Eating Issues - Waking Up !

No doubt about it! We are a nation of addicts with sugar & refined carbohydrates ranking right at the top of the list. Sugar & it's relations are absolutely everywhere & like wallpaper, we tend not to see them, even though they surround us on all four walls..... Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht

I have another workshop coming up & I always wonder what the participants will bring in for their personal "show & tell." The desire to lose weight or manage compulsive eating is only the name on their box cover. The true reality....the self-decorated issues.......are located inside.

One thing for sure.... everyone will be in a hurry & expect me to wave a magic wand over their box. Wishful thinking! Or.......is it? Unfortunately we gain nothing from this sort of magic. This is simply not the way the body & mind work.

Here are some truths my group will not want to hear....

If you are over-weight, chances are that your body fat percentage is too high & your lean body mass is too small. And so, part of you needs to lose while the other part needs to gain.

Even if your scale weight is fine......your body fat percentage may still be too high & so you are not home-free.
Your lean body mass is your permanent fat-burning machine & if it is too small, then your weight will always yo-yo.

It's not about dress or pants size. If the above is true, your body is on it's way to the killer diseases.

You are going to have to make changes, most likely many changes & you are going to have to do these repeatedly.

You cannot go back to your old ways. If you do, you will end up in deeper trouble than before.

You are going to have to eat regular healthy meals & most likely have to plan, shop & even cook some of them.

You are going to have to think about your needs & then put yourself FIRST.

A LOOK IN THE BOX

It's time to talk about taking the lid off the box. For the workshop participants this is exciting & frightening at the same time & especially if the box is heavy or disorganized. Just the idea of coming out of hiding & looking inward can be daunting, but it is mostly about the "idea."

Meet Jennifer........

I never thought about what's inside me & the idea of having to face this is extremely difficult. I've been fighting my weight all of my life, honestly believing that I'm an out-of-control person who simply can't change. I see myself as fat, unattractive & unworthy of just about everything.

I've never had an eating or behavioral discipline. While I've tried to diet, it never worked & I was always starving. As for my eating behaviors, they seem completely out of my control. The idea that other behaviors could be related to my eating issues is very new for me.

This realization leaves me angry at myself & at everyone else. If I had corrected at least some of the contents of my box, my life experiences would have been less painful & my level of health wouldn't be so compromised. Perhaps I'd be happier if I could control myself. Health-wise, I'm only 30 & borderline diabetic.

However, I'm shocked that there is a part of me that doesn't want to change. The idea of giving up my old behaviors seems impossible & certainly not a very welcomed idea. I have to admit that I like bingeing & feel I need it to live my life.

Jennifer's ideas or beliefs are keeping her in disease, addiction, disorderly eating, bingeing, as well as in emotional pain. In addition she is pushing her authentic & creative self from joining her life experiences.

So, it's time to "reframe" her idea.

Reframing is just what the word says, removing an old, ineffectual frame on a picture or idea & then placing a new, valuable frame on it instead. Fear is nothing more than a big bully who runs away once one steps forward & this is exactly what will happen for Jennifer. Most of us have been bullied by fear since we were children, some brought by others & some provided by our own creative subconcious mind. But Jennifer is no longer a child. She is grown & is now in the process of becoming mature in the handling of the contents of her box.

AWAY FROM FEAR & INTO HOT DESIRE

Desire is something we absolutely must have to succeed at high levels. It is the juice for staying in our chosen discipline. Jennifer noticed her lack of desire for change, despite the fact that she is already diabetic. This gives us the opportunity to see how toxic addictions can be. She would sell her health for a few pieces of pizza & a hot fudge sundae.

Jennifer can feel her levels of desire in her own body & certainly they play out in her mind. I ask her to relax & then locate a time in her past when she really wanted to do something, noticing that her body was like a race horse waiting for the starting bell. She now has two different points of reference, one for low desire & one for hot desire. When her desire is low the body can be felt backing away from the actions.

In the practice of interactive self-hypnosis we work to uncover the secrets that are in the box. The simple act of uncovering them, is a form of release. Once Jennifer cleans & clears these facets, she is free to plug her hot desire "body & mind state" into her chosen goal outcomes.

Here are some generic things that accompany low-desire... see how many you recognize. Remember, once they are uncovered, they are in position for release & re-programming:

Most of us have excuses living on our tongues. Making excuses is a bad habit & keeps us locked up in what we don't want.

Most of us don't know how to begin. We tend towards procrastination, thinking about starting tomorrow, but tomorrow comes & goes & we find outselves in the same old place.

We wake up with good intention, but then "life interrupts" & we fall back into old emotional patterns, beliefs, activities, choices, as if there were the only place to go.

We "window shop" through life, desiring things we cannot grasp or cannot seem to hold onto for long......if at all.

We live in the land of good intentions & excuses, spending incredible energy on defending ourselves, our positions of inactivity or perceived failure, then blaming others for stepping on our toes & our dreams. Most of this constitutes garbage.

Here are some things Jennifer needs to know....

She is in charge.

She is responsible.

Everything she needs is already inside of herself.

She is the writer, producer & director of her life.

The past is finished & everything forward is on her design board.