Do you remember the idea that when there is a problem, you need to find a workable solution and then you put all your energy into the solution and never, ever think about the problem again?
I can’t recall who said it first, but it was surely good advice. Do everything you can to find a solution and then keep your head turned that way. We keep sliding back into worrying the problem like a dog with a bone. Instead, we need to quietly and confidently look forward.
The less you ‘worry the thought’, the easier it becomes to stick to whatever decision you made that will take you to the solution or will help you live the solution. Instead of talking yourself into being unhappy with dieting (or your new liefstyle habits or whatever you want to call it), realise that you’ve plumbed the depths of that problem—probably more than once—and you now need think only of the nuts and bolts of the solution.
So instead of getting caught up in thoughts like “I hate dieting,” “I wish I could eat that, and,”I want sweeties (now!)”, and any other thought that runs through your head at moments like these, you watch each thought as it arises. Look at the thought without the emotion that you have invested in it until now. The less self-talk you indulge around that thought, the better. Instead of talking yourself into being unhappy with your new diet, you simply say, “That’s the way it is now, and it’s a good thing,” and move on. Or if your automatic thinking process comes up with, “I usually have chocolate at this time of day,” now you respond to that thought with the happy realisation that “Luckily I don’t do that any more.”
You don’t deny that you had thoughts of the lolly bottle. You definitely don’t venture into “Should I or shouldn’t I?”or “Just one wouldn’t hurt” territory. You simply acknowledge that the thought has occurred and you are doing nothing about it because you have already moved on to the solution, even if that pesky little thought hasn’t realised it yet.
Eventually your thoughts will catch up with your actions. If you eat three meals and two snacks a day, that’s when you’ll think about food. That, along with shopping and preparation time. But the preoccupation with having something in your mouth all the time will be gone. Simple. Not easy, but simple.
So that’s five times a day you think about food. If you can get your snacks and meals sorted so you know what you’re having, or have a shortlist from which to choose (for which you have the ingredients, naturally), it’s even easier. If you choose to eat less often (for example if you don’t snack or you follow the intermittent fasting principle), even more thought power can be transferred to simply living your life instead of thinking about food. But for the moment, let’s say five times a day, to keep the blood sugar levels on an even keel and ease into this solution.
So food becomes a pleasant part of the day, but not your master. You think about it when it’s time to prepare and to eat, not every waking moment of every day. You consume it; it doesn’t consume you.