behaviour, and desires in the face of
external demands in order to
function in society. Self-control
itself is not to blame for your
failed attempts, but rather
your unsuccessful attempt to control your
own emotions, desires and external
factors.
Control of these factors can easily fluctuate
between “in-control” and
“out-of-control” when it
comes to our eating habits.
People, amateurs and professionals can all vouch for their endless
amount of efforts to stick to an eating
plan or to eat “clean” as the term is so
popularly used in today’s health circles. But
why do so many struggle to be disciplined
and why do some become obsessed?
When you are in control of your emotions and behaviour, you will automatically be able to channel
external stimuli to fight off intrusive thoughts about
eating something that is not on your plan for the
day or to just give up.
The catch here is that people struggle to stick to
healthy eating because they struggle to manage
external stimuli like a decadent piece of chocolate
cake that is eye-catching or that they postpone
their health regimes to the next day, which usually
leads to never.
The other extreme is fitness professionals who fixate
on healthy eating as part of healthy living, creating
an obsession of what is dished up as a means to
always be in control. This in fact is not control, but a
defense mechanism of sort to keep in a “safe” or
“comfort” zone when eating and to blatantly
ignore external factors that may intrude and derail
their eating regimes.
People who become obsessed with healthy eating
can be labeled in layman’s terms as suffering from
orthorexia. Registered dietician Karin Kratina, PhD,
gives meaning to this term by explaining that those
who have an “unhealthy obsession” with otherwise
healthy eating may be suffering from “orthorexia
nervosa,” a term which literally means “fixation on
righteous eating.”
Does it mean that sticking to a healthy eating
plan is in fact actually unhealthy? Certainly not,
but to fixate or to be occupied with your eating
habits 24/7, can create restlessness, anxiety,
self-pity, self-loathing, regret, and disappointment. A form of balance needs to be maintained and that’s where self-control kicks in.
Precariousness comes to mind when one thinks
about the ups and downs associated so often
with eating habits. Society unfortunately forces
this upon us as healthy eating is seen as being
skinny or lean. The question you should ask yourself is “why do I do this” or “what do I gain from
this”. If the answer is to merely “lose weight” or to
drop a pant size, be sure that external factors
might be too tempting to fight off and you most
certainly can be assured of a failed eating attempt.
Eating is a form of survival and to prolong life initially. When certain adjustments are made to
eating, the body’s automatic response is to
guard against your conscious attempts. Are you
eating to survive, as a necessity, or are you
eating for optimal survival to prolong longevity
along the way?
Our eating habits should not be a quick-fix as a
means to follow the trends of society in an attempt to be “healthy” as so many people claim.
Being “healthy” should include the will-power,
perseverance and diligence of your own
self-control to lay a foundation for healthy
eating practices. To ensure that habitual eating
manifests subconsciously, one should change
the gears of self-control to speed up in the direction of optimal functioning, the same way in
which you will subconsciously change gears
without literal focus on the task at hand.
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