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Do you find yourself living more inside of your refrigerator than out? That is, has your pursuit of weight loss via chronic dieting led you to an ever heavier weight, while at the same time shrinking your life to a shadow of its former size? This year, you can embark on yet another diet, or you can make a resolution to get back to living your real life. It is a simple, but profound choice. Stay confined by dieting and live another year trapped inside of your refrigerator, or really live.

When Food And Dieting Steals Your Happiness

Dieting, and the repeat dieting that follows after the first diet fails, encourages an obsession with food that truly eats lives up whole. With each diet, food becomes an increasingly powerful force, eventually morphing into an all-consuming preoccupation that rules our routines, moods, and eventually our lives. Yet, it is only natural: the more you focus on something, the bigger it gets…

Until one day you notice that everywhere you look food is lurking, and begin to feel overwhelmingly cramped and claustrophobic in your own life. Feelings of desperation are now commonplace, and you often feel oddly numb when eating (which you seem to be doing all of the time). If you will take a moment to look around and truly orient yourself to your surroundings, you will clearly recognize that you have taken up residence in your own refrigerator.

Five Steps To Escaping The Refrigerator (How To Stop Overeating)

Though few people might admit it, thanks to dieting, there are and have been millions of us living in our own refrigerators at any one time. Yet, few are honest enough to speak about it, so there is little information available on how to escape the cold, cold confines of the fridge, the dieting, and cycle of overeating that trap us there to begin with. Here’s a five-step plan that works:

1.Quit dieting. Period. No more books on food plans. No more magazines bought based on the cover story of losing 155 pounds in a week. Cold turkey. Give up reading any and all information regarding dieting and food restriction. Even in the grocery store line.

2. Accept what you eat. Aim to eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. However, accept what you eat when you choose otherwise. This may at first appear counter-intuitive if you want to lose weight, however the struggle and the shame that is involved when we fight against what we have eaten only encourages additional (guilt fueled) eating. Accepting what you eat will actually help you to break the cycle of overeating, and lose the weight that comes with it.

3. Accept yourself when you cannot accept what you have eaten. Know that you will be able to accept all that you eat in time, but for now it is enough to accept that you cannot accept yourself.

4. Remember that food is always a choice. Though it often does not feel like it, the cookie really did not choose you. You can choose to eat the cookie (or anything else) or not. It matters more that you feel in control of your decision and feel empowered in your choice.

5. Focus your time and energy on the creation of a meaningful life instead of the details of food and diet. When you are living a balanced and engaged life, food and your weight will take care of themselves. Really. Consider the results of your attempts to micromanage the food and weight, and decide to put your attention back onto your life.

May this be the year that you decide to leave the refrigerator and move back into your real life. Just push the door open, leave dieting behind, and watch what happens.

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