Stay Attuned ™: The E-zine for Nourishing ConnectionsYour journey to freedom from food and weight struggles presents an opportunity for not only a new relationship with food, but also a new relationship with yourself and others. Ultimately, it is a journey of nourishing connections with yourself, others--and yes--even food. Stay Attuned™ is committed to supporting you in this journey and to helping you develop nourishing connections that will last a lifetime. Remember, a journey always starts with one small step....
From fellow travelers,
Nourishing Nuggets
“..self-contempt never inspires lasting change.“ Reflections for Staying AttunedLast month, we took a look at the Regain Phase of dieting. This inevitable phase, where the body and soul try to guide us back from the deprivation of dieting, is often accompanied by negative self-talk, all or nothing thinking and overall bad feelings. The critical stance we take to whip our selves back into behaving properly is ultimately ineffective and demoralizing. If we allow ourselves to move away from diets and the accompanying Regain Phase, we begin to hear that the solution is the non-diet approach to “stop eating when full.” This sounds simple but is actually much harder than dieting. We may be disconnected from the fullness signal or be painfully aware of it. Either way, it can difficult to quit eating when full at first--and the accompanying negative self-talk only makes it worse. These moments of eating past fullness are the heart of the work. And this work does not involve “better choices” or willpower with food. It involves the WHEN and WHY we need to eat past fullness and the WHAT (if not overeating) could we do for our selves. It involves feeling and tolerating feelings (good ones and difficult ones), saying no, tuning into our selves in a way that for some may feel selfish. The first step is to practice HOW to be with our selves during these moments of wanting to overeat, whether we end up using food or not. The key is to shift from criticism to compassionate, non-judgmental curiosity. While this may feel awkward at first, it is vital to being able to “simply” stop eating when full. Stay Attuned TipThink about the last time you overate. Try to recall what you were saying to yourself during and after the episode. Many of us will recall critical comments: “Now you’ve blown it!” “Just stop it!” “I’m a failure; I may as well finish eating the rest of this now (and then start the diet again [redeem myself] on Monday.” Write down two statements that you find yourself saying in the midst of your struggle with food. Now say them aloud. Then, consider whether you would speak to your child or best friend this way. Now shift, although it may feel awkward, and ask yourself aloud: “What was the good reason I needed to use food?” “What, if not food, did I need or want?” Stay Attuned Affirmation“I have the courage and compassion to tune into the good reasons I overeat.” What's New at Nourishing ConnectionsDon’t miss the next issue of Time Magazine, which features an article on Health At Every Size. Glenn Gaesser, PhD, author of Big Fat Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health, just informed us that it will be available on Monday, January 31st. We will be putting information up at NourishingConnections.com as soon as we have the details. Meanwhile, make sure you get your copy! Feedback and ClosingWelcome to our new subscribers, and hello to current members! Stay Attuned™ exists for you. If you have ideas for topics or feedback (did you try an idea? how did it go?), please write us at ideas@nourishingconnections.com. Spread the WordFeel free to forward this E-zine to others. We just ask that you keep the E-zine intact, including contact and copyright information. For any other use, written permission is required. And thank you for sharing Stay Attuned™! Subscribe or UnsubscribeTo subscribe (to join), email join-stayattuned@list.nourishingconnections.com. To unsubscribe (be removed from list), email leave-stayattuned@list.nourishingconnections.com. Delivery Problems
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Stay Attuned™
is written by Karin Kratina, PhD, RD © Copyright 2005. Dr. Karin Kratina and Amy Tuttle. All rights reserved. ~~~~~ DISCLAIMER: This information is not intended to constitute a professional relationship between Karin or Amy or the reader, nor is it intended as therapy or counseling. Be sure to consult a qualified professional if you require medical or psychological services. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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