Normal Eating^® for Normal Weight

It's already the last day of March! February slipped by without a newsletter, and I didn't want to let March slip by, too. This month's newsletter is about how other people affect your eating - all the subtle ways that your social environment can conspire to keep you stuck where you are, and how to resist this pressure.

First, some general info...

Newsletter articles are cross-posted in the blog, but I post in the blog more often than I send out the newsletter. Do you remember the big to-do last month about director Kevin Smith being thrown off a Southwest Airlines flight for being too fat? The best commentary I heard about this came from comedian Craig Ferguson. I posted a link to the video in the blog:

Craig Ferguson’s Hilarious Rant on Fat Prejudice

You can subscribe to blog posts through an RSS reader, or by email. You also can follow the blog in Facebook. Two other good ways to stay connected are Facebook and Twitter. I use the Facebook page to post interesting articles from all over the internet, and we have some good discussions there. I post article links on Twitter, too, plus inspiration thoughts, and personal notes on food and eating.

Getting personalized help for emotional eating is more affordable than ever. A one-month trial membership in the Normal Eating Support Group is just $10, or $35 for a lifetime membership. Personal coaching is also more affordable, with discounts when you purchase multiple sessions at once.

Sheryl Canter
NormalEating.com

Most of us don't live in isolation. The people closest to you usually know all about your struggles with weight and eating, and can have a profound effect on your Normal Eating journey.

When you're coming from the diet world, you're coming from a world in which it's assumed that you don't have the self-control or judgment to manage your eating on your own. At one time or another, you may even have recruited friends and family to help you stick to your diet and monitor what you eat.

But in Normal Eating, taking full responsibility for your eating choices is crucial. Normal Eating teaches you to trust yourself - teaches you that you can trust yourself. So when you stop dieting and make the shift to Normal Eating, the "helpful" interjections from family and friends to not eat this or that are no longer welcome - and in fact, interfere with your progress.

The people close to you can sidetrack your efforts in more subtle ways, as well. Whenever someone changes - even when the change is positive - there will be some resistance to the change from those close to the person.

Resistance to Change - Any Change

A shared problem - such as a shared struggle with weight - is the basis of many friendships. Remove the problem, and suddenly the relationship is threatened. What do you talk about now? If you lose weight, will it make the the other person feel bad about herself or himself?

Simply the shift in long-established roles can destabilize a relationship. You'd think that becoming a stronger more self-confident person could only help your relationships, but it can cause unexpected tensions. When one person changes, habitual ways of interacting no longer work. That threatens the relationship until a new equilibrium can be reached.

A normal weight friend may be used to seeing you as nonthreatening around the opposite sex, and suddenly you're a competitor. Or a friendship may have been based on helping the fat friend who can never quite solve the problem. Then you suddenly solve the problem. What then? So the people close to you will frequently try to prevent you from changing.

It's not because they are mean or bad or don't want the best for you. It's a natural resistance to what is initially perceived as a threat to the relationship. And in a way it is, because to continue forward, your relationship will have to shift.

You move the relationship into its new, healthier mode by setting healthy boundaries - and by recognizing that resistance to change is natural and nothing to fear. In the vast majority of situations, people will come around.

The first situation I described - friends and family monitoring what you eat - is the easier situation to deal with, which is not to say it's easy! What you need to do may be difficult, but at least it's clear.

You need to explain to friends and family that you've had some realizations. A permanent solution to your struggles with eating and weight involves taking full responsibility for your own eating. Explain that the best way they can help you is to never comment on what you eat, and trust you to work it out for yourself. This kind of self assertion can be hard, but it's essential.

The second situation - the subtle social pressures that work against personal change - is a more difficult challenge. Emotions can run deep on both sides. Your most potent weapon is awareness.

Notice when someone who loves you responds to your weight loss by trying to get you to eat. Perhaps they are suddenly worried about your getting "too thin" (when you know, objectively, this is not the case). Or maybe they are suddenly presenting you with special treats that you just "have to" try.

In particular, be on the alert for feelings of guilt. Is someone making you feel guilty about doing what you need to do to take care of yourself?

With awareness, you can create some distance from the emotions of the situation. Never feel guilty for self-care or making your own eating choices - this is not only your right, but one of your fundamental responsibilities in life. Just as you have the right to eat something, you have the right not to eat something. You are never obligated to eat what's put in front of you just to protect someone else's feelings - never. You need to know this in your heart.

Are you wobbly about your rights and responsibilities? Check out the chapter on Healthy Boundaries in Normal Eating for Normal Weight.

Please post your thoughts and experiences in the blog where this article is cross-posted!

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