Regaining your Superpower!

A friend of mine posted about losing her "superpower" over the holidays...how she felt so wonderful, so powerful when she lost the weight...she was doing great....but then she 'lost it' over the holidays and now she HATES herself because she's regained weight.

And boy, can I RELATE!

So many of us went down the sludge road over the holidays.

But it's not over till it's over, right?  So as long as you NEVER give up on yourself, you still have a chance!

So here's the thing. What I'm doing to get my 'superpower' back, is doing what worked BEFORE, and adding back in some tools that I found helpful.

For me, a big part of that is the books that gave me inspiration and ideas on how to fight BACK. How to regain CONTROL over my eating.

And for me, that comes down to a simple philosophy.....the idea that we have TWO voices in our heads at all times...our intelligent side PLUS our 'Fat Brain'. Fat Brain is our addictive voice. She wants us to keep doing what we did....eat eat eat....because that's how we handled life, that was our answer to just about everything, that was our comfort, our friend, our pleasure in life.

But YOU, your intelligent side, knows that that is just a LIE. YOU know now....(especially if you've lost weight before on this plan!)....that a better life awaits you when you regain CONTROL and get back in the groove and back to goal. So you can CHALLENGE Fat Brain, and NOT listen to her.



For me, a refresher course was needed in AVRT -- Addictive Voice Recovery Technique -- which is basically 'Talking back to Fat brain'. I 'lost it' for awhile over the holidays, too. One treat led to another and another, the dam burst, and I started to ONLY listen to my addictive voice (Fat Brain), and NOT to my intelligent side. I just DECIDED (because we all DO decide, whether we choose to believe it or not) to binge! I really did! I was looking for an 'out' clause. Telling myself that I could regain control at ANY point in time (which is true but definitely not easy, especially in the middle of the holidays), and that it was OK to gain 'some' weight.....I still looked good.

But very quickly I saw I was rationalizing.....I DIDN'T still 'look good', in fact I HATED how I looked, and I entered DESPAIR over HOW COULD I DO THIS TO MYSELF - AGAIN? .....

....So....I set a new "Start Date" for the day after Christmas - December 26th -- and I've been OP ever since.
And I'm finally learning that there IS NO OUT CLAUSE! EVER!
I will ALWAYS have to watch what I eat...and certain foods are off limits, totally.

I can get upset over this, or sad....or rant and rave and say it's not 'fair', etc.....or I can get real. There's no point in wasting all that emotional energy when I know the real deal. And the real deal is that I MUST watch what I eat EVERY DAY for the rest of my life.

Not a fun thing to look forward to? Maybe....but I look at the alternative and I'll do what I have to do, because the alternative is AWFUL.

I even stopped going to the gym (I'll return next week) because I hated the way my stomach juts out and how tight my leggings are! How sad is THAT?

So here's the thing. I went back to "Square One". I'm re-reading "Rational Recovery" and "Taming the Feast Beast", both by Jack Trimpey. I've talked about these books before because they've helped me BIGTIME. And the ideas in them...the idea that I CAN 'talk back', I CAN take control, I CAN 'just say NO' to Fat Brain, is very empowering and I believe in it!

It's how I lost over 70 lbs and it's what is going to get me BACK to goal.

You did it before, guys.....YOU CAN DO IT AGAIN, only better and stronger and more experienced this time.

DON'T FALL FOR FAT BRAIN and her tricks. No, not 'her'....."IT"!!!!

DE-PERSONALIZE Fat Brain, because it really IS a 'beast', a beast that won't leave you alone, especially those first few days OP and at trying times in your life AND after you reach goal.

Fat Brain is devious, cunning, intelligent, and ever-present (and ever-patient!).....

My BEST advice? Is to realize that whenever you hear ANY of the following:

"One won't hurt"
"I deserve this"
"I NEED this"
"I can restart tomorrow"
"I worked out today, so it won't matter....cause I burned X calories"
"It will make me FEEL better"
"It will take my mind off my troubles"
"It's something to do"
"It's not FAIR that others can eat junk and never get fat but I can't"
"I'll show him/her/them" (anger eating)

I betcha you can identify other Fat Brain sayings. In fact, whenever Fat Brain says 'I'.....change it to 'IT'.
That in itself can make those small decisions, those key decisions, the RIGHT ones.

So instead of "I need this", think "IT needs this", and you'll see where it's coming from. NOT from your intelligent side that wants a healthy, slim body....but from evil FAT BRAIN, who wants you to continue to do what you ALWAYS did when under stress/hungry/upset/or it's just time to eat!

It's not hard to do once you get the hang of it.

Think you can't do it? Try this simple test to see if you can practice AVRT and get to goal, and STAY THERE:

- Wiggle your index finger. Easy, right?
- Now ask Fat Brain to wiggle your index finger.

SHE CAN'T DO IT!

SEE? YOU are in control of your hands, and what you use them to put into your mouth. Therefore Fat Brain is, in reality, POWERLESS.

We give her more power and control over us than she deserves!

YOU can choose NOT to listen to Fat Brain, NOW. That's all....just NOW, this minute. Because it's always 'NOW', right?
If you adhere to what you really want in your heart-of-hearts....which is to get to goal....you can learn to TALK BACK to Fat Brain, to argue with her, or better yet, RECOGNIZE her when she appears and IGNORE her! That's all....just ignore her.

So make a 'BIG PLAN' to lose the weight.....and think about learning about AVRT if you haven't already. I think you'll find it's an amazing tool to help you stay on your food program!

Here's those books again:
Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction
and
Taming the Feast Beast: How to Recognize the Voice of Fatness and End Your Struggle with Food Forever


KEEP ON!

Linda
angiecat6@comcast.net