My Weight Loss Solution Blogs
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Foodperstitious
12/12/07
The Emotional and Psychological Side of Weight Control
By Colleen Laing
I eat the same thing for lunch nearly every day. Ham and pre-sliced cheddar on sprouted wheat with low-fat mayo. This is safe food; I know all the essential information about it. After this lunch:
- I'll feel satisfied well into the afternoon.
- I won't have eaten too many calories.
- I'm unlikely to go off the deep end and eat my way through the freezer case of my local grocery store.
I am foodperstitious.I think if I only eat certain things and avoid others I'll be able to stay on the straight and narrow. This provides me an illusion of control. What a funny notion that is—having to exert so much control. God forbid I should be out of control and just eat what I want! That could be a disaster.
Who knows what would happen, what bottomless pit of desire might be plumbed, what sins I might commit? How much chocolate is there in this town, anyway?
There's nothing inherently wrong with a ham and cheese sandwich (barring religious prohibitions). It's fine. Not sexy maybe, but a reasonable choice. But there are so many other choices, reasonable and unreasonable.
This fear of eating, the need for control—they're really interesting to think about. Trying to exert so much control certainly doesn't keep me from binging on sweets. It hasn't exactly served me well so far; it hasn't kept me thin.
Maybe it's time to eat outside of Pandora's lunch box and see what demons emerge.
