Category: Toward a Cleaner Headspace

Getting relief from food addiction has as much to do with working on what you think, feel, and believe (your “headspace”) as what you eat. This section provides some prompts for moving toward a cleaner headspace.

Inner Voice – These are conversations that you can have with yourself to help clean up your headspace.

Provocations – These are questions you can ask yourself to help clean up your headspace.

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Provocation: Never Turn Your Back on the Ocean

I’m standing on a rocky beach, close to the shoreline, with my back to the ocean on a windy day. I’ve got this. I’m sure I will hear it if a wave comes up to me. I won’t get pulled in…

Addiction can be like that ocean, constantly waxing and waning in waves of unpredictable size and strength.

I might think I have my addiction under control. I might think I can do things in moderation, just like “normal people” can. I might think I’m stronger and smarter than the ocean.

If I “turn my back on the ocean” and try to live like the addiction isn’t really there, or it isn’t that big a deal, I risk being swept away by powerful and temperamental dynamics well beyond my own strength.

Can I make the choice to turn around and face my addiction, respect its power, and learn how to protect myself?

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Provocation: Grant Me the Serenity

Are aware of the connection between food addiction and serenity?

When you are agitated, you are more likely to reach for food as a way to calm yourself down.

Are you actively seeking serenity in your life?

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Inner Voice: The Mighty Pause

Angry? Sad? Disappointed? Agitated? Uncomfortable?

Pause.

And then get curious.

Why are you having those feelings, and what part did you play in getting yourself to the point of having those feelings?

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Inner Voice: Commitment

Living with integrity means that if you say you are going to do something, there can only be two possible outcomes that you will consider.

(1) You do it.

or

(2) You admit that you can’t do it and say so.

There isn’t a third option where you pretend you didn’t say it, or a fourth option where you do part of it (maybe just the fun part) and pat yourself on the back for a job well done, or a fifth option where you justify your inaction because it was a stupid task or the person you told you were going to do it isn’t that nice of a person anyway.

Do it, or admit you were wrong to have committed to doing it in the first place.

Living with integrity is hard, but it helps you stay on the path of recovery instead of heading back towards your addiction.

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Provocation: Empirical Study

They say that if you want to know the real reason why you eat addictively, stop eating your trigger foods. Then, when you start craving one of those foods, do a mental inventory. Are you actually hungry, or is there something else going on?

Pro Tip: There’s something else going on.

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Inner Voice: Ch-ch-ch-changes

Can people really change?

That depends.

Do you want to change?

This question needs to be about YOU, not about “people”. People can change if they want to. You can change if you want to. Do you really want to change, or are you just hoping that things around you (that are likely out of your control) change, or that the consequences of your unchanging actions change?

You can change if YOU want to.

You can change if you WANT to.