Lately I’ve been working on stopping eating when I’ve had enough. But I have a lot of little thoughts like:
– You’ve already stopped eating sugar and flour, you’re not going to restrict yourself on the quantities either.
– You have the right to do so, it’s in your protocol.
– Frankly, the hunger scale doesn’t speak to me, my goal is to stop at 4 but at the moment I can’t figure out what 4 is
– I don’t want to think about food anymore
– I’ve already lost weight, I’m tired of putting on a few pounds and thinking about it again
– At worst, I don’t care if I’ve gained back a little, I’m still thin
– If I lose the weight I want to, my parents will still say I’m too skinny and talk about my weight
– It’s all vegetables and no sugar and no flour
– I’m hungry
– I have a good appetite
– People like to see me eat a lot when they invite me over
These thoughts all seem very legitimate at the time. The thing is that even though what I eat is healthy, sugar and flour free and I am indeed already thin: my stomach hurts at the end of the meal, I have severe bloating, even gas sometimes and on top of that I use the fact that I don’t stay stable at the weight I want as proof that I will never be a successful weight loss coach.
I know that in order to lose I have to think instead:
– I know how to do it
– I trust myself
– It’s okay to leave something on my plate
– I’d rather throw away than overeat
– What matters is my body, my body sensations
– I prefer that food is not my main source of joy – I prefer to be interested in the people I’m eating with
– My body regulates itself at 55,5 kg
– I only eat at mealtime and stop when I am not hungry anymore
But at the time it’s really hard. As much as the decision not to take sugar and flour seems simple to me now because it’s easily measurable – as much as the decision to stop when I’m not hungry anymore – I have a hard time evaluating at the time if I’m respecting it or not and so it’s a whole internal dialogue during the meal that makes me not present and worried about the food – which is the opposite of what I want. A little coaching on this would be great!
