Trick or treat

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading the messages in the group for about two weeks

not and I have been listening to for about a month now.

First a bit of background about me: I live in Argentina, I was

bulimic during my college years and recovered from it on my own, but

I never fully recovered from binge eating and a rather auckward

relationship with food. I am not overweight, but I began listening

to the podcast because I need to solve this situation with food.

For me, the limiting beliefs my mother repeated ever since I can

remember were that I had a tendency to be fat, that my metabolism

was low, that I should not eat " bad " foods, and in conclusion that

if I am not " on guard " I will gain weight immediately.

For may years I have been on a path to solve this issues. When I

began listening to the podcast I could already eat an icecream

without a knawing sense of guilt, or enjoy a great meal without

counting the calories. However, I still have a tendency to mindless

eating, grazing food each time I pass by the kitchen, eating sweets

at night even when I am not hungry, compulsive eating when I am

anxious, or gulping down my food so fast I cannot understand where

it all went.

So, to me, Renne, you have been a godsend. Of all the techniques you

have suggested, the ones I use more are self correcting (and even

when I choose not to self correct, I am now aware of the option!),

continuous self-improvement, re-doing what I did wrong (btw, I am a

golfer so it is also improving my golf!!!), checking my limiting

beliefs and working on new ones, and the success journal.

About my limiting beliefs, I have a tendency to agree with what

other people say without questioning the veracity of their

statements. Working on identifying them and changing them is more

hard work than any diet. For instance, when I close my eyes and

imagine myself (i.e. a picture of me) I still do not see a slender

person. I am working on it, but I still do not feel in essense a

slender person.

The success journal I use in a rather different way. I hardly ever

have time to write things down, even if it takes just two minutes.

So for the time being I am doing this mentally right before going to

bed. I run through the day and note all the things I did well, but I

apply the notion to all of my life, not just food. i.e. today I

helped my son with a school problem, I was supportive when listening

to my husband, I enjoyed a nice and healthy lunch, etc. This is

making me feel much better about who I am, bacause my typical

tendency is to criticise myself.

So, you are all probably wondering right now about the title of my

message. I read a quite a few posts from many who view food as a

treat and I share that view very very much. The thing is that when

we cannot control what we eat, the treat turns into a trick, and

then we feel bad about ourselves and our self esteem drops below

zero. So right now I am working on finding other types of treats

that do not turn into tricks and that can nurture my body and my

soul as much as food can. I have began to practice short 10 minute

pilates sessions (there's an excellent podcast for that - Pilates on

Fifth), or I try to get a facial mask at home, or hop into the

shower for a body scrub, or go and get a manicure, or take care of

my hair, or listen to Renne for the upteenth time!. I am sure you

can add at least 5-10 more of your own which you very seldom make

the time to do. I am finding that taking care of my body in these

way gets my mind off the food I don't need. If I am hungry I try to

make sure I have a healthy snack while I do these things.

Hoping that this helps some of you out there, I send you all a big

abrazo from Argentina!

na