Cravings are the biggest fear of people on a diet. Changing the approach of eating can help to overcome the obsession with food, to gain back more freedom and finally to lose weight.
Many people are stuck in a cycle of rigid diet-rules, overeating and gaining weight before eventually starting the next diet. Cravings are often the biggest challenge. Resulting in even stricter rules and more disappointment when these can’t be followed.
Rules cause Cravings
During my coaching sessions with experienced dieters, I often realize, how much the rules of an individual diet history are ingrained into the thinking of each person. They are deeply convinced that only strict rules on what and when to eat will help them to lose the desired weight. Not recognizing that exactly this concept brought them here, desperately searching for help. Because the strict rules and the attempt to stay in control are the cause of the uncontrollable cravings itself.
Our brain works in a way that it makes us desperately desire forbidden things. You probably realized this with your children as well. Certain options just get interesting, because they are not allowed. With foods and external rules from diets, it is exactly the same.
No forbidden Foods
In the concept of mindful eating, there are no forbidden foods. In fact that some foods have bigger and some less nutritional value to nourish our body, but they all can be part of a balanced nutrition.
Learning about this part of mindful eating is scary when you don’t trust your own signals anymore. People expect to lose control and to go overboard with the foods which were forbidden during dieting, sometimes for decades.
Mindfully approaching the "enemy"
Elaborated and proven tools help clients to approach the „forbidden foods“ consciously. As a result of trying them mindfully again, people often discover that these foods are not even that tasty. Avoiding them gave them immense power over our thoughts. Facing the „enemy“ makes it lose its power in an instant. It is the best option to find the way back to conscious eating and to experience the desperately wished weight loss in addition to better wellbeing and more happiness.
It’s paradox: We diet because we feel out of control, obsessing about certain foods. But each new diet is feeding exactly this obsession, making it even worse.
Dr. Magdalena Schauenberg
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