Thoughts that can cause you to eat more than you want to

We have all heard of emotional eating. It may surprise you however to know that sometimes our thoughts can drive us to eat more than we want to too. This thought-led eating can trigger over-eating in much the same way as emotional eating can. Here are some examples of thoughts that can trigger you to over-eat when you perhaps don’t want to eat as much:

I have already been “bad” I might as well continue

Often once we have had one “unhealthy” food, this can sometimes trigger an “all or nothing” mindset where we then feel that we might as well have lots of “unhealthy” foods. Of course, it is much better for us to just have one donught or one slice of cake, rather than 4... but for some reason, even just having one of these things, together with the thought that “I have been “bad”” can trigger us to over-eat even though we don’t want to/need to.

I feel fat/ my clothes are too tight

Strangely thoughts that we are too fat or that we don’t feel good in our clothes can drive us to seek out food for comfort. Often thinking that we are too fat can trigger thoughts that “there is no point in even trying” and then eating more food than we want to.

I am too far from my goal

If the goal we have set for ourselves in terms of weight loss or health seems too far away, then it can be tempting to not even bother trying to reach the goal at all. When we feel frustrated or annoyed that the goal we want to reach is too far in the distant future, it can be tempting to postpone trying to reach that goal until some point in the future too. This may lead us to overeat in that moment, thinking “that goal feels unreachable” and promising to “try again” at a later date...

I will be “good” from tomorrow instead

Often we can tell ourselves that we will start eating more healthily from tomorrow/on Monday/next week - however this thought is just a way of giving ourselves permission to over-indulge right now. This thought of putting-off healthy eating is another form of “all or nothing thinking” - we believe that we are either being “good” or “bad” and that there are no in betweens.

I feel full so I might as well feel “fuller”

As we are so often programmed to believe that in order to lose weight, we need to restrict our food intake and stay hungry - we can feel a little uncomfortable if we feel full (even just slightly full and satisfied) - and these feelings of fullness can drive us to have thoughts that we “might as well eat more now that we have blown it and are no longer successfully starving ourselves”.

I might as well just finish it all off and then there’s none left for tomorrow

The “all or nothing” mentality can also encourage us to think “if I have unhealthy food in the house, I might as well finish it all off now and tomorrow I can stay away from it because there will be none left”. Of course - you may not want to eat 4 slices of cake - but because you want to finish them off and start again tomorrow, you may over-eat just to clear your house of “unhealthy” food.

So strangely enough, the thoughts you think can drive you to eat even when you don’t want to - as a way to comfort yourself. So by changing your thoughts you can transform your relationship with food and how you eat too. This is something that I can help you to do over 12 weeks in my online course Free Yourself From the Diet Cage. The course contains weekly videos, exercises, hypnotherapy recordings and reading materials to help you to transform your thoughts and in turn your life. You can find out more information here: www.thefoodtherapyclinic.com/onlinecourse and the course comes with a 5 day money back guarantee - so you can try it out completely risk free.

Changing your thoughts can really change every aspect of your life. The kinder you can be to yourself and to your body - the more likely you will be to reach your health goals too. So today - this is just a quick reminder also that you are: more than good enough; doing the best you can; beautiful just for being you; more amazing than you realise; stronger than you know; and capable of so much. Have a great day!

“It is hard to think differently. To change your world, change your thoughts.” ― Debasish Mridha