How are you feeling this weekend?
I know Easter can be an anxious time for people who maybe worry about their relationship with food and I've talked to a lot of my clients already about this this week.
Below you can see an email reply I just sent to someone who is feeling anxious about losing the run of themselves at the weekend and undoing the progress they've made - any of you also feeling this way, will likely relate and hopefully take something from it. If there's anything else we can help you with - let us know...
"Sure so there's a lot of people in this boat coming up to this weekend. Part of the problem is the preconceived assumption that you will go mad - as if you don't have any say in the matter. I'll tell you where that is more likely to happen - if you tell yourself you should avoid chocolate altogether and then if you eventually have some - the self criticism comes piling in and you say well I've fucked up now so I may as well
make the most of it.
Where you won't go wrong is if you say - 'okay, I'm looking forward to having some chocolate on Sunday (or tomorrow or whenever it ends up being) but I can also have chocolate on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and every other day for the rest of my life if I want to - so let's have some chocolate on Sunday, I'm allowed to, it's been a while so it'll be nice! I'm going to practice my mindful eating skills here to see just how good
chocolate tastes and I'm not going to make life more difficult by leaving a whole egg out in front of me all day - if I want some, I'll get a portion, put the rest away, eat it mindfully and then ask myself do I want more. If I do then I'll get it. If I don't then I'll leave it.'
So you have to give yourself full permission to have the chocolate, and trust yourself to eat it under those conditions. Okay?
I know it's a bit of a leap of faith right now until you come out the other side but what's the alternative, do the same thing you have every other year? How's that been working for you? May as well try another approach right? It just might work 🙂 "
Can you relate to this? Give yourself permission to have some chocolate. Don't turn it into the forbidden fruit.
- Brian
