reconnection with your body signals -- the same one you had as a baby but that you lost somewhere along the way. Regaining body awareness and trust takes time, kindness and patience. Often the longer you have been using “dieting” as a way to lose weight, the more distant you become from your body cues. Traditional dieting can distort this connection because you focus primarily on right/wrong, good/bad and success/failure.
Losing weight through lifestyle changes is about learning lessons and applying them to your choices. It is all about new awarenesses and practice, practice and more practice doing it differently. When you first start out, hindsight is frequently where you see things clearly but by learning to be non-judgmental toward yourself you slowly begin to predict and plan better because you understand yourself more. Being curious, asking questions instead of falling into critical thinking opens the possibility to having a healthy relationship with food, exercise and good self-care.
Just imagine how different your food choices would be if you would ask yourself and be able to answer these three simple questions.
Am I Hungry? When you begin to eat before you are physically hungry, your body cannot tell you when you are full; therefore, overeating is a natural occurrence because you rely on your emotions to say enough. Learning to understand physical hunger is the first step to reclaiming healthy eating.
What does my body want to eat? The first question most of us ask when we begin thinking about food is “What do I feel like eating?” It is an important question but only part of the equation. To move toward healthier eating choices, expand on this question by asking yourself “What do I want to eat?” (aka — What do I feel like eating?). “What do I need to eat?” and “What do I have to eat?” This three-question approach will help open you up to other food options. An interesting phenomenon about our bodies is that when we eat healthy food, we begin to crave healthy food; when we eat junky food, we crave junky food.
Am I able to stop eating when I feel satisfied? We overeat for many reasons, sometimes because we have taught ourselves that very full is the only stopping point. When you stop at the point of satisfaction, your body feels light and energized but this practice takes time and conscious effort to redefine what full (satisfied) means.
Changes toward a healthy lifestyle and weight loss can be very complex and literally mind boggling. Where do you start? At birth, each of us had the body awareness for what we needed to survive and grow. Because of the complexities of life, this awareness gets lost and we begin to trust external cues to communicate our internal needs. Re-learning to hear and trust our internal body signals and cues as the way to take care of ourselves creates lasting healthy lifestyle changes that truly make a difference.
While in the Inside Out program, we will look at these questions closely and together we will delve into your body signals, re-learning, listening and trusting to take care of yourself.
Understanding the Mind is Critical
Written by Colleen Lantzy, MA, LMFT, LPC
When you make the decision that it’s time to lose the weight that makes you feel unhealthy and uncomfortable, many emotions and thoughts get stirred within. First and foremost, the deep down belief of whether you can do it or not gets engaged. This belief can be so buried within, you may not even know it's part of your thinking, especially when your motivation is high. Whenever you try to lose weight that has been challenging to lose, it’s natural that this conflicting belief is present.
Everyone has a part within his or her mind that does not want change and will only support the status quo. Let’s call this part of your mind “inner critic.” Your “inner critic” is formed from all your life experiences and your interpretation of them. Your “inner critic” believes it knows the truth, what is best for you, and will be manipulative and wily in keeping you the same. The “inner critic” fights to have the strongest voice.
Sometimes this voice can be heard in quiet self-doubt and other times it may be a barrage of criticisms and accusations. Your “inner critic” believes any tactic is OK in order to protect you. You know this part of the mind is engaged when you hear words like “You will never be able to do this” or “What makes you think you can be successful this time.” Typically you know the “inner critic” is visiting when your self-talk is spoken in the second person.
Weight loss and life style changes are possible and can be extremely rewarding and gratifying, but the voice of the “inner critic” must be corralled for success. This process takes a new awareness, a conscious redefining of what you truly believe and a consistent practice of challenging the “inner critic.” Together, while in the Inside Out program, we can work on the "inner critic" until the voice accepts the new you.
”You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”
~ Albert Einstein
Begin your weight loss today!
Learn more about this unique program by calling today for a free consultation at 262-820-3880.