Changing Beliefs, Changing Habits Part 2

As mentioned in my previous post, I will describe how I changed my irrational beliefs and list more logical beliefs which replace those irrational beliefs in this post. Rather than force the reader to flip back and forth between the 2 posts to match irrational beliefs and 'replacement' rational beliefs, I will list all the irrational beliefs preceded by 'IR' and then follow each belief with a comment about how I replaced the belief and the new more rational belief (in bold type).

IR I must avoid eating certain foods in order to lose weight and/or maintain my ideal weight.

I learned at a church sponsored class that I could eat ANY food I wanted between the boundaries of hunger and comfortable fullness, which I did during that class, and still lost weight. After my food allergy diagnoses I learned to abstain from any food that caused painful allergic reactions. So my new rational belief is: I can eat any food between the boundaries of hunger and satisfaction and still maintain my ideal weight, but I choose to avoid foods that cause painful reactions.

IB I must exercise every day if I don't want to regain all the weight I lost (at age 20).

I observed after surgery which required complete bedrest and eating every 4 hours before taking meds that I could lose weight with no exercise. My ratioinal belief became: My body will require less food if I exercise less. So I can maintain my ideal weight by eating according to my body's hunger/fullness cues.

IB I must avoid snacking between meals, because snacks always turn into binges.

That belief is similar to "I must avoid between meal snacks, because I will 'spoil my appetite for the next meal." I suspect guilt about 'ruining my appetite' influences my decision to keep snacking to distract myself from guilt. HOWEVER, When I obey my hunger/satisfaction cues, I can easily eat just enough of a snack to satisfy hunger for the moment and still feel hungry again for a planned meal.

IB If I eat too much while snacking, I might just as well binge to get rid of any tempting foods so I won't snack again.

If I feel too full after a snack, I can either delay the next meal until I feel physically hungry or eat much less at the next meal so that I don't feel stuffed.

IB Once I start overeating, I might just as well binge (the 'oh what the heck' response) and get it over with.

Every bite is another decision point, when I can stop eating, put the food away and let my body digest the food. I don't have to binge or purge to 'undo' overeating, because my body will digest even excess food eventually.

That's enough for now. In my next post I'll list my irrational beliefs about stopping when I feel physically full or satisfied and bingeing and my new 'replacement' logical beliefs.