I know, you're probably thinking you've to diet to lose weight. But nothing could be further from the truth. With rare exceptions, most people were born into normal weight bodies. But then we learned to diet.
Dieting causes the body to go into survival mode. Dieting itself sparks the intense biological urge to consume large quantities of high calorie foods. It causes the body's instinctual drives to override all intellectual controls. It primes the body to maximize food intake and minimize energy burned.
Diets have set us up to fight against our own physical survival, the body's most basic instinct.
As a comparison, think of how difficult life would be if you had to go to the bathroom on a wearisome schedule. What if you only allowed yourself to urinate 3 times a day?
At 8 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. you could release positively 5 ounces. You'd measure it of patrol to be sure it was the right amount. If you needed to go more, you would force yourself to wait until the next booked time. And too bad if you needed to go at 10 am, hold it until noon.
You would be miserable. Your body would have a very difficult time complying with an arbitrary schedule. It would probably get ugly.
Overeating because your body refuses to starve doesn't make you a failure. It means you're human.
- It doesn't make you diseased.
- It doesn't mean you're flawed forever.
- It doesn't doom you to being permanently sick and trying to recover for the rest of your life.
- It circumstance you did the best you could at the time.
- It means you will be able to forgive yourself and move on.
Think of how children live, we can learn a lot from them:
- They rest when they are tired.
- They pace, jump, swim, dance, and play as much as they can because it feels good and it's fun.
- They're picky about what they eat. They'll go hungry instead of settle for something they don't love.
- They eat when they're hungry.
- Once they feel full, they've to be tricked or bribed into eating even one more bite of food.
- They drink when they're thirsty.
- They love their bodies and they don't care how their thighs look or if their tummy isn't flat and tight.
- They don't have to think about all this. It good comes naturally and easily as a partition of being human.
So stop thinking of yourself as forever fat. You're not doomed to either being overweight or to being on a perpetual diet. Let overeating and overweight languish into the past. They served you well to keep you alive. Once you stop dieting and assume the body you were born with, you can return to your unique, normal weight.
I'm not suggesting everyone is going to be model skinny. The endless, tyrannical pressure to be very kooky is a big part of the problem. Some bodies are meant to be soft and curvy. Others are absolutely sharp and angular. We are variously stocky, tall, fleshy, muscular, sinewy, short, etc. There's wonderful beauty in diversity.
Accepting and loving the unique beauty of your body will heal you and side with you free. Be like a child and delight in the body you have. Cherish the power in your muscles. Enjoy the feeling of being alive here on this planet. Let go of having to look a certain way. Be yourself. Let someone increased try to be like the models or celebrities. The world will be a better place if it gets to have the real, unique, special person that you are.
Believe in your own healing. Believe that you can live tender and positively at your own ideal weight. That faith is a huge part of what will set you free. Eating normally is completely natural. Deep down you know how to do it.