No, you will not want to eat only cookies forever
“If I give myself permission to eat anything, I’ll only eat ice cream, cookies and cupcakes forever!”
This is a fear I hear from clients wishing to eat more normally but still unwilling to trust that they contain within them the ability to make wise decisions with food.
When I talk about giving yourself permission to eat all the foods, I really mean all the foods.
Of course, I still want you to focus on giving yourself satisfying meals regularly so that you are getting enough. Enough is important because on diets no one ever eats enough.
So when a client says, “But I’ll only ever eat ice cream for the rest of my life!”…
I say: Okay, let’s try it. Just eat ice cream for all your meals.
Most people think about this and recognize instantly this is not actually appealing. They already see how bored of ice cream they’ve gotten in the few moments of thinking about it.
But sometimes we need to see how this goes. Sometimes someone has to feel it for themselves, in their bodies. We focus on them giving themselves true permission when they eat the food. We make sure they have enough of this food so they won’t run out quickly. I suggest putting the food on a plate, or a bowl, and eat without distractions like the TV or phone (this last one is hardest).
In the many years I have been doing this work, I have never seen anyone eat only sweets for the bulk of their meals the rest of their lives.
Bodies don’t actually like that. Bodies crave a diverse array of foods.
And it doesn’t mean they never eat sweets either. That’s not the goal. The goal is to enjoy the foods they want in quantities that feel good for them.
And they do this.
And you can too.
This is exactly the kind of thing we focus on in my small group coaching program, The Peaceful Eating Jumpstart. Next group starts September 6 and is filling up fast! Come and join us if your eating needs help! Details here.
