I’ve been working with my client Emily for a few months now. In session last week, she told me about an experience she had eating pizza with her family in which she got off track, ended up eating too much, and felt overly stuffed (and mad at herself). She said, “I can’t seem to control myself around pizza, so I don’t think I should have it anymore.” I reminded Emily that just because she doesn’t yet know how to eat pizza in an on-track way, doesn’t mean she can’t learn.
In fact, it is critical for Emily to prove to herself that she can do it. She loves pizza, has no medical reason not to eat it, and at some point in the future she will want to eat it again. If she doesn’t know how to eat it in a controlled way, she will likely get off track.
This is a notion we try to build with all our clients – that there’s nothing they can eat when they’re off track that they can’t also eat when they’re on track. And it’s important for long-term success for them to prove to themselves they can enjoy their favorite foods while also enjoying staying on track and feeling in control. Otherwise, they’ll always be at risk for getting off track while around foods they think they “shouldn’t” eat (but likely love!).
In session last week, Emily and I made a plan for pizza. We decided that she would have it the next night and since the slices weren’t very big, we decided two pieces was a reasonable amount. Emily and I discussed what would help her stick to her amount and she made this card to read before and after her pizza:
Pizza Action Plan
- Eat two pieces
- Eat them slowly and mindfully and give myself LOTS of credit for stopping.
- When I finish my two pieces, remember: I just go to enjoy pizza! And I didn’t have to feel guilty about eating it! But don’t fool myself into thinking that if I eat more it will taste nearly as good as the two I just had. Whenever I eat beyond a reasonable amount, I feel guilty even as I’m eating it, and I wind up physically feeling stuffed. It’s 100 percent worth it to stop here and prove to myself I can eat pizza in an on-track way.
- Set a timer for 10 minutes. During those 10 minutes, I will: call my sister, organize a drawer, pick out the kids’ clothes for the week, do a five-minute stretching routine or a five-minute meditation, or go for a walk.
- When the timer goes off, assess my level of pizza cravings. Most likely, it will have gone away!
When I met with Emily this week, she was so proud of herself! Tor the first time in a very long time, she was able to stick to her pizza plan and felt great about it. She felt empowered and realized that she now had tools in her arsenal to help her enjoy her favorite foods and still stay on track. She even made a similar card for herself and experimented with having chocolate for the first time in a while (she had been avoiding it due to fear of getting off track). This was successful, too!
Emily was starting to prove something critical to herself: with the right plan and the right tools, eating any food and staying on track is not only possible, it’s important.