The Diet – Binge Cycle
When the object of denial becomes the object of obsession.
You know this game. Its Sunday night and you are having your last favourite meal and lots of it. The plan is that from tomorrow, Monday morning, you will be on a health kick, good food only, just clean food. This time it will work…. you tell yourself! You have done this many times but this time you feel your will power will be able to do it. By Monday afternoon or the end of the week you are over it. So you decide to have one little treat. Just one. Well youv’e blown it now so may as well continue to binge on treats. Just for now, until diet day again and then it will be all over. Then comes Sunday night and you do it all over again and again and again and again.
When we deny ourselves our favourite foods we think about them, visualise them and obsess about them until we eventually loose our ability to avoid then and we need to have them. By then, we have lost all control so we over eat on them. The interesting part of this, is if you sit back and observe, they probably don’t taste as good as you think. Read on and explore whats going on………
In addition to the Object of Denial Law you also have two other major issues leading to binging:
The Tension of Diets
When there is a strong focus on losing weight, the added tension created in the body depletes the happy hormones (dopamine), leading to feelings of being alone, isolated, cold and unloved.
Can you blame yourself for binging on comfort food when you feel all these complex and challenging emotions???
Weakened Metabolism
Regular dieting disturbs the self regulatory process and affects the metabolism. It fools the body into thinking it is responding to starvation conditions and lowers the rate at which food is processed.
If you have been constantly dieting and start to eat regularly, you may experience feelings of “not being full” because the body’s own self regulating system has been damaged.
In addition to this the body’s thermostat which controls the metabolism of food is sluggish and cannot metabolise food at the rate is should. With a sluggish system, most people then reach out for another diet solution and continue the self-defeating process adding further damage to the metabolism.
So why continue despite such overwhelming odds.
There is another way…….
Most weight loss solutions will not address the real problem that causes weight gain or food addictions so is it any wonder that the pattern is continuously repeated.
You can reach a stage where you have a friendly rather than obsessive/avoidant relationship with food.
Freud convincingly demonstrated that the mind could exert a powerful influence on our body. Often it is our subconscious that is creating the body size we are.
An ideal body is one that will have the energy and strength to allow us to take on and expereince whatever adventures and joy we would like in life.
My Philosophy is to provide a therapeutic, nurturing and supportive environment to explore your patterns and behaviours.
In particular we will look at the individual biological, psychological and social influences that have prevented you from creating change. With experience in a range of therapies we will work together in gaining deeper insight. Some of the therapies I work with include:
My Philosophy is to provide a therapeutic, nurturing and supportive environment to explore your patterns and behaviours.
In particular we will look at the individual biological, psychological and social influences that have prevented you from creating change. With experience in a range of therapies we will work together in gaining deeper insight. Some of the therapies I work with include:
- Psychotherapy
- Hypnotherapy
- Mind Body Therapy
- Insight Therapy
- Emotion Focused Therapy
- Mindfulness and Acceptance Therapy
- Visualisation and Relaxation Techniques
- Yogi Philosophy
In understanding more about your eating cues and reasons behind the behaviour, you will be able to work towards a healthy relationship with food.
Take the necessary steps for change……..