Here at Family Camp where we eat dining room family style, with big servings of food on the tables…
…I heard a woman share about how upset she is with all the overeating she’s done during camp.
She said she kept telling herself she’d be OK later, once she returned home.
I remember feeling horrible that way….or even mildly uncomfortable.
We don’t have to experience this lack of peace.
The mind just can’t have what it wants, if it wants to believe a bunch of opposing thoughts about meals, food, unusual types of food (“I’ll never get to eat this again”), or not listening to the body for the cue called “FULL”.
In the end, the peaceful way is listening to the body FIRST.
Full and hungry get immediate response. We take action gently responding to these two states of the body.
Eat with joy anything you want (and aren’t allergic to), go slow, relax, stop when full. The hunger scale can be useful, but you don’t need to think about numbers at all really.
Only stopping the minute you feel satisfied.
Then move on. No tug of war. No fighting. Just acceptance.
Move on.
You will get to eat again–in fact, in only a few hours most likely. Your body will be open to it. So can you wait?
If you are suffering around this, you’re telling yourself a lie.
Let’s get honest about how this all works: the body is the one that says eat, the body is the one that says stop. NOT THE MIND. (And even this may not be true).
The mind can’t have what it wants if it wants to go outside the parameters of responding to the sensation of naturally full and naturally hungry.
And here’s the thing: the mind will be relieved and happy if you let the body lead the way. It really wants something else to take charge.
Much love,
Grace