This month I really want to bring our self-talk into the spotlight and talk about some of the most damaging phrases we use on ourselves that keep us stuck in the diet cycle. What we believe about ourselves isn’t always true and we have to challenge these beliefs in order to begin to give ourselves the freedom to break free of the damaging diet mindset.

Probably one of the most used phrases I hear from people when they are trying to break out of the diet cycle is “I’m quite greedy, if I open something I want to eat it ALL”. Another is “once I start eating I can’t stop”. There is often a real reluctance to accept that there is another way to approach their lack of control around food. When people say “I’m just greedy” it puts quite a damaging label on things and allows them to shift the responsibility onto their ‘greed’. After all if we just say “hey I’m greedy, that’s who I am” then it stops us having to do anything about it. It provides the perfect scapegoat.

The real thing to look at is what emotions and actions throughout the day are causing us to lose control. Are certain foods your trigger food? Most of the things that cause ‘greed’ or ‘uncontrollable eating’ can be resolved if we are willing to look beyond the label of ‘greed’. For example, if you have been restricting calories all day or skipping meals regularly then your sense of control is going to be limited by the time you are ready to eat. Many people struggle with this problem when they get home from work in the evening. If the technical issues such as managing blood sugar throughout the day are addressed then you are so much less likely to lose control in the evening.

Rather than looking at greed itself, it is important to look at what is DRIVING that loss of control. What events lead up to it? Stress? Unhappiness? Certain people? Certain foods? Once you start to look at ‘greed’ as a symptom rather than a cause, it is much easier to avoid that feeling of total binge! All our actions are driven by something and once we figure that out we can start to address the problems!

I put this into two categories:

• Technical or physical issues: such as skipping meals, not eating enough throughout the day or even not eating a balanced enough diet. If we aren’t getting all the nutrients our body needs then it is hungry for real nutrition! It needs feeding. This can cause a whole host of problem actions that are avoidable. It can make you tired and crave the foods that keep you stuck in a cycle that isn’t going to help you lose weight! These are in many ways the easiest problems to fix. Start by asking yourself what technical and physical issues could be causing you to feel greedy? How can you make some changes in this area? What can you do to manage your hunger throughout the day?
• Emotional issues: For obvious reasons, when our eating is driven by hurt, upset and misery then this is a harder scenario to fix because it can take time to unpick what the real problems are. Everything can feel connected and part of one big emotional cycle. Ask yourself how you are feeling. What you are really getting from eating this? What do I want? What do I need? How will I feel once I get that? Being conscious of our emotions around food can really help you to see what is driving your choices and why.

For both of these categories it is important to take a look at the bigger picture in order to see what is driving our food choices. We have to remove the label of ‘greedy’ so that we can address the fundamental problem. Greed is a symptom of something! You can absolutely gain control of your habits if you are willing to take a deeper look at these areas of your life and gain some perspective. To do this, try removing all judgment. It is hard to take a look at our eating without judging because every diet you have ever been on drives it!

Gaining control of certain eating habits can be a long and difficult process and you are not alone! So many people struggle with it. So this week ‘greed’ is the first word I want you to take out of your vocabulary! If you catch yourself using it then try to direct your thoughts to a more useful train of thought such as “ok I’m not greedy but I feel a bit out of control. Why is this? How can I figure this out?”

You will find it so much easier to break free of your diet cycle if you can start to really figure out what is going on here!

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