In Ch. 42, "Letting Go of the Past," Dr. David Kessler continues to prescribe for those of us who identify with what he has dubbed "conditioned hypereating," the sense of obsession and loss of control in the face of certain sugar-, fat- and salt-laden delights. Follow over the fold!
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This is aprt of a continuing group read of The End of Overeating started by Edward Spurlock. His previous diary covering Ch. 41 includes links back to the whole series.
Full disclosure: I've been on a self-devised "Kessler diet" (with a little help from Herbert Wansink's Mindless Eating ) since Aug. 26. In that time the scale tells me I've dropped 21 pounds. I have not logged what I eat and have exercised only moderately. I am still clinically overweight by 3 pounds, but progress is continuing.
In the past week I reread the whole book and found that it was full of nuggets I didn't fully appreciate the first time through. Here's one, repeated in the first paragraph of Ch. 42:
CUE -- URGE -- REWARD -- HABIT
It should have been one of his chapter titles: the whole vicious circle in a nutshell. A mental circle that gets established through eating for reasons other than being hungry: for sheer pleasure independent of hunger; for social reasons; for entertainment; for emotional comfort; because of environmental triggers; and eventually, out of established habit. A mental circle that is shared with smokers and drug addicts and compulsive hair pullers. Another name for it is a "stimulus disorder."
Some perception or unconscious prompting habitually brings the possibility of this behavior to mind; an urge to engage in it immediately follows; action is automatic, or if conscious resistance occurs, it proves futile; engaging in the behavior brings an immediate reward in the form of sensory pleasure or emotional comfort or both; the reward further strengthens the habit; the noose tightens another notch.
Ch. 42 contains more possible devices we can grab to bolster conscious resistance and break the circle.
Taking conscious control
Seizing conscious control...means being mindful of the stimuli that trigger automatic behavior...
What Kessler is suggesting is staying awake to cues that grab us and actively verbalizing them to ourselves -- for instance, the presence of hyperpalatable food items; aspects of the environment; strong emotional states. Having named the stimulus, it's easier to step back and consider our choices.
(BTW, I was very much struck by the similarity of this advice to some forms of meditation practice, particularly the kind that involves identifying and classifying the distractions that arise. Possibly, this particular meditation practice could even help strengthen mental capacities needing for breaking the lock of a stimulus disorder. Am giving it a try and will let you know.)
Avoiding exposure to trigger stimuli
Once cues have conditioned your behavior, you'll probably expereince tension...around them and only eating brings relief.
Best to get away from them. This involves identifying specifically the cues that trigger hypereating in one's own individual case. Kessler recommends going cold turkey at first on anything one can't control. Come up with plans to help avoid the cues even if that means changing a driving route or other routines. And if exposure can't be totally avoided, shorten the dangerous exposure; e.g., arrive at the party late or leave early.
When a cue is present, think hard about something else; reframe the cue (e.g., "That's sugar on fat on fat...disgusting!"); and at the last gasp, remind yourself of the stakes, Kessler suggests. As people in AA say, "One drink equals one drunk."
I'm with him all the way to the last one. If I get to where I have to exhort myself about the stakes, it's already over and concious resistance is lost. Besides, when it comes to equating my overeating with alcoholism, while I enthusiasticaly agree there are points in common, I can't take it seriously to the utter limit. The old summer-camp song inevitably comes to mind:
We never eat cookies because they have yeast,
And one litle bite turns a man to a beast.
Oh, can you imagine a sadder disgrace
Than a man in the gutter with crumbs on his face?
What to do about harmful impulses
Kessler recommends what addicts learn to call "thought stopping," or or "change the channel." Focus on something else. Instantly. With practice, this too can become habit.
He also recommends "conditioning cues with negative associations."
When cued by a plate of nachos, think, "That's hundreds of calories I don't want and that will stay with me."...It may be an unflattering photograph on the refirgerator door or a list of all the things you don't like about being overweight taped to the kitchen table.
OK, I part company with Kessler here to some extent. The kinds of "negative associations" he specifically suggests as examples are a whole lot too much like the "beating myself up" in which I used to engage, uselessly, over food.
Personally, I prefer negative assocations with the food or the situation, rather than being about me or my past or possible future weight. Yes, it's egotistical, but it works better for me to reframe the food item or the situation:
"That so-called meat was injected with icky additives, breaded and fried at the factory, frozen, fried again in the restaurant kitchen, and covered with a fatty, sugary goo...who wants to eat something like that?"
"This coffee shop tricks people into ordering 600-calorie drinks without the least idea of what they are getting, and I'm not going to be among the fooled!"
"Fruit flavored? Uh huh, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavoring, a tot of actual fruit just so they can put it on the label. That's not even food."
Suggested alternate reward: exercise
Diverting the impulse to eat into an impule to exercise: now that's a two-fer. And it works. And since exercise can provide intrinsic pleasure and emotional reward, it can become a substitute a habit.
Other alternate, healthy (or at least harmless) rewards might also substitute for cued, automatic eating? In my case, there's also getting out into the sun and/or observing nature, whether or not exercise is involved. And knitting!
What is in your own armory of alternate rewarding activities?
Scheduled WHEE diaries:
January 20
Weds AM - ???
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock
January 21
Thurs AM - ???
Thurs PM - 1864 House
January 22
Fri AM - ???
Fri PM - ???
January 23
Sat AM - ???
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch. 43)
January 24
Sun AM - ???
Sun PM - ???
January 25
Mon AM - NC Dem
Mon PM - ???
January 26
Tues AM - ???
Tues PM - Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 44)