Diet-Adherence Help: Feelings Are Not Facts
Last modified 1 month, 1 week ago.
Being an avid fitness enthusiast, I have ended up in interesting conversations about food.
I thought people were asking for advice. I later realized that they were really hoping that I would tell them what they already believed.
I was amazed by the objections I’ve heard to sensible suggestions over the years, like including a few servings of vegetables at the beginning of a meal.
I’ve heard things like…
“How can I enjoy life doing that!?”
“That’s like what a tyrannical dictator would do!”
“That’s too much work.”
"Sugar and s*x are the only things worth living for."
"I do eat GOOD!" (As they ate pizza and drank cola soda).
These comments often came from people who could benefit the most from eating well and balanced. It’s something else when a sickly 300-pound person, who can barely walk, tells you exercising moderately and eating more sensibly would create a joyless life.
I understand better a component of the motivation behind these objections and why people continue to eat themselves into poor health and a painful grave.
Ready?
They mistake feelings for facts.
I’ve done it many times myself, or–at least, have struggled with this.
When someone is strongly attached to junk food and destructive eating habits, the thought of quitting or reducing their habits can stimulate very-uncomfortable thoughts that feel true.
It’s OK for someone to feel whatever they feel, but that’s all they are–feelings.
These uncomfortable notions and feelings don’t hold up under the light of rationality and reflection. However, their automaticity and emotional charge can keep people swept up in their current. And current is an excellent analogy (IMHO). If you’ve ever taken swimming lessons or been at a beach with lifeguards, then you should know about rip currents. If you ever get caught in a rip current, swimming against it will just leave you exhausted, while you get pushed further away from the shore and out to sea. But if you swim across it, you should be OK–albeit inconvenienced, and out of harm’s way.
When faced with uncomfortable feelings (with little basis in fact), it is self limiting to react and be consumed by the feeling’s energy. Again, this is like trying to swim against a rip current. But there are ways to respond to these uncomfortable feelings that are more rational and productive, just like swimming across a rip current to safety.
If you have been having difficulty sticking to a food plan, and sense that troubling feelings keep getting in the way, don’t despair, there’s plenty of hope.
Pick up a copy of Defeat Your Cravings or Never Binge Again by Dr. Glenn Livingston (both are free online). These books will teach you how to deal with even the most-uncomfortable feelings and thoughts that can arise when trying to stick to the balanced diet of your choice.
If you have any questions, email me.
Wishing you the best of health!