Stop Getting Distracted
…And Eating As Distraction
Do you eat in-between tasks? Do you sometimes eat “mindlessly”, amidst other activities & chores - as if it’s somehow productively multi-tasking?
Or maybe you take the time out to be present with these in-between transitionary munchies - but you recognize that maybeeee you’re not exactly “hungry” for it…but you sure are hungry to escape whatever the other thing you were doing (or considering doing!).
In today’s blog, I wanted to share some revolutionary insight gained from working with hundreds of women struggling with emotional eating and other “weird food issues” (babe…it’s way more common than you realize!), as well as some key + very practical information from a book I just finished reading (twice!), called Indistractable by Nir Eyal.
Let’s dive in!
First things first: All motivation is a desire to escape discomfort.
>>> If a behavior was previously effective at providing relief, we’re likely to continue using it as a tool to escape discomfort.
Anything that stops discomfort is potentially addictive, but that doesn’t make it irresistible.
>>> If you know the drivers of your behavior, you can take steps to manage them.
Thus, the magic lies in finding the root causes of the discomfort you may be trying to escape by doing the unwanted behavior.
In other words (& specifically related to eating), if you’re having a snack because you want to avoid writing that annoying admin email, the answer is in acknowledging (and what I call “owning”) your annoyance with work, and from that place making a more appropriate choice (e.g. do you need to take a break? quit your job*? *LOL okay maybe smaller steps first…but you get the point!).
I also really love how Eyal (the author of Indistractable) talks about this concept many of us as frequent yo-yo dieters know only too well…just distract yourself or “get it out of sight and out of mind”…yeah, it’s actually not as helpful as it sounds (as you may already know from past, likely failed, experiences).
He says that without techniques for disarming temptation, mental abstinence can backfire. This is because resisting an urge can trigger rumination and make the desire grow stronger.
Think: “Don’t have the cookie…don’t have the cookie…” >>> Turns into: Way too many cookies eaten.
Instead, we can manage distractions that originate from within by changing how we think about them.
Try: “I’ll have the cookie when I’m hungry”, or “I’ll have the cookie after dinner tonight (& I’ll be sure to save room in my stomach for it!).”
Additionally, we can reimagine the trigger, the task, and our temperament.
In other words, instead of: “OMG I’m such a pig why do I always want sweets?!”.
Try: “Yum, I love cookies. I can eat cookies whenever I’m hungry for them and really feel like them! As long as I honour the boundaries of my body - hunger & taste - I will be slim.”
I’ve always been a huge fan of incorporating self-compassion into my work with clients - while my method & program is incredibly structured (& definitely disciplined!), it’s essentially that it’s done with an energy of kindness.
I’ll wrap this up by inviting us all to practice more self-compassion - today and everyday.
Talk to yourself the way you’d talk to a friend. Studies have shown time and time again that people who are more self-compassionate are more resilient, so there’s no reason to fear being nice to yourself ;)