Do You Believe You Can Stop Eating?

Think about your belief in your ability to break this simple habit. The habit of eating when you're not hungry. The habit of needing to feel stuffed to be satisfied. You can break the pattern, even if you don't believe you can. It happens when you first simply stop eating a little sooner. You may still have over eaten, but your level of stuffed can be qualified, and you know when you've had enough, too much, or way too much. Start by learning to leave one bite on your plate. (Even a smear counts, whatever it takes to leave a teeny bit, it's a start).

I know, that idea may seem radical, but it's a great way to discover how you've eaten everything on your plate because it's a habit to do so. Even if you only leave one pea, leave something on your plate. Secondly, just because there is more on the serving plate, don't think you need to take more food. Wait a few minutes. Settle in. Get comfortable with the feeling of satisfaction. Get in touch with your hunger levels.

Clean Plate Club

If you were brought up to "clean your plate or you won't get any dessert," then you probably still carry that behavior, even when you've taken too much food. You aren't a little girl anymore, so you can stop that now. You are wise enough to know when you've had enough, and it's okay to leave some food. Literally stopping one bite sooner is the first step, and once you accomplish this small task the mental shift happens.

I remember learning to recognize my hunger levels and my shock and dismay when I realized I was full but half my food was still on my plate. That's the first obstacle. I paid for this food, so I can't leave it, can I? I learned to ask for a doggy bag, take it home and eat in the next day. I learned to prepare less food in the first place. I discovered half a sandwich is sometimes enough. I also learned a piece of fruit can satisfy my greatest hunger, for now, while I wait for dinner to cook. I learned, and so will you, when you just start to pay attention.

You can still have it all, but maybe you'll eat half now and half later, and that's okay.

Small Shifts Equal Big Change

Small shifts in your beliefs about what you can accomplish may take a bit of time, but when you do make the shift it will seem as if all of a sudden things just changed, and it will be permanent. Ask anyone who's lost a lot of weight and kept it off. They'll tell you, "Something just suddenly clicked and it was easy." You can experience this sudden shift too.

Start today by noticing how much food you're being offered when you aren't hungry. Can you take some and save it for later? Just because it's the holidays, that's not an excuse to eat everything in sight. Knowing you'll diet in January is also a bad reason to overdo it today. You can stay healthy, enjoy the favorites, even indulge on occasion. It doesn't need to be an all-or-nothing proposition, once you change your beliefs.

At the next buffet or party, choose foods that are special, and leave those you can have any time. Everything looks so good but you know by experience that some things are better than others. Take the best first. Become more picky and what you eat, and remember, you can always go back for more. After you've taken what you want, enjoy each bite, eat slowly, taste, chew, experience the food. Eating is a sensual experience, so don't rush it. No one's going to show up in a few minutes and take it all away.

Practice Makes Perfect

Practice making small changes daily, with your regular lunch for instance. Eating out is the biggest challenge, so if you are ordering what you usually do, think about whether there's a place it could be altered. Drinks are the easiest place to start. If they contain calories, have a smaller size. Sip water while you eat. Do chips come with your sandwich? Skip them, unless they are your favorite part because that's a lot of fat and calories (not to mention sodium) that you probably could do without. Small changes like skipping one small bag of chips, five days a week can add up to a couple pounds lost over a month. It becomes easy to see how very small alterations make the pounds disappear.

Get more in tune with what you do day-to-day and you can let go of the fear of either suffering through another diet or gaining more weight, or losing it and then regaining it. You don't have to choose between stuffing or starving. You can learn to eat good food, enjoy it more, and melt into the shape you truly are meant to be.

About the author:

~~ Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, Weight Loss Coach and author of "Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss."

Learn the One More Bite Approach with The Daily Bites: Mini Lessons Using EFT For Weight Loss. http://www.OneMoreBite-WeightLoss.com/tools.html