Food week 1: What you’re really Self S….. ing [It’s not “self sabotaging”] | RISE Macclesfield | Group Personal Training gym weight loss programmes

So, it’s Christmas next week.

Exciting stuff.

Hope you have an awesome time 🙂

The last few weeks a lot of people have been talking to us about food.

As they do every year around this time.

It an all year round conversation, but especially in the run up to Christmas.

Because people are particularly torn.

They want to have a great time at Christmas.

Every year, but especially after last year being a bit of a non event.

But they’re concerned.

They don’t want to get to January and have regrets.

Regret just how much they ate and drank.

How much of the previous weeks and months were undone is such a short space of time.

So this week I’m going to cover a number of ‘tactics’.

Ideas, approaches and mindset changes that could set you up to enjoy Christmas just as much……….

It not more……….

But in a way that doesn’t cause you to feel worse in the long run.

Today, I’m going to cover “self sabotage”.

Something that people talk to us about more and more nowadays.

A term that had a 35 fold increase in usage in print between 1993 and 2013 (according to Google Ngram Viewer).

“I get so far and then I self sabotage” is a common thing people say to us.

“I don’t know why I self sabotage” we regularly hear.

The thing is……….

They never will.

Because that’s not what’s happening.

When we ask questions like that, we’re framing it in a way that’s not going to lead to answers that help us.

The definition of sabotage is “deliberately destroy, damage, or obstruct (something)”.

We do something because the benefit it brings IS the damage it causes.

What we’re doing when we make our decisions is doing something because of other benefits it bring, IN SPITE of the damage it causes.

If we were self sabotaging purely with the intention of gaining weight, we would just eat bowl after bowl of lard and neck pints of sugar water.

If we were self sabotaging purely with the intention of feeling worse, we’d stop eating, drinking and sleeping and lock ourselves in a dark room with no entertainment – we’d feel pretty rotten real quick.

Knowing why we’re actually doing something won’t automatically mean we make a different decision.

But it’s probably more likely than if we’re telling ourselves something that isn’t true.

Many of the decisions we make on a daily basis are driven by how we feel.

And by a desire to change that.

Our brains are hardwired to keep us safe and make us feel good.

And that’s fine.

Until it isn’t.

If the balance of our decisions make us feel worse overall, we could question that.

What we’re often doing when we eat and drink is looking to change our state.

How we feel.

We’re self soothing.

Especially when we do it past a certain point.

We’re looking to change those feelings…………

Of frustration, tiredness, stress, overwhelm or whatever else it is………

To be more relaxed.

Calmer.

Soothed.

And realising that is powerful.

We can question if this decision is actually going to make us feel better overall.

If it’s a net gain or loss.

We could look at other options that provide a net gain.

Other things that make us feel better but have less (or no) drawback.

Or a mixture.

Still eat and drink in a way we enjoy………..

But couple that with some combination of other things that make us feel better.

Exercise, a walk, sex, meditation, a bath, different foods and drinks, a game, TV, reading, having a chat, etc.

As always, we can do what we like.

Eat and drink however you want to over the next few weeks.

But, maybe question if you’re “self sabotaging” or “self soothing”………

And if what you’re doing had a net gain or loss in how you feel………

And see if that affects some of your decisions?

Much love,

Jon ‘Raising flour’ Hall

P.S. If you’re even vaguely contemplating trying out our ‘Great in 8’ programme (which helps busy people lose 10 to 20lbs in 8 weeks whilst forming lasting healthy habits, without having to do boring exercise they hate and give up their favourite foods), then check it out now. You get the rest of the year for free and lock in 2021 prices. Waiting till January will just cost you money. www.myrise.co.uk/apply

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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!