Interrupting Is NOT Rude!

Say what?  It is so!  OK- interrupting is totally rude!  Most of the time.

But there is a time when interrupting is 100% OK to do!  It is when I need to cut myself off from a destructive behavior or thought. 

If you pay attention to your day, your mood, your eating patterns and you can get to the point when you realize that those things are happening. A quick interruption in that thought pattern or behavior (usually less then 2 minutes) can put you back on track!

One of the MOST helpful steps I have taken in maintaining my weight loss is recognizing a behavior that needs interrupting!

Learning to pay attention to habits and what is happening around those habits will change your life. 

For food, I notice that around 3pm and 7pm I want to eat-eat-eat and I want it sweet-sweet- sweet.  I had followed that pattern for YEARS and it became a straight up habit.   A habit the NO LONGER served me and NEEDED interrupting.  So, when 3pm or 7pm came and I was reaching for something sweet or already a few bites in -I WOULD INTERUPT MYSELF! 

This would look a couple of different ways:

Usually it took a quick little conversation in my head.  Do I really need this?  Do I need just a quick taste or will this turn into a full-on binge?  IS IT WORTH IT? 

Sometimes I would need a bigger distraction.  Like message a friend, get outside for a few minutes, read a couple pages of a book, listen to a favorite song and then the desire would fade. 

Other times I would have to straight up say something out loud.  My phrase was “food is NOT my god”.  Then I would coach myself – “There is more to life than distracting myself with food and food never gives me the long-term satisfaction I am looking for”.

These quick little interruptions are often enough to change course.  Sometimes I eat a sweet treat but it isn’t in a “out of control-out of body” experience.  It is something I chose and am taking ownership in that decision-free of guilt and a binge cycle. 

This took years and A LOT of practice.  It was a new skill that needed mastering.  Like any skill you don’t master it within a day- it’s little wins that become more and more victories.    You celebrate the heck out of the wins and learn from the flub ups.  Forgive yourself and remember we are all works in progress and we are worth interrupting!