Developing and Maintaining a “Personal Plan of Eating” is brought into being by:
By Bob Wilson, DTR
Again, before you begin, it would be helpful to review the insights and suggestions from the Dieting VS. Non-Dieting section. Remember that all of this is an experiment. As an example, for me, I discovered that super-chunk peanut butter is a trigger food. There are some schools of thinking that suggest that if you always have the food around and allow yourself a small amount of it whenever you want, without any denial or guilt, that you will come to a place of eating it in moderation. I tried that out, time after time, and for me found that it did not work. I would almost always end up eating more of than I had planned. So I came up with another plan that worked better for me which I share in the section of how I discovered new foods. For most foods that I eat, having unlimited quantities around the house works very well. I don't overeat them. It's really important to develop your own inner kind-wisdom and self-discipline for yourself and your life.
Perhaps read over my story of how I learned about myself and found new foods and choices that were more effective. Remember that you are on a journey towards increasing health and well-being and you are planting the garden of your life with seeds of well-being--and nurturing them, and will reap your garden of health and friskiness!!
You learn about yourself through:
ü Personal discovery through experimentation and practice in making skillful choices that honor and respect ourselves at every level of our lives.
ü There is no “right or wrong”. It’s just what works for you. You update or change your strategies depending on what you notice about yourself through your daily self-introspection.
ü Once you recognize the pattern, you can plan a new response for a situation.
EXPLORE: Notice The Web of Existence: Patterns, patterns everywhere. Not a moment’s peace! and Which Puzzle Pieces Contribute to Your Overweight?, and What Does It Look Like When Things Are Going Well?
THE OVALS
AIM FOR The Inner Oval--Focus On: Healthy Maintenance Schedule
ü Daily choices of foods, skills, and activities that support a healthy lifestyle, as well as, mental and emotional well being.
ü Foods, activities, and daily patterns that naturally keep you feeling balanced, happy and glad to be alive.
ü List all foods, beverages that do not cause you to want to overeat and activities that support your flexible plan of eating.
The Middle Oval: The Gray Area
ü “In this situation it's best that I not do it for now…and in this situation, I can handle it quite well.”
ü Foods of which we are uncertain about
ü Foods and situations that could lead us to the outer oval of imbalances and problems
ü Potential binge foods—come up with behavioral strategies to manage them
The Outer Oval: The Problematic Area
ü Be honest and gentle. List all foods, beverages, and activities that trigger you to eat much more than you had planned. Be specific. These are the foods and activities that will go in your outer oval.
ü Foods and activities in this oval are carefully chosen (for now) and should be monitored to observe your reactions to them. Be gentle. Be honest. Be aware.
ü List foods and activities that keep us in isolation and fantasy.
ü List the foods and activities that many times have triggered a binge.
Example:
What works for you? To print off the EXAMPLE: Defining A plan of Eating-EXAMPLE.pdf
To print off a BLANK Ovals sheet: Blank The Ovals.pdf
ADDITIONALLY UNCOVER AND EXPLORE: