The Cult of Compulsive Eating

 The Cult of Compulsive Eating

Even though that approach has not succeeded, if you have been trying to lose weight for the 25 years that I have been coaching, you have probably been attempting to avoid meals. You should observe the steps that culminate in the ritual of clearing your dish.
"Changing Habits" was the name of my radio show or PAT cable show for a long time. We talk about food, smoking, gambling, alcohol, shopping, spending, and bad thinking in the first few minutes of both episodes. Procrastination, disorganized living quarters, low wages, and mounting debt were among topics covered. A commonality across all of these is their potential for ritualization.

Like you, I was captivated by the hypnotic impact of rituals when I was in their mindless, automatic states. When you're in that zone, it's easy to forget about your worries and enjoy the present moment. I drank too much, smoked too much, and spent too much; I was in a trance when I got into debt. Every time I sat down to write, edit, or type a new chapter for this book, it became a habit. Right now, my apartment is a building site. The original plan involved refinishing the kitchen and bathroom floors, but now it has expanded to include new furnishings and custom built-ins.
Searching for door knobs for cabinets was a minor aspect of the renovating procedure. You could pick from a plethora of shapes, sizes, colors, and pricing. The number of options I had to consider before settling on a sofa is too much to mention.
Every activity that involves the use of a substance—be it gambling, drugging, eating, or writing a book—is accompanied by a set of pre-, during-, and post-activity rituals. I say "drug" because behavioral rituals are as addicting to the body as any other substance, including food, cigarettes, and alcohol.
The number of off-track betting or the bookie is memorized by the gambler; your regular drink is remembered by the bartender; and you shop whenever you're bored. The drinker typically prefers their preferred beverage with a precise proportion of ice, mixer, or water. Some people have rituals around when they drink—with or without others—and some people exclusively drink in certain locations; for example, I would never think to get booze at a Chinese restaurant. While my buddy Tom gets a beer every time we go to a Japanese restaurant, my pal Sara gets a large and a little sake. As you go through a ritual, each component works in tandem to reinforce the habit. Incorporate the following routines into your to-do list: locking and unlocking doors, answering the phone, making phone calls, getting dressed for bed, styling your hair, and maintaining your beard.
I used to buy cigarettes and light them up whenever I smoked. A Dunhill lighter, my collection of cigarette cases, and an ashtray by Lalique were all there. Along with lighting each cigarette, I now also make sure to have extra mouth spray and mouth wash on available, as well as lighter fluid for my lighter.
You incorporate the ritual gear into your eating, smoking, or drinking routine as seamlessly as you light up and inhale a cigarette, or swallow a bite of food. The behaviors and responses associated with each habit are unique.
Consider some of the other routines and behaviors you engage in without giving them any thought: Get in the shower, shave, brush your teeth, and apply makeup. One of your skills can be checking the mail or getting messages from the answering machine. Checking my inbox every so often to see if "I've got mail" is a new habit I've just adopted.
Even getting dressed for the day has its own set of rituals. Before putting on clothes, you could style your hair and apply cosmetics. Wearing clothes comes first for some people, followed by combing hair and applying makeup. Every morning when I have my breakfast, I take my calcium pills, multivitamin, and other vitamins and minerals. To make things even easier to find later, I even pile them into four little stacks on a paper plate. Also, that is a ritual. In order to narcotize, we arrange and perform rituals.
Working keeps your mind and hands occupied, allowing you to temporarily avoid dealing with unpleasant emotions or thoughts.
There are a lot of positive rituals in my life that I have developed and refined. They used to be laborious and deliberate, but now they're second nature and meet my demands with little effort at all. Like utilizing a pencil to jot down appointments, they facilitate the smooth running of my day. The known brings a sense of security.
The cycle goes like this: one thing happens, and then another thing happens, and then another thing happens, and so on. The pull of food, whether it be the scent, look, or taste, eventually gets the best of you. But in reality, it's just the last part of a ritual, and you're probably bored or exhausted and used to giving in to whatever is presented to you. A few of us use food as a pretext to sit down and relax. Every step, from coming up with a ritual idea to experiencing initial regret, is interconnected, making it difficult to say no. Regret is ever-present. It's also an element of the ceremony. We need to break this pattern of behavior and figure out what's going on. A great place to start when trying to break a habit is by recognizing that you have patterns.
