Is it possible to not eat the candy or the chips or the ice cream when it’s right in front of you?
What if I told you it was?
And it’s not willpower that will do it.
Your Brain
First of all, it’s completely normal to have urges and cravings.
There is a part of the brain that I call the “Primal” brain. This part of the brain seeks reward, seeks pleasure and likes to avoid pain. 90% of us make decisions from our primal brain.
There is another part of your brain called the “Prefrontal Cortex” which is the evolved part of your brain. This part of your brain can make plans for the future. It understands the benefit of delayed gratification.
If you make decisions from your Prefrontal Cortex instead of your Primal brain, you begin to decide what results you want in your life, what food you will eat, and how much you want to weigh.
Urges and Cravings
An urge is just a feeling or emotion
When you get an urge or craving to eat something that you decided you’d rather not eat, it’s coming from your primal brain.
Food can be hyper rewarding. It’s processed to taste good.
You can either resist the urge to eat by pushing it away or you can give into it.
If you resist an urge, it only makes it stronger. Giving into the urge only guarantees that there will be more urges.
The key to eliminating urges is to allow them.
What does it look like to allow an urge?
Since an urge is just a feeling or emotion, you just decide to feel it. You let it pass through you. You recognize it and say “Oh this is what an urge feels like”.
As you feel the urge, ask yourself “what thought I am thinking that’s causing this urge”?
Here are a few thoughts we might have that can cause us to have urges:
I deserve this.
One bite won’t hurt.
I’ve been so good.
I’ve had a long day.
When you decide to just allow the urge and not give into it you can also ask yourself:
What’s so intolerable in my life that I have to eat right now?
Why is my brain telling me to eat when I’m not hungry?
When you just allow the urge to be there you will notice that it is harmless. It may be uncomfortable for a moment or two, but you won’t die from feeling it and processing it.
By allowing urges, you can be there with the candy, the chips and all the things that you find hard to resist…..and not eat any of it!
Your ability to overcome the primitive wiring in your brain, will help you get the long term results you want.
As a coach, I work with my clients to help them to master this skill!
If traditional diets haven’t worked for you in the past, maybe it’s time to try a new approach.
Schedule a discovery session with me to see if doing this work will help you to reach your weight loss goals and eliminate dieting forever.
