(I wrote this as a response to someone else's blog post, and then I realized that while I had good intentions, this was really a blog post all it's own, and as usual, it is really from me to me as something I want to remember. Please forgive the redundancy, and if it sounds harsh, remember it is meant only in love.)
STOP CALLING YOURSELF AN ADDICT. There are FACTS and there are TRUTHS. Facts can change, but truths do not. The facts may be that you are having difficulty overcoming some food cravings. The TRUTH is that you are a beautiful, worthy, amazing woman who has everything she needs inside her to control her actions...even her mouth. When you call yourself an addict, it does two things: first, it is an excuse to continue the behavior. "Yes I ate all the XXX, I'm an addict, I couldn't help it." There's the rub- "I couldn't help it." But actually, you can.
You can distract and delay an impulse. You can remove temptation from your home and make it a safe zone. You can talk back to the voice in your head that tells you it's ok to have it "just this once" when you hadn't planned to have it. I can guarantee that if someone kidnapped your child and said they would come to harm if you ate chocolate in the next 24 hrs, you would not give into that impulse, no matter how strong.
So in a way, addiction is a lie. And it is a dangerous lie because it steals your power. If you say it often enough and with conviction to yourself, you will come to believe it. On some level, you will fulfill the destiny you have decided for yourself. How do I know this? I once weighed 400 lbs! I am 5 foot 3 inches. I was so "addicted" to fast food, I couldn't pass a drive thru. I have now released around 100 pounds, and it has all come through two things: praying and borrowing God's strength when I needed it to resist temptation, and recognizing and talking back to the addictive voice and not letting that aspect of myself be in the driver's seat. With God's help, I control my eating, not my inner child who does not really care how much harm that food that I craved was doing to me.
It takes practice. It takes listening to what you say to yourself before you give in, and having a logical rebuttal ready. It takes getting that temptation OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. Don't "buy it for your kids" or make other excuses. If you don't want to slip, stay off the ice. Here are some things I tell myself when I want to give in: "This will not make me feel better. I will feel sick later and angry with myself." "You'll feel so much better if you don't." "Eat this apple (or drink this smoothie, etc) and if you still want XXX in an hour, you can have it."
(Immediately follow this by having the healthy food and then DISTRACT YOURSELF with an activity incompatible with eating, such as taking a shower.) Finally, I tell myself that the kitchen is CLOSED after 7pm, I can't go in there even for water. I wash up the dishes and then I GET OUT, and take plenty of water with me.
I guess what I have very long windedly said is that what you call yourself MATTERS. Call yourself a raw vegan. Call yourself someone who is overcoming food issues. Call yourself someone who is strong and
capable and worthy of the BEST LIFE, the BEST HEALTH, and who loves her family and herself enough to make the choices necessary to be around a long, long time. Because it is TRUE about you, you know.
Mallory (fellow Raw Food Rehabber) Join us at the Hab! http://www.rawfoodrehab.ning.com/
To see Mallory's ongoing transformation, click HERE.
STOP CALLING YOURSELF AN ADDICT. There are FACTS and there are TRUTHS. Facts can change, but truths do not. The facts may be that you are having difficulty overcoming some food cravings. The TRUTH is that you are a beautiful, worthy, amazing woman who has everything she needs inside her to control her actions...even her mouth. When you call yourself an addict, it does two things: first, it is an excuse to continue the behavior. "Yes I ate all the XXX, I'm an addict, I couldn't help it." There's the rub- "I couldn't help it." But actually, you can.
You can distract and delay an impulse. You can remove temptation from your home and make it a safe zone. You can talk back to the voice in your head that tells you it's ok to have it "just this once" when you hadn't planned to have it. I can guarantee that if someone kidnapped your child and said they would come to harm if you ate chocolate in the next 24 hrs, you would not give into that impulse, no matter how strong.
So in a way, addiction is a lie. And it is a dangerous lie because it steals your power. If you say it often enough and with conviction to yourself, you will come to believe it. On some level, you will fulfill the destiny you have decided for yourself. How do I know this? I once weighed 400 lbs! I am 5 foot 3 inches. I was so "addicted" to fast food, I couldn't pass a drive thru. I have now released around 100 pounds, and it has all come through two things: praying and borrowing God's strength when I needed it to resist temptation, and recognizing and talking back to the addictive voice and not letting that aspect of myself be in the driver's seat. With God's help, I control my eating, not my inner child who does not really care how much harm that food that I craved was doing to me.
It takes practice. It takes listening to what you say to yourself before you give in, and having a logical rebuttal ready. It takes getting that temptation OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. Don't "buy it for your kids" or make other excuses. If you don't want to slip, stay off the ice. Here are some things I tell myself when I want to give in: "This will not make me feel better. I will feel sick later and angry with myself." "You'll feel so much better if you don't." "Eat this apple (or drink this smoothie, etc) and if you still want XXX in an hour, you can have it."
(Immediately follow this by having the healthy food and then DISTRACT YOURSELF with an activity incompatible with eating, such as taking a shower.) Finally, I tell myself that the kitchen is CLOSED after 7pm, I can't go in there even for water. I wash up the dishes and then I GET OUT, and take plenty of water with me.
I guess what I have very long windedly said is that what you call yourself MATTERS. Call yourself a raw vegan. Call yourself someone who is overcoming food issues. Call yourself someone who is strong and
capable and worthy of the BEST LIFE, the BEST HEALTH, and who loves her family and herself enough to make the choices necessary to be around a long, long time. Because it is TRUE about you, you know.
Mallory (fellow Raw Food Rehabber) Join us at the Hab! http://www.rawfoodrehab.ning.com/
To see Mallory's ongoing transformation, click HERE.
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