An eDiets Exclusive Dr. Matthew Anderson, D. Min.
Two years ago, I lost 64 pounds. I ate everything I wanted to eat, and I never counted calories. I lost all that weight and have kept it off using a number of my own special weight loss techniques. I have described one of the most powerful for you today. It is simple to do, but it requires a bit of mental/emotional focus. See if you can do it. It works.
Background Information:
Fact: Our bodies are designed to tell us what to eat and when to eat it in order to stay fit and healthy. If this is so, then why do so many of us get fat? Simply put, we get fat because we stop listening to our body's messages.
Why do we stop listening to our body's messages? Because we overwhelm our body messages with emotional messages and eat to manage our feelings. For example, we may eat to feel less anxious, sad, angry, lonely, etc. -- even when our body tells us that it is full and satisfied. If we eat to "kill our emotions," too often we will lose touch with the healthy and trustable messages that our body naturally gives us. Then we will cease to trust our body and rely instead on external weight loss guides and processes.
However, it is possible to reconnect with our basic and trustable body-messages and use them as our guide to health and long-term weight loss. If you are willing to follow a few simple directions, you can establish a new relationship with your body and learn to hear, feel and trust its messages about food. Then you will lose weight in a way that will seem almost spontaneous.
Caution: This process is simple. However, it is not easy to put into daily practice. Your emotions are accustomed to running the eating show. You have probably learned to distrust your body, and you may imagine that you will get even fatter if you listen to it and allow it to guide your eating choices. Practicing the following technique may require a bit of patience and continued use before you regain a clear connection to your body's healthy food messages.
Trustable Body Messages. If you listen, your body will tell you when it is full and satisfied. It will also tell you when it wants water, salads, sweets, carbohydrates, fish, chicken, pasta and vegetables -- and in what proportion. It will tell you when to eat and how many times a day to eat: if you listen. This technique will help you rehabilitate your ability to listen to your body. Give it a try.
The Body-Trust Weight Loss Technique
1. Ask your body this question at least 6 times a day, "What do you really want to eat right now?" Be as specific as you can in your answer. Then go and get that food. Eat the food you really want to eat when your body tells you to eat it, even if it is not mealtime.
2. Eat slowly, so that you can listen to your body's messages about how it likes the food. Really taste the food with each bite you take.
3. As you eat, ask your body this question constantly, "Do you want more of this food?" As soon as your body says "no," stop eating that food, no matter what is left over. At first, you may be shocked at the amounts of food you leave over. But trust your body and stop when it says stop.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 each day.
5. Don't be surprised if your body begins to tell you that it wants more exercise. If you get these messages, then listen to them and begin slowly being sure to let your body describe the specific types of exercise it wants.
I realize this eating process is contrary to your normal eating pattern. It may seem strange and even risky at first. But remember, you have forgotten how to listen to most of your body's messages about food. It will take time to reconnect and trust.
I have discovered that it is also useful to keep a journal about what feelings and thoughts emerge when you practice this technique. Your journaling may lead you to the deeper reasons you overeat, and that information is crucial to your long-term weight loss success. Pay attention to it, and use it to create an inner-healing plan to support your emotional and physical health.
If you want additional help with the inner reasons that you eat or want to comment on my article, please email me at mattcoyote@aol.com . Now, ask your body what it wants to eat today and go for it!
Matthew Anderson, D. Min., is a counselor, organizational consultant and seminar leader. He lives and works in Boca Raton, Florida. To order his inspirational book, The Prayer Diet.
