Common Sense Weight Loss Tip #5 - Stop Stuffing Yourself!

This is really a corollary to Tip #3 but like most common sense things, it stands to reason. How often do you say after a meal "God, am I stuffed". Well, don't blame God, because he didn't make you force all that food down your gullet. You have only yourself to blame when you do it, and if you are significantly overweight it probably happens with regularity, maybe even every time you sit down to eat. We are after all "creatures of habit", and what we become accustomed to doing just seems to mindlessly perpetuate itself. Mindlessness is the key here, and if you are ever going to take control of your eating habits you have to become "mindful" of what you are doing while you are doing it. It's just programming, and you need to reprogram yourself to where you are doing the right things without thinking now, instead of doing the harmful things without thinking. It's the same in sports, great athletes do not think about what they're doing when they make a great play, because it is second nature to them. If they had to think about what they're doing they probably would not be able to execute. However, in order for them to do that they had to be mindful when they were learning how to make a certain play and then practice it over and over till it became second nature so they would be able to do it flawlessly come game time. So, for you to learn a new behavior you have to become mindful of how much you are eating so that you know when to stop shoveling, and the more you do this it will become second nature to you, and you'll do it instinctively. What that means is, you'll just naturally be more attuned to the process and now instead of just gorging yourself a "light will go off" in your head and it will give you the opportunity to pull yourself up short ( a common theme throughout here), and say to yourself, "I probably should stop here or at least real soon before I get past the point of no return". Then you can at least slow down and start to think of what you can do with any food you might be leaving on the platter. We are talking about giving yourself other options; not just the only option that you ever known of stuffing yourself into oblivion and then suffering the prolonged discomfort and self-loathing that is the aftermath of an eating orgy. So what you need to start doing is practice like an athlete training to master a skill. You can do that, right? I mean were only talking about eating here, and it's even fun to do. It's not like it's hard work or anything. I want you to start becoming aware of how full you are getting as you are eating, and then when you think ( in good conscience, mind you ) that you're probably getting near the tipping point, then just start thinking about what you can do to stop eating. Heck, even if you have to just leave the food on your plate ( dear mother, please forgive me ) to be thrown out, that's still preferable to inflicting a good stuffing on yourself!