The process of rearranging or omitting the natural next steps and creating new constructive patterns for yourself can begin as you gain more awareness of your thought, word, and action patterns. In time, you'll get used to thinking, speaking, and acting differently rather than mindlessly stuffing your face with food.
In order to transform into the person you aspire to be, it is necessary to break free from the cycle of food addiction. What you've learned in the past may not always align with the new method of doing things. Over the course of a lifetime, your unconscious actions and reactions have formed your old lifestyle. Now is your chance to make something amazing that will help you meet your current weight loss goals of __________ pounds.
Bobby F. performed the As a holdover from an earlier diet, I can fast for 24 hours straight, but once I start tangoing, I just can't stop.
With little to keep him occupied in the evenings compared to the day, repressed emotions and ideas surfaced. He made going into the kitchen his nightly ritual to pass the time since he had nowhere else to go and no one to talk to. A sweet, a nibble of leftover salad, two grapes, and a piece of candy were the results of my many journeys to the kitchen. More and more often, the once-or-twice-daily practice occurred. The installation of the phone in the kitchen was the turning point. While on the phone, he sat in a mobile chair and would roll around to the fridge, open the door, and peruse the contents by looking through the glass.
As part of his efforts to quit the habit, I had him mark a small box on paper every time he considered swallowing. A whopping 42 times between 9 p.m. and midnight, thoughts of food crossed his mind! About every five minutes, that happens.
He developed the practice of stuffing his mouth 42 times in three hours, even though he wasn't hungry. Simply due to boredom, he nibbled 42 times, swallowed once, then nibbled again. It adds up whether you consume just one thing or a few bites of several. Salad or Coke, it makes no difference. You're indulging in food even though you're not really hungry. A behavioral addiction that manifests as weight gain can develop if this activity is practiced daily. If you keep doing it, it will eventually become part of the show. After Herman took the phone from the kitchen, everything changed. His frame shifted. His routines shifted. Because he was paying attention, he saw this pattern, among many others. It got better: there were more.
When he took customers out to dinner, he always had a glass of wine or coffee to round out the meal, and now he knew why. It seemed like getting a bag of popcorn or a beverage was an obligatory part of going to the movies. I too consider the purchase to be a ritual; I call it a spending habit.
When I brought up the topic of rituals with another student of mine, she mentioned that recording her daily weight and food intake in a notebook constituted a ritual for her. It was my agreement. Being aware of our actions and being able to record the patterns we've made are two benefits of certain rituals. There are some more effective rituals than others.
Around four o'clock every day, Barbara J. had a tough time. It was obvious that her hunger wasn't the real reason she wanted to eat; she regularly had lunch just a few hours prior. It had something to do with her kids getting home from school. She would idly eat on her own meal as she was preparing it for them. Additionally, she kept a phone in the kitchen and would perform a variation of conversing on the phone while perusing the menu. The thought may occur to you: But all I do is nibble on broccoli. What matters is not the food itself, but rather that you eat when you are not hungry. All of it builds up.
The sound of the coffee-wagon bell at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. can signal the start of a meal routine in the workplace. While commuting from Manhattan to her home in New Jersey, Rachel S. informed me about a silly habit she had. For a whole year, she would snack on candy bars every trip. By the end of the year, the one candy bar habit could have added up to about twenty pounds.
I used to regularly purchase 64 ounce bottles of fruit juice and would drink it in small sips, rationalizing that it's only juice. Then I'd go out and get another bottle. I started buying juice in 4-ounce bottles and stashed them on a different shelf in the fridge once I noticed how frequently I did this. I failed to give it any consideration if it eluded my sight. No liquid ever made it past my brain before I drank it. On its own, the habit began to crumble. Changing a single ritual component, such as a thought, word, or action, can sometimes untie the whole behavior loop with little to no effort at all. More consideration is required at times. Here, the physical action of adjusting the container's size was enough. Another thing that crossed my mind was that I'd been OK for years without drinking juice despite the several times I had it during the day. It may be alright once more. Any situation can be adjusted to.

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