Re: Food thoughts! How we get caught

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for this. I will keep it. I am struggling so much

with my negative thoughts and they hold a lot of weight because they

always made me give up on former diets. I am afraid of them now too.

But what you say gives me real hope for my future. I am fighting

like mad over these negative thoughts. I think I will read your post

before meals and in between. Thanks so much. Lilka

>

>

> We get caught up in our thoughts...thoughts like: " I have to eat

that because there's nothing else around. " Or " Just this one time. "

Or " I broke my promise, so the rest of the day is ruined--I might as

well eat whatever I want and start again tomorrow. " Those thoughts

seem so powerful. How do they get that way?

> The truth is that thoughts aren't really so solid. They pass. We

think we have a solid identity because our thoughts want us to think

that. Those voices in our head want us to think they are really us.

> Some thoughts become powerful because they carry strong emotions

with them. We hear them all the time, we get freaked out, and we

form an idea of who we are. We pick out a certain " theme " of

thoughts, and identify with that.

> For example, if you have frequent " giving up " thoughts, you might

say to yourself, " I'm hopeless, I'm a hopeless failure, I can't do

this. " But if you observe your mind closely you'll see that not ALL

your thoughts are " giving up " thoughts. There are also happy

thoughts, business-like thoughts, uplifted thoughts, and powerful

good thoughts.

> The main thing is: Thoughts pass, even the powerful negative ones

that think they are the Real You. If you get a compelling " EAT "

thought, try holding off--don't act on it right away. You'll see

that the thought that you thought you HAD to act on will pass. Yeah,

it will come back, because for years you've given it lots of fear

and attention; you've told it that it is a VERY important, special

thought. But the more you turn away from it, let it float on by, the

more that thought will get the message: " Just another thought. " And

that 'gap' between the thought and your action gives you a LOT of

space to do something different with your life.

> Later

> Martha

>

[Guest guest]

Wow Martha

This was great. Something Im definitely going to practice!

>

>

> We get caught up in our thoughts...thoughts like: " I have to eat

that because there's nothing else around. " Or " Just this one time. "

Or " I broke my promise, so the rest of the day is ruined--I might as

well eat whatever I want and start again tomorrow. " Those thoughts

seem so powerful. How do they get that way?

> The truth is that thoughts aren't really so solid. They pass. We

think we have a solid identity because our thoughts want us to think

that. Those voices in our head want us to think they are really us.

> Some thoughts become powerful because they carry strong emotions

with them. We hear them all the time, we get freaked out, and we form

an idea of who we are. We pick out a certain " theme " of thoughts, and

identify with that.

> For example, if you have frequent " giving up " thoughts, you might

say to yourself, " I'm hopeless, I'm a hopeless failure, I can't do

this. " But if you observe your mind closely you'll see that not ALL

your thoughts are " giving up " thoughts. There are also happy

thoughts, business-like thoughts, uplifted thoughts, and powerful

good thoughts.

> The main thing is: Thoughts pass, even the powerful negative ones

that think they are the Real You. If you get a compelling " EAT "

thought, try holding off--don't act on it right away. You'll see that

the thought that you thought you HAD to act on will pass. Yeah, it

will come back, because for years you've given it lots of fear and

attention; you've told it that it is a VERY important, special

thought. But the more you turn away from it, let it float on by, the

more that thought will get the message: " Just another thought. " And

that 'gap' between the thought and your action gives you a LOT of

space to do something different with your life.

> Later

> Martha

>