Food : a pleasure to be enjoyed.

There's no doubt that I would look better if I lost a few pounds. That's pounds of fat I mean, not money hahaha. But compared to most women I know, I think I have a healthy relationship with my body image. Of course, I go through cycles of "I'm only eating raw celery and dust from now on" versus "who cares, extra fries with extra mayonaise please".

But the last few weeks, I have just resolved to eat whatever I want. Really. No holding back. If I want to eat fillet steak I'll eat it. If I want to eat potato chips, croissants, lamb chops and ice cream, I'll just dig in.

The weird thing is I haven't put on any weight and I've eaten everything I really want. To tell the truth, if you really ask yourself - what do I really want to eat, it's often not junk food. Junk food is usually just convenient and cheap. Why eat steak flavoured potato chips when what you want is a real steak?? And sometimes when I eat my typical lunch of supermarket sandwich and crisps, I ask myself, why am I eating this when the food I cook at home is much much nicer?

Of course, it's hard work because it's easier to buy crap food than cook from scratch. But you can eat so much better and amazingly, I haven't ballooned like a whale either!

Interestly, a few days ago, I read about Paul McKenna's Weight Loss programme which echoes this thinking. Paul McKenna is a hypnotist, more famous for entertainment shows than healthy eating. His rules are (in a nutshell) -

1. eat when you are hungry
2. eat what you want to eat, not what you think you should eat
3. eat consciously, savour every bite
4. stop when you think you are full

The theory is that many women have such a screwed up attitude towards food that they consider it a punishment-reward thing, rather than a pleasure to be enjoyed. The guilt associated with eating is so strong, that when they "fail" they hate themselves and think that it's not worth it anyway. So they eat some more.

Makes sense in a twisted way, doesn't it? This is where the hypnosis and mind-training comes in, to "change the way you think about food".

I read a quote from Anne Barone, who wrote the book Chic and Slim: How Those French Women Eat all that Rich Food and Still Stay Slim. She says:

"The French woman sees herself as a beautiful woman despite her physical flaws. She is worth the effort of eating well, taking care of herself. She deserves to be slim and healthy."

(Read the whole article here)

Everybody, repeat after me : I am beautiful. I am sexy. I deserve to wear beautiful clothes and look stunning. I deserve to eat well and take care of my body.