Temptation and Obsession

What is the difference between temptation and obsession when it comes to diet?

Being tempted to eat means you are still in control. We all live with temptation. We are in a kind of flow, where choices must be made before we realize it. You are tempted to stay longer, leave earlier, eat more, work-out less, make a call, turn off the phone, take a chance, stay with the familiar, stop learning new things, start something new- .  

• Temptation makes you think twice. It puts you to the test. 
• Because temptation forces you to think twice, you are in control.

Temptation is the opportunity for you to remember your eating priorities. Feeding this satisfies you physically and emotionally. Think twice about what your body needs to feel satisfied by noticing what you notice.

• When you tune in to your body and make the choice to respect your self, things start to make sense. 
• Amazingly temptation brings out the best in you.

Obsessing feels like being out of control. It's unpleasant. In fact, obsession is losing perspective about what makes you feel good. It's like filling a sieve with water - it doesn't work. Perhaps the obsession is pizza, chocolate, or pasta and you only can think of finding satisfaction with your obsession. But- the problem is that it doesn’t happen. The result is of obsessive eating is physical discomfort and emotional dissatisfaction because in fact, food is not a substitute for what you really want. 

Only eating for good health, 

for quality of life, 

to enjoy the sharing the pleasure and 

to experience the satisfaction of taste and smell, can satisfy you physically. 

Anything else that may drive you to eat is self-destructive.

You can stay in control by remembering emotional demands are not your friend. Emotional demands ignore physical needs. Your senses connect with you physically.  Trust what you see and taste with what you know, before you allow your emotions to boss you around.  Ideas that turn into obsessions about what to eat, are not in sync with your physical needs. Don't abuse your body or allow stress to defeat your eating goals.

• Be flexible with yourself and you will discover that you have the answers. 
• Your first intuitive sense is your survival instinct. Use it. 

Many people write to me because they identify with my March 23 blog: Zig Zag Eating, http://fine-tuning-eating.blogspot.com/2010/03/zig-zag-eating.html.   Is that you?

We’re in this together, and we’ll walk through this together. You are not alone. Keep your head up and your eyes open. You have "it".

Namaste.

*JaneBernard