Monday, April 14, 2014

Dealing with "The Voice'

While writing morning pages last Friday, I may have discovered a way to deal with the voice, the one that incessantly says I need to eat more, to eat my trigger foods because I deserve them, just this once, just eat today and be abstinent tomorrow. I'm pretty sure anybody who deals with overeating and overweight, is quite familiar with the voice.

When I've been abstinent and eating on my program for quite a while, when it becomes habit to not eat sweets, not eat between meals, and not overeat meals, then the voice gets pretty quiet. But once I start getting off track, it comes right back, bossier and louder than ever.

Friday night I couldn't sleep, tossing and turning in bed, my mind churning, rubbing me feet together, and grinding my teeth for hours. Finally, I got up, turned on the light and wrote morning pages, trying to calm myself. "Be still," I wrote! About half way through, I wrote this:
I resolve every night not to overeat the next day, and every morning or day, I overeat again... Maybe, instead, I should resolve to eat everything. Tomorrow I will eat chocolate, huge quantities of it... and pizza, and pastries, cake... chocolate cake from Kings Market. I resolve to eat at least 2 of each of my binge foods. I'll go right to town and buy 2 pieces of cake, 2 pastries, 2 cookies, 2 chocolate bars (the gourmet chocolate toffee I noticed today), 2 pieces of chocolate pie, and 2 pints of chocolate ice cream. Then I'll go find a private place to park, and eat all of it sitting in my car. YES!!! Oh yes! I am resolved to do that. Absolutely. Screw everything. I will do it!
Well as you might guess, it made me giggle to write such an absurd vow, and then chortle, and then laugh right out loud. The idea of eating all those things at one time is so ludicrous, my mood suddenly lifted, and the I felt OK for the first time in weeks.

My new idea is this: when the voice starts insisting we have a cookie, just this once, I'll say "Sure, let's go to the store. Only why stop at one? Let's have a couple dozen. And let's have ice cream to go with the cookies. And let's get a whole pie too... Come on... let's go!"

When the voice says, just this once we need to have a piece of toast with butter and jam right after we've eaten dinner, I'll say, "Sure, I'm all for it. Only let's have more than one piece! Let's toast a whole loaf a bread, spread it with a whole cube of butter, and use a whole jar of jam on it! And why stop at that! Let's go to town and get some real treats! We can have 2 of everything we like! Just today... We won't do it after today."

I'll make my reply as ridiculous as possible. Maybe laughter will be an antidote... I'll let you know.

Thanks for the responses to my call for "Help" in my previous post. Your support surrounded me, and helped me get through the past week, not quite squeaky clean, but much better about eating than I had been previously.

3 comments:

  1. I just may have to try this! After i have some chocolate! Wait!!! Is that my 'voice' again! Geeeezzzzzz Hang in there...you're doing great..have done great and will do great again! Life is too short to fret!

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  2. Isn't it amazing just how much of this whole journey to health is a head game?!

    I just watched a video clip (that I've seen before, actually) and it really touched me, again. All about what we tell ourselves, and how that affects what we DO. http://chrislivessimple.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-death-crawl.html

    And I thought of your post here. Before, when I first read it, I couldn't think of anything to say. Now, I realize that I, too, have been listening to that "voice". The one that told me it's okay to "relax" awhile, to take a break. Look how far you've come, you deserve to rest, blah blah blah. And I translated that to self-indulgent behavior and got stuck. Instead of remembering that is NOT the way to treat myself with love and care.

    Sigh... forever learning, aren't we? ;-}

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  3. Retta is a wise wise woman. That is a great video.
    From that same blog:
    "Slipping doesn't make you a loser.
    Quitting does."

    Robin, both you and I have demonstrated creativity, patience, persistence, focus, forgiveness and flexibility over and over again in the pursuit of our art. My challenge (for myself) is to transfer those qualities and attitudes to the rest of my life and the way I live it. Forever learning to practice it.

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