Fitness
magazines and diet books have taught me a lot over the years, but I always felt
like they were leaving out a giant piece of the equation. After devouring the
latest dieting tome, I would excitedly plot out menus, shopping lists and
exercise plans for the week. Yet two days later the plans would fall by the
wayside and I'd be left feeling guilty, ashamed and frustrated that I couldn't
seem to follow through.
In
recent years the diet industry has added more discussion about healthy
behaviors . In addition to the ubiquitous lists of approved foods and ever
shifting focus from fat to carbs to protein, attention is now being given to
habits that naturally thin people have. Advice like sticking to the outer
perimeter of the grocery store (to avoid the packaged garbage in the center
aisles), eating every few hours to regulate blood sugar, never skipping
breakfast and not bringing trigger foods into the house are all excellent
suggestions, but a major component is still missing: even after learning all of
these tricks, many of us still have difficulty following through.
There
have been many times where I’ve had an almost out-of-body experience, mentally
screaming at myself to put down the 11th
cookie and step away from the kitchen. I would get so fustrated. I knew
what I should be eating to fuel my body properly, yet I continuously made
terrible choices, even when I desperately wanted to change my diet.
After years of searching,
I’ve finally found the missing link. I had to determine WHY I ate the wrong
things (besides the fact that they taste delicious!) Like a detective, I
recorded everything that was happening while I was eating, then scoured my
emotional eating journal searching for clues. What were my triggers? What
situations led to compulsive eating? What did I truly need, because it's not really about the
food, it's about something in my life pushing me over the edge and feeling
spiritually disconnected.
As I learned to solve my
issues and become more spiritually awake, my compulsion to eat the wrong things
honestly subsided. Notice I said "subsided", not
"disappeared." Maybe someday I'll be able to be neutral about my
favorite trigger foods, but for now I'm just thrilled with the progress I've
made and the feeling that I'm finally on the right path.
Our emotional and spiritual
health is the missing link that the diet industry rarely talks about. I
understand why they don't. It's complex, it's ugly and there is no
one-size-fits-all solution. “Learn to feel your emotions, communicate with your
loved ones and process anger, fear and resentment like a mature adult” is not
quite as sexy and simple as “Eat This to Have Rock Hard Abs!” But it's a
vitally important part of the weight loss equation.
