EAT LIKE A HEALTHY HUMAN BEING

Here is a long quote from the chapter called EAT LIKE A HEALTHY HUMAN BEING from FIT FROM WITHIN:

Eat like a healthy human being. In other words, swear off dieting. By whatever name you call it, dieting is both depressing and counterproductive. Diets create overweight by tricking the body into believing there is a famine in the land and every calorie is precious. Besides, deprived people overeat when the period of deprivation is up---even those who have never had a weight problem and have rarely overeaten before. (My words: I think this happened to me for a period of time after beginning to talk to tracy. End my words.)

Alter the cycle by eating like a healthy human being instead of a sanitarium patient on a prescribed and monitored diet. Start with the resolve that you are finished with diets but are willing to exercise some restraint (my words: this reminds me of Tracy's and my conversation about healthy restraint. End my words). This is the middle path. It is not sexy and exciting, nor is it agonizing and dramatic. For this reason, it has never been popular in the "Hey, have we got something for you!" world of weight control. Nevertheless, it works.

Although it is a gentle approach, it does take some mettle. It's easy to think, "If I weight 160 WITH dieting, I'd probably be 260 without it." Draw on your courage and my history to convince yourself that dieting is simply the backside of binge eating. They travel together. You can do without both in your life. You can employ the mind-set of eating like a healthy human being even if there are guidelines to which you must adhere because of a health problem. Look at these as aids to your eating like a healthy human being.

People who have dieted for a long time get so used to it that they're uncomfortable doing anything else. They feel unprotected, overwhelmed by choices and temptations. If you feel this way, take refuge in knowing that giving up dieting does not mean open season at the food court. Remember, you're committed to eating like a healthy human being.

Do some thinking about what this means to you. How do healthy, rational, confident human beings nourish themselves? What kinds of food do they prefer? How much? do they deprive and berate themselves about what they eat? What do these people do about social functions that involve food. Go over these questions seriously. Write answers to them in your notebook or journal. When you do so, you'll be writing your own prescription for a healthy life as far as eating is concerned.