Lifestyle Choices

Aim: this is a Gestalt technique designed to increase your awareness of how you feel about food and why the desire to eat has always seemed so compelling.

Picture a food which you think has a particular hold over you and which has contributed to your being overweight. See it in front of you and be aware of how it smells and feels and tastes. Now imagine that it can talk to you. Ask it questions like, “What are you doing?” and “What do you want from me?” Listen to its reply. You may have to speak to it several times. Then let it speak and pay attention to what it says. Do you agree or disagree? Carry on a dialogue with it and listen to all it has to say about itself and you. Continue with the conversation until you have said all that needs to be said and heard all it wishes to say to you.

This exercise can reveal a lot about one’s compulsive eating and what it is all about for the particular person involved. It is worth repeating several times because important information that is helpful to weight loss tends to emerge bit by bit.

Positive Reinforcement

Aim: to reinforce positively the idea of getting slim and staying slim and to break down negative thought patterns that lead to wrong eating and overweight.

After practicing meditation for fifteen minutes or putting yourself into a state of deep relaxation, choose a phrase that appeals to you and each day repeat it over and over several times in a row. You need to do this regularly for results. Here are some simple phrases, or you can make up one of your own. But it must be positive in form. It is no good using something like “I won’t eat too much any more”—only a positive phrase will give the strength and reinforcement needed to break down the mental resisters and bring success.

Try one of these:

1. I love eating and I eat to live. But I do not live to eat.
2. Every day I am getting slimmer and slimmer.
3. I have a new, controlled relationship with food, so I am every day coming closer to my perfect weight.
4. I patiently and happily accept my new approach to food and to my life.

When you are using creative imagery or positive reinforcement you need never be concerned if you seem to get stuck somewhere. If, for instance, one of the keys you pull out of the box doesn’t have a tag on it or the food you speak to doesn’t answer you sensibly at first, it will be different the next time. In fact, it is different every time and any kind of block only means that your unconscious isn’t quite ready yet to deal with that particular challenge or problem. Just be aware of it and continue with the exercise. When your subconscious is ready it will give you the information. At the end of every exercise, open your eyes, take three deep breaths and let your air out completely each time, and sit up. A combination of meditation and creative imagery with growing self- awareness and a few behaviorist techniques makes a complete package deal to lend psychological support to a weight-loss regimen. It is every bit as important as the diet itself and the regular physical exercise that should go along with it.

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