Are you trying to control your weight by avoiding certain foods, counting calories or skipping meals? Do you find the process complicated and get frustrated when, as soon as you go back to eating normally, the weight creeps back on?
In that case would you like to hear about a very simple technique that will help you to get rid of excess weight for good? That doesn't involve either will-power or a calculator.
Then read on and I shall let you in on a secret that will help you control your weight.
Open your mind to the possibility that the beliefs you are holding about food may be wrong. Change them to ones that are true and helpful to you and you can control your weight easily and permanently.
Beliefs? What beliefs?
Well ... let me give you an example.
Have you ever stopped to consider who decides exactly how much you eat? You may think that YOU do because you're in control of what you put in to your mouth. But if you always clear your plate then whoever served your meal has already decided how much you're going to eat before the food arrived at the table.
So if you are wanting to control your weight you don't need to avoid certain foods or count calories. Just eat a little bit less - shave a little bit off each meal by putting down your cutlery as soon as you are comfortably satisfied. Eating the amount that is right for you as opposed to the amount that's there will allow you to get rid of extra weight without going hungry or feeling deprived.
For most people a serving is the amount that 'looks' right. We all have an idea of what an average-sized portion of food looks like and we serve this up regardless of how energy dense the food is or how hungry we are. We do this whether we are preparing a meal for ourselves or for someone else.
Then we sit down to eat. And we don't stop till the plate is clean. If the amount of food on the plate determines the quantity we eat we will often be eating more than we need.
If you're in the habit of cleaning your plate you have probably been doing this since childhood. As a child, clean plates bring approval whereas uneaten food is met with disapproval. It is natural to want approval, especially parental, so we learn to clean our plates, avoid wasting food and keep mum and dad happy. This attitude to food becomes a belief that we carry with us in to adulthood, a time when we should be in control of what we put in to our bodies.
Hand in hand with the habit of cleaning your plate goes the belief that it's wrong to throw food away.
Most people do. But what if that wasn’t true? Let’s suspend belief for a moment and assume that it’s not wrong to put food in the bin. In fact, at times, it's a very good idea.
What affect would that have on your eating habits and your efforts to control your weight?
As a child I had a big appetite. A clean plate meant pudding so mine was always well-scraped. But I was never forced to eat after I was full. My mum used to say -
And when you think about it, really logically, she was absolutely right.
Once the food has been grown, harvested, processed, packed, shipped, transported, purchased, prepared and cooked it makes absolutely no difference to the environment, world hunger, the economy or your own purse if you put what’s left on your plate in to your stomach or in to the bin.
However if you get in to the habit of stopping when you’re satisfied and throwing the rest away you will soon learn what your appropriate portion size should be and adjust your portions according to how hungry you are. As you take control of your portion sizes you will begin to eat the amount your body needs and naturally reduce your weight.
On the other hand if you repeatedly eat everything that’s in front of you regardless of whether your body wants it or not you will continue to serve too much food. And if you're serving too much food then you must be cooking too much food. And in order to cook too much food you need to buy too much food.
A small but negative impact on your purse, world resources and the environment?
Undoubtedly. But more importantly ‘making a dustbin out of your stomach’ will only really affect your waistline and possibly your bum, your thighs, your skin, your digestion, your energy, your self-image, your confidence ... and so on.
Those few extra mouthfuls at each meal add up to a whole mountain of extra food consumed over the course of a year. We don't put weight on from eating a few extra mouthfuls but we do put on weight if we do it repeatedly.
If you want to control your weight, control your portion size and get comfortable with leaving food on your plate.
If you have been working with the belief that it’s not okay to throw food away can you see that it is more helpful to you to adopt the belief that you shouldn’t make a dustbin out of your stomach?
So here's some food for thought:
Food that is surplus to your requirements is wasted regardless of where it ends up -If it ends up in your mouth the only thing affected by it is YOU!
It's not just weight that's affected by chronic over-eating. You may be suffering from bloating too. Have a look at my post on How to reduce stomach bloating for advice.
In that case would you like to hear about a very simple technique that will help you to get rid of excess weight for good? That doesn't involve either will-power or a calculator.
