So, you overate. Now what?

Our house has been full of Easter chocolate this week, and I’ve found myself wanting to eat it. 

A lot of it. 

And I’ve definitely eaten more of it than I planned. 

So now I get to use the coaching question I hate being asked: how is this perfect? 

My answer? This *is* perfect because I get to practice all the ways I teach my clients to respond when we overeat.

Simply, overeating is a normal part of life. 

Overeating is not good or bad -- it’s truly neutral.

It’s simply a behavior that we can learn from – and it can teach as any other behavior that we might want to change. 

If we have a habit of interrupting others or speaking with our mouths full, we don’t spend a lot of time ruminating or judging ourselves about it. 

We might have a twinge of embarrassment when it’s brought to our attention…but I’m guessing most of us would just try to work on it.

We can use the same approach – one of curiosity – about our overeating.

I’d even go so far as to say that how we respond to overeating is the difference between sustainable weight loss and regaining weight.

We often say things to ourselves that aren’t very helpful, such as…

“Why did I do that?”

“I blew it.”

“Ugh. Not again.”

However, if we ask ourselves a better question, a more powerful question, our brain actually gets the chance to come up with a different response to overeating rather than continuing to focus on the negative.

After an overeat, we could ask:

“What do I really need (when I’m reaching for that extra food)?”

“What are some ways I can take care of myself today?”

And my favorite...

“What’s the next best choice I can make?”

When we ask better questions, we give our brain space to come up with solutions rather than focusing on what didn’t go well or spending time in a negative thought spiral.

Asking better questions can help you focus on what you can do right at the next opportunity instead of beating yourself up for making a choice you didn’t like.

When we direct our minds in a better, more helpful direction, we’re developing the mindset needed for long-term weight loss. 

It’s a huge part of the work I do with my clients.

And it's how I can support you to lose weight for the last time, too.