Over at ZenHabits, there’s a great set of fitness tips – 14 Stress-Free Ways to Kick Weight Loss in the Butt.
A habit I have been working on personally speaks to three of Leo’s points:
3. Become aware of your hunger. This is one of the key things I’ve been learning. Many times we are not conscious of how hungry we are. We ignore our bodies because we’re too busy thinking about other things… Learn to listen to your body.
5. Learn to eat until satiated. Again, pay attention to your body as you eat. If you eat mindlessly, you will most likely overeat. You’ll just keep cramming food into yourself until you’ve eaten too much. We’ve all felt the pain of being overstuffed. Don’t allow that to happen — be mindful of your eating, and of your hunger… before you go back for seconds, stop and take a break for a few minutes. Drink some water, talk to somebody, read, go do something, clean the kitchen a little. Whatever it takes. Often you’ll find that you really didn’t need the seconds. And then you’ve saved yourself a few hundred calories.
13. Forgive, and move on. If you make a mistake, or cheat more than you should, don’t just give up or beat yourself up. This kind of negative thinking is why people don’t stay on diets for long. They binge and then go back to their unhealthy habits. Instead, just forgive yourself for any indulgences, and get back on your healthy eating plan. Look forward, not backward.
I have been battling against excess weight for the balance of my life. When I was 21 I turned hit bottom, turned the corner and started the long road down from 396 pounds. I have learned a lot along the way. Mostly I have learned that I am a compulsive overeater. I eat, to excess, as a matter of course. This used to be a cause of self-hatred, but thankfully it no longer is. It simply is, what it is. I am a compulsive overeater.
I accepted that distinction a couple of years ago, and the results have been awesome. I dropped another 50+ pounds, and for the first time in my life the weight loss feels real, not some stroke of luck that is going to disappear as miraculously as it appeared. I move lighter, have more energy, and am a good deal more content.
However (you knew there was going to be one), I have started slipping lately. I have not had any between meal snacks, solid sugar foods (cookies, candy, pastries, etc.), pizza, or peanut butter for the last 2+ years.  But, my portions have slowly gotten bigger during my three daily meals, and my weight has crept up a bit. I pondered this, prayed over it, meditated about it, raged around it and wrote a good deal. Finally, it dawned. There is one place during my day when I forget that I am a compulsive overeater: when I actually sit down to eat. Once the food is in front of me the blinders go on, and I eat. And, as I said above, for me that means to excess as a matter of course.
So, for the last week and a half I have added a new practice. Every time I sit down to eat I repeat a little internal, quiet, secret affirmation. “I am a compulsive overeater.” Again, this is not bad, it is only so. That is part of how this particular body/mind is wired. I am not at fault for this. Doing that reminds me of where I am, and what I am doing. Namely, eating. Then I can listen to my body, know when I am told that I have had enough to satisfy. At that point I can, with no guilt or remorse, stop.
The result? Five pounds down on the scale, back to under 200 pounds, and a pervading feeling of serenity in my life as the facing of food is no longer a source of dread and unconscious stress.
I am a compulsive overeater, hear me smile.