All you need is an open-mind!
Then read on and I shall let you in on a secret that will help you control your weight.
It's not food that makes you fat -
It's the belief you have about food that makes you fat
Open your mind to the possibility that the beliefs you are holding about food may be wrong. Change them to ones that are true and helpful to you and you can control your weight easily and permanently.
Beliefs? What beliefs?
Well ... let me give you an example.
Have you ever stopped to consider who decides exactly how much you eat? You may think that YOU do because you're in control of what you put in to your mouth. But if you always clear your plate then whoever served your meal has already decided how much you're going to eat before the food arrived at the table.
So if you are wanting to control your weight you don't need to avoid certain foods or count calories. Just eat a little bit less - shave a little bit off each meal by putting down your cutlery as soon as you are comfortably satisfied. Eating the amount that is right for you as opposed to the amount that's there will allow you to get rid of extra weight without going hungry or feeling deprived.
For most people a serving is the amount that 'looks' right. We all have an idea of what an average-sized portion of food looks like and we serve this up regardless of how energy dense the food is or how hungry we are. We do this whether we are preparing a meal for ourselves or for someone else.
Then we sit down to eat. And we don't stop till the plate is clean. If the amount of food on the plate determines the quantity we eat we will often be eating more than we need.
It is those extra few mouthfuls
that can make all the difference
when it comes to weight control
If you're in the habit of cleaning your plate you have probably been doing this since childhood. As a child, clean plates bring approval whereas uneaten food is met with disapproval. It is natural to want approval, especially parental, so we learn to clean our plates, avoid wasting food and keep mum and dad happy. This attitude to food becomes a belief that we carry with us in to adulthood, a time when we should be in control of what we put in to our bodies.
Hand in hand with the habit of cleaning your plate goes the belief that it's wrong to throw food away.
Do YOU think it’s wrong to
throw food away?
throw food away?
Most people do. But what if that wasn’t true? Let’s suspend belief for a moment and assume that it’s not wrong to put food in the bin. In fact, at times, it's a very good idea.
What affect would that have on your eating habits and your efforts to control your weight?
As a child I had a big appetite. A clean plate meant pudding so mine was always well-scraped. But I was never forced to eat after I was full. My mum used to say -
"Don't make a dustbin out of your stomach"
And when you think about it, really logically, she was absolutely right.
Once the food has been grown, harvested, processed, packed, shipped, transported, purchased, prepared and cooked it makes absolutely no difference to the environment, world hunger, the economy or your own purse if you put what’s left on your plate in to your stomach or in to the bin.
However if you get in to the habit of stopping when you’re satisfied and throwing the rest away you will soon learn what your appropriate portion size should be and adjust your portions according to how hungry you are. As you take control of your portion sizes you will begin to eat the amount your body needs and naturally reduce your weight.
On the other hand if you repeatedly eat everything that’s in front of you regardless of whether your body wants it or not you will continue to serve too much food. And if you're serving too much food then you must be cooking too much food. And in order to cook too much food you need to buy too much food.
What happens when you take
that to it’s ultimate conclusion?
that to it’s ultimate conclusion?
A small but negative impact on your purse, world resources and the environment?
Undoubtedly. But more importantly ‘making a dustbin out of your stomach’ will only really affect your waistline and possibly your bum, your thighs, your skin, your digestion, your energy, your self-image, your confidence ... and so on.
Those few extra mouthfuls at each meal add up to a whole mountain of extra food consumed over the course of a year. We don't put weight on from eating a few extra mouthfuls but we do put on weight if we do it repeatedly.
If you want to control your weight, control your portion size and get comfortable with leaving food on your plate.
If you have been working with the belief that it’s not okay to throw food away can you see that it is more helpful to you to adopt the belief that you shouldn’t make a dustbin out of your stomach?
So here's some food for thought:
Food that is surplus to your requirements is wasted regardless of where it ends up -
It's not just weight that's affected by chronic over-eating. You may be suffering from bloating too. Have a look at my post on How to reduce stomach bloating for advice.
