“I’m trying to lose weight, so what foods I should avoid?”
It’s a good question.
When I’m out and about, and people discover I help women lose weight through hypnotherapy, it’s one of the first questions they ask.
Frequently, the asker is hoping for a list of instructions of the Stay Away From Sugar or Never Let Bread Pass Your Lips variety. Or some such ‘secret’ tip.
My answer is simple.
So simple it’s often overlooked.
And it’s never what the asker expects.
Ultimately, I believe What Not To Eat Lists are unhelpful, at best, and at worst, they actually set you up for weight loss failure.
Why?
Because the repressed becomes the obsessed
Intuitively you already know what I mean.
As soon as you declare certain foods “out of bounds”, you immediately start obsessing about the exact thing you said you were going to avoid.
Well, don’t you?!
It’s like, what’s repressed, becomes the obsessed.
You didn’t even fancy bacon, but now that you’ve decided it’s the enemy, all you want is bacon. Mmmmmm baaaacon…
True or true?!
So, my rule of thumb is to eat whatever foods you want.
There are no good or bad foods. There are simply some foods which are healthier, more nourishing and more alive than others.
But nothing is actually off the menu.
One recent client was scandalised at the idea of having no forbidden food list and still being able to lose weight. You see, she adored cookies and cream ice cream, and believed that if she was allowed to eat it, she would eat that to the exclusion of everything else.
She didn’t.
Sure, for the first meal after learning that nothing was off the menu, she had her ice cream. But she hasn’t touched it since. It’s been 12 weeks and she’s got control of her eating. All the former cookies n cream allure has evaporated, the craving’s gone.
Crave the healthier choice
The curious thing is this. Clients find when nothing is off the menu, instead of diving into all the previously forbidden sugary, salty or fatty treats, they find themselves seeking out fresher, direct-from-the-garden, healthier, lower processed foods.
When they really start listening to what their body’s want, they’re thrilled to find they actually crave the healthier version on the menu.
Yay.
You see losing weight is all about tuning in to your body’s natural hunger signals. We’re all born with the blue print to perfect health and our perfect weight. We just need to re-learn how to listen.
It’s simply a matter of tuning into what our body is telling us, and not what someone else says we should do (yes, I get the irony that I’m telling you what to do!).
Permanent, long term weight loss comes when you learn to listen to your own beautiful body.
Inflexible advice sucks
So, next time you’re tempted to lose weight with extreme food rules or low calorie diets, which we know never work in the long term, the question you need to ask yourself is:
1. “Is this something I can do for life?”
2. “Is it ease-ful, do-able and fun?”
BTW: In my experience anything that is easily do-able and F.U.N will get done. And you will lose weight, naturally.
So, rather than accepting someone else’s Forbidden Foods List, failing to stick to it, and then beating yourself up, I’d encourage you to listen to your tummy.
I dare you….
Love etc, Avril
PS: If you struggle with food cravings and you’ve had enough of everyone else’s food rules and want to learn to listen to your own tummy, maybe you’re ready for hypnotherapy. Why not drop me a line, and together let’s get you back in control of food and living in a body you love.
