Free Yourself From The Diet-Binge Cycle!
posted on: January 08, 2017. posted in: Weight loss, Mindfulness
We've had a private message sent to us...
"My 40 year problem is that I tell myself everyday that I won't eat junk tomorrow !!! So today will be my last day and hence I eat and eat and then the next day I just can't stop and I again eat and eat ! This is my life when I'm not on a diet - when I'm on a diet of no sugar foods I'm 100 % perfect and then can't sustain it long term ! I'm 49 years old and been doing this since the age of 15. Please can you help me."
Thank you for getting in touch.
What you are experiencing is "The Dieter's Mindset". A way of thinking, that all dieters share, that ultimately leads to a cycle of starving, binging and gaining weight.
To understand how you've come to develop this destructive, obesity driving mindset, I need you to do something for me.
Firstly, I'd like you to take note of your breathing.
What do you notice about it? How does it feel?
I imagine as you're reading this you are relaxed and your breathing is smooth and calm. In fact, it's so smooth and so calm, you weren't even thinking about your breathing, until I mentioned it.
In and out...
Smooth and calm...
That's how breathing should be.
But now I'm going to set you a little "Air Diet".
I want you to HOLD YOUR BREATH for one minute... then allow yourself to breathe for minute... repeating this cycle for as long as you can.
One minute holding. One minute breathing. One minute holding. One minute breathing. Continuously, until it feels so uncomfortable that you have to stop.
Here's what you'll notice.
Your first minute of holding your breath is EASY.
You second minute of holding your breath is HARDER.
And the longer you go... cycling between one minute of holding... and one minute of breathing... the harder it gets when you HOLD....
Because there is a cumulative deficit in oxygen with each cycle, as you attempt to restrictively control your breathing.
As the cycles go on...
You notice that just before next 'holding minute' starts...
You are GASPING. Completely UNCONSCIOUSLY.
Your brain is trying to get as much oxygen in as possible, because it knows what's about to happen next...
It's about to be STARVED OF IT.
Eventually there comes a point where your oxygen levels get so low, that you can no longer sustain this restrictive pattern of breathing. So you have to STOP.
But you don't just stop.
After that final attempt to starve your brain of oxygen... you BINGE on air uncontrollably. Gasping. Gulping. Taking in and binging on far more air than you would, if you hadn't tried holding your breath in the first place.
Smooth breathers breathe less.
Restrictive breathers breathe more.
__________
The point is this.
The moment you try to starve your brain of something...
Be it CALORIES or OXYGEN...
Your brain retakes control.
The first time people go on a diet it feels EASY.
The second time people go on a diet it feels HARDER.
And the longer you go... cycling between dieting... and binging... the harder it gets when you diet... because there is a cumulative deficit in calories with each cycle.
Which explains why ALL VETERAN DIETERS... without exception... cannot control or prevent the "pre-diet binges" that occur for days, or even weeks, before they start a new diet... or the "post-diet binges" that occur when they can no longer maintain it.
Like you, they ask me...
"Why can't I stop binging?!"
My response?
Because your brain needs those calories. Just as your brain needs oxygen.
And if you try to diet restrictively... or hold your breath restrictively... your brain will find a way to get it... whether you want it or not.
__________
The solution?
If someone was trapped in a cycle of holding their breath... then binging on air... holding their breath... then binging on air... you'd tell them...
"Stop holding your breath!
Just breathe smoothly!
Just breathe consistently!"
The same is true of eating.
If someone is trapped in a cycle of starving on diets... then binging... starving on diets... then binging... you'd tell them...
"Stop dieting!
Just eat smoothly!
Just eat consistently!"
And the moment you start eating smoothly and consistently... without the "holding your breath" discomfort of diets...
You stop binging.
And when you stop binging... you eat less... you weigh less... and you lose the need and desperate desire to go on quick fix diets.
Quite simply...
You BREAK THE CYCLE.
__________
The take home message?
Smooth breathers breathe less. Restrictive breathers breath more.
Smooth eaters eat less. Restrictive eaters eat more.
Make a decision today.
No more holding your breath. No more diets.
Instead, you're going to find a way to relax, and to eat smoothly and consistently.
And the word for this is NUTRITION.
Liam
[If you'd like to learn more about how we can help, please feel free to email us for a non-judgemental conversation about your weight and nutrition.]
