Tip for those with "diet head"

[gettheweightoff]

When I'm on plan with no-s I find when I start thinking about calories or panicking about my weight, or anything that has to do with dieting... I say to myself "I'll think about it later" and it seems to work. Yes, I say it to myself a lot but it helps me so I thought I would pass it on.

I do a similar thing when I get hungry, I decide to do something and drink some water or tea and then I seem to forget about it for awhile.

If anyone has any other tips, please feel free to pass them along. It will help us all to get over this horrible "diet head" mentality.

[BrightAngel]

When...I start thinking about ...anything that has to do with dieting...
I say to myself "I'll think about it later" and it seems to work.

If anyone has any other tips, please feel free to pass them along.
It will help us all to get over this horrible "diet head" mentality.

gettheweightoff
I totally agree that the technique you speak of helps one avoid unpleasant thoughts.
It's unfortunate that you find "dieting" to be an unpleasant thought,
and you are not alone in this, as this is true of many.
I, however, am not one of those people.
Dieting, and thinking about it, doesn't HAVE to be horrible.
Just like you can mentally work to get it out of your mind,
you can mentally work to make it pleasant.
I, personally, have had great success through embracing the concept of dieting,
by making it into an enjoyable hobby.
In fact, I've even bought a domain: DietHobby.com,
and am having a web page designed for it,
which I hope will be up by the end of February.
I plan to blog there to discuss and link to many topics...including No S.

[Blithe Morning]

How I Conquered Diet Head

• Limit exposure to visual media (TV, print and even certain online sites).
• Intentionally reaffirm my values which don't include being thin. Mature, yes; ability to delay gratification, yes; good stewardship, yes. Thin, no.
• Do things that make me physically stronger and more positive - whether that be to stretch and breathe deeply or workout.
• Realize that the diet/health industry is just that - it's an industry. Sure there are well meaning people who are motivated by the idea of helping others but really, at the end of the day, they have to sell more books, videos, concepts and branded product to make money. One of the reasons that No S will never be heavily marketable is that there is so little to sell. Our best hope is that it will go viral.

[Lorelei]

How I Conquered Diet Head

• Limit exposure to visual media (TV, print and even certain online sites).
• Intentionally reaffirm my values which don't include being thin. Mature, yes; ability to delay gratification, yes; good stewardship, yes. Thin, no.
• Do things that make me physically stronger and more positive - whether that be to stretch and breathe deeply or workout.
• Realize that the diet/health industry is just that - it's an industry. Sure there are well meaning people who are motivated by the idea of helping others but really, at the end of the day, they have to sell more books, videos, concepts and branded product to make money. One of the reasons that No S will never be heavily marketable is that there is so little to sell. Our best hope is that it will go viral.

Very well said! I couldn't agree more. By the way - I really enjoy your Miss Hartshorne posts.

[Nicest of the Damned]

I'll give you a general technique for dealing with unwelcome thoughts. I learned this one from a book on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy that I read. The technique is called defusion, as in the opposite of fusing with your thoughts.

Mentally step back from the thought. Say to yourself, "I notice that my mind is having the thought that... again." Think of it kind of like you would think of a song you don't like that gets stuck in your head. That's annoying, but not really a threat. Don't try to push it out of your head. That doesn't work much better with thoughts than it does with songs. Don't take it seriously. Some people like to set the words of the thought to a silly song, or imagine it being said in a silly voice (one person mentioned in the book I read used the voice of Brian's mother from Monty Python's Life of Brian). Just mentally watch the thought for a while, know that you are not that thought, and know that, like all mental states, it will go away. I can tell you from personal experience that this can work on anxious thoughts, depressed thoughts, and food cravings.

Realize that the diet/health industry is just that - it's an industry. Sure there are well meaning people who are motivated by the idea of helping others but really, at the end of the day, they have to sell more books, videos, concepts and branded product to make money.

Absolutely. And, like some other industries, they are not above using negative emotions like fear and guilt to sell their product.