Positive Steps To A Better Life

Mind & Spirit: NST Life & Times 28/12/2010

http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/MIND_SPIRIT_Positivestepstoabetterlife/Article

BY CHIM LI YEN

LAST week, we went through the characteristics of the first overeating style — The Binge Eater. Here are the remaining four overeating styles as identified in the book, The Yo-yo Diet Syndrome, by Dr Doreen Virtue.

The Emotion Eater

• Only overeats when he feels a strong emotion such as anger or sadness.
• Frequently eats immediately after getting home from work.
• Eats when bored.
• At times, finds himself extremely hungry and starving for food suddenly.
• Is uncomfortable openly displaying or talking about his feelings.

The metaphysical basis of emotion eating is a belief that other people are interfering with his attempts to fulfil his life purpose. He believes that he can only achieve his purpose when his spouse, lover, children, parents or boss co-operate with him.

Steps to recovery:

1. Pay attention to feelings of hunger and you’ll discover that what you have labelled as hunger may be fatigue, loneliness or boredom.

2. Honour your intuition by listening to its guidance and taking steps to achieve your dreams.

3. Keep the 15-minute rule in your mind at all times. Each time you start thinking about food and eating, note down the time and stay away from any form of food for the next 15 minutes.

The Self-Esteem Eater

• Tends to compare himself with other people. Terrified of being judged, criticised or ridiculed.
• Motivated to lose weight to please another person.
• Harshly judges himself because of his excess weight.
• Gives up hope of ever losing the excess weight and wonder if he is just meant to be fat.

The metaphysical basis of self-esteem eating is a belief that “I don’t deserve the happiness and orderliness that comes from fulfilling my life purpose”. Some Self-Esteem Eaters don’t even think that they have a life purpose. Others lack faith in their abilities to succeed so they don’t even try.

Steps to recovery:

1. Learn to love yourself by taking the following steps.
• Replace your old clothes. Looking good raises self-confidence and gets you in the habit of taking better care of yourself.
• Treat yourself by buying some flowers, going for a holiday on your own or a massage session at the spa.
• Get emotional support from a close friend or family member you can trust.

2. Use positive affirmations.

The Stress Eater

• Never seems to have time to eat healthily or exercise.
• Works very hard and keeps busy all the time.
• Thinks that eating is a way to unwind from the hectic schedule.
• Caffeinated beverages and food are favourite pick-me-ups when feeling drained.

The metaphysical basis of stress eating is a belief that “I don’t have enough time, money or help to fulfil my purpose”. Stress Eaters’ weights fluctuate depending on the amount of pressure they are under.

Steps to recovery:

1. Address areas in your life that are causing you stress instead of using food to reduce stress levels.

2. List 10 things that you value most in your life.

3. Reschedule your day to allow for a more relaxed pace.

4. Find alternative therapeutic activities (meditation, gardening, exercising, etc) to replace overeating when stressed.

The Snowball Effect Eater

• Views food as companionship.
• Sometimes he goes on a diet because of a “crisis” (a remark about his weight or after seeing himself in a recent photo). As soon as the crisis is over, his motivation for weight loss ends.
• The Snowball Effect Eater’s weight yo-yos because his motivation to exercise and reduce food intake keeps changing.

The metaphysical basis for snowball eating is indecision. The Snowball Effect Eater often seesaws between two or three different ideas of what her life purpose is. Behind this indecision is fear and resistance to hearing the inner voice, and a worry that he will make the wrong choice.

Steps to recovery:

1. You need to find a continual motivation to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

2. Stick to the same meal portion every meal.

3. Start a regular exercise regime immediately. Keep in mind this adage: If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.

The main benefits of breaking your overeating habit are a huge amount of self-respect, confidence and self-love. Take positive steps towards a better life today!

The writer is co-founder of The Violet Flame Holistic Shop and Therapy Centre, Bangsar. Check out the website at www.thevioletflame.com.my for details.