Low Carb in the UK

Breaking the harm cycle - The "Wedge" technique

Not authored by me, but by a wonderful Low-carber called Ruby. She has lots of sage wisdom, and I had to share this here! I love her "Wedge" metaphor, and use it often myself.

---- Original Message -----
From: mimi
....had I gone to work, I could have kept my mind off it. At the end of the day my husband said he was going to order pizza (I was just a mess). I said, "Yeah, get me one too." Soooo from Tuesday night till Sunday I only gained two pounds, which I guess is a good thing, but I didn't even TRY to go back on in all that time. I'm trying to forgive myself for this......
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I see all the things I have said so many times in your post. So what I am going to say is not about attacking YOU, but the "thought" process we all go through time and time again.

Yes, stress and emotional upheaval does cause us to react. Did you know that MOST humans react to stress ORALLY? Food, drinking, drugs, smoking and even sex are all ways to comfort in a primal way. We all have our favorite "instant" release from stress by putting something in our mouths or using our mouths in aggressive movement...chewing, yelling, grinding teeth...etc.

So while we think, "ok, I am stressed and I am going eat", the first reaction is really about allowing ourselves to flip the "f*ckit switch". Just like turning off the "diet mode" and turning on the "eating freely mode" we put things into black and white perspective. On, off, on, off.

We then eat the forbidden food which is not only fulfilling a instant gratification from stress...but it is also allowing us to have some sort of control over the uncontrollable situation that is going on. Making the CHOICE to eat pizza (when it is not on our healthy eating plan) is a way to be defiant and show our mettle. It's a way of saying "I CAN!" instead of "i can't!".

The we quickly realize we didn't make the best choice after all...It was a reactive choice, not the best one in our array of choices. The guilt and disappointment enters the picture and we try to assess the damage. We jump on the scale and cross our fingers that the weight gain won't be horrid. Then we start all over, feeling redemption in confession and strict dieting, promises to end the cycle and so on.... we have all been there a million times!!!!

To break this cycle, one has to put a "wedge" somewhere in the cycle pattern. It really doesn't matter where you put the wedge...just put one in it EVERY TIME from now on.

These things are wedges:

Eat a certain LC food before eating anything else...for me it's a can of tuna with lots of mayo.
Drink a big glass of water. Sometimes what we think is "hunger" is actually thirst!
DESTROY and throw away the remaining food the MOMENT you stop eating.
Use a delay tactic, such as taking a bubble bath before eating, or walking around the block.
Another delay tactic, Watch a whole movie on DVD before eating.
Do anything that can disrupt the cycle of wanting to eat, deciding to eat and the after effects.

Even if we go ahead and eat off plan, the wedge can become a tool that helps us to start looking at the whole process instead of blocking it out. This "I fell of the wagon and am starting fresh" deal is just perpetuating the cycle. To keep moving forward on our journey we have to keep looking hard at what makes us stumble!

I became acutely aware of how much food I was throwing away and how wasteful it was when I binged. I would buy a whole cake and eat some and then put it in a plastic bag, pour dishsoap all over it and add water. Then in the trash it went. It was a way for me to "kill" the food that was obsessing me and gaining control. Now when I stand in a store staring at a cake, I think that most of it will be thrown away and that leads to thinking about the whole process is ridiculous and not worth repeating.

Ruby