Okay, I have to start by admitting to having seen Geneen Roth on Oprah. I know that can be off putting for some, but I have to admit that I do watch occasionally. Now, Geneen Roth has written a number of books about compulsive eating that I have not read, but this one was great. I have long been a fan of NOT dieting as I always gain weight on diets. I find that conscious eating is the way for me. But over the last couple of years my weight has been on a gradual slide up and I was not happy. I felt helpless and ashamed. Reading WFG was just what I needed. It reminded me of the rules of eating. Her list is:
1) Eat only when you are hungry.
2) Eat sitting down in a calm environment. (Not the car)
3) Eat without distractions. No TV, reading, radio, or anxiety producing conversation.
4) Eat what your body wants.
5) Eat until you are satisfied.
6) Eat in the full view of others.
7) Eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.
WFG talks about how we eat for oblivion. We need to escape the present moment, but eating does not help us if we get fat and unhappy. You need to be comfortable with living in the now. I have had to do a lot of work examining the lies that my brain tells me. You know how it goes. The kids are acting up and your brain says “I cannot stand this for another minute. I must start yelling right now. They should behave differently. I am a failure as a parent. I need a cookie...”.
I am working on stopping, and looking at what my brain is saying because I can stand it. Yelling does not help. I am not a failure. I am also not hungry.
I have tried to extend her rules to my replacement for seeking oblivion. I watch too much TV and I don’t really enjoy it. So here is my version of the rules for TV.
1) Watch TV only when you want to see what is on TV.
2) Watch only shows that you enjoy - physically, mentally and spiritually.
3) Stop watching when you are not enjoying it.
I cannot say that I have had complete success with the TV, but I have lost more than 5 pounds.
2 comments:
This book changed my life, even more than the other GR books. Identifying lies that others tell about us was one thing that really hit home. She also helped me to understand that we are unique and wonderful just as we are, and being a certain size is not part of what makes us worthy. I've been "doing" Geneen's eating guidelines, which are the same as those in "Intuitive Eating," for a year and lost 15 lbs.
I haven't read the book, but it does sound like it's spot on. I love your taking those guidelines to TV watching too. I see my daughter (she's 9 years old) watching what I consider to be too much TV. I tell her to live life not watch someone else's on the TV.
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