Silencing the Trigger Voices in our Heads Going for the 3 Increases: Increase in Health, Increase in Happiness & Increase in Energy Strategies for Success in Weight Management By: James J. Messina, Ph.D.

Three Trigger Voices Concerning Food which need to be silenced Food Police - scrutinizes every eating action-keeping food & your body at war with one another Nutrition Informant – operates under the guise of health – but promotes unconscious dieting - provides nutrition evidence to keep you in line with dieting Diet Rebel – in response to people who invade your space with “diet police talk” you become rebellious because you are too afraid to confront them to “bug off”- eventually carrying off the rebellious behavior which you really do not want to do

Challenge the Food Police Common Rules of Food Police: Don’t eat at night (If you eat at night, you are guilty of a violation) Better not eat that bagel – it’s fattening, too many carbohydrates You didn’t exercise today, better not eat dinner It’s not time to eat yet – don’t have a snack You ate too much – (even though it was based on you being hungry

Silence the Food Police Food Police hurts you since it scrutinizes every eating action. It keeps food and your body at war Food Police criticizes all of your eating acts Food Police is not an ally, you need to challenge its power and loosen its hold on you – if not you fall into the trap of over eating

Confront the Nutrition Informant Messages of Nutrition Informant include: Check those fat grams, anything above one gram of fat is unacceptable Don’t eat foods with added sweeteners Problem is that messages might be healthy but it promotes over consciousness about “dieting” and leads to feeling guilty when the advice is not followed

Convert “Informant” to Nutrition Ally The Nutrition Ally: Is interested in healthy eating with no hidden agenda It encourages choices in foods based on health and pleasure, not on deprivation and dieting and with no feelings of guilt It help you cut the fat where you won’t miss it

Silence the Diet Rebel Messages of Diet Rebel include: You’re not going to get me to eat that plain broiled chicken? I’ll show you, You think I should lose 5 pounds, huh – I’ll lose 10 pounds Let’s see how many cookies I can stuff in before Mom comes home I can’t wait until my husband goes out of town so I can eat whatever I want, without his chastising glares

Convert the Diet Rebel to Assertive Ally Ask family members to stay out of your food choices or amounts Tell your family & friends & people on the street that they may not comment on your body size or weight Set boundaries concerning food related issues with all people in your life