Since Saturday I have not had any sugar (added sugar, natural sugars in things like fruit are okay) or wheat. It is been surprisingly easy given how completely out of control my eating was and how many times I have failed at this before.
What is different? One thing is that I am using a technique I read about a few months in the LA Times and have heard mentioned several times since. I have started saying "I don't eat that" instead of "I can't eat that."
Sounds a little silly, but it helps. A study at the University of Houston found that saying "I don't" was nearly three times as effective as saying "no" and about eight times more effective than saying "I can't."
Why? "With 'I don't' you're choosing words that signal empowerment and determination rather than ones that signal deprivation," says Vanessa Patrick, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Houston. It is true. I don't feel deprived or like this is something being forced upon me. I feel like I'm in charge.
We went ice skating, out to dinner, and then to watch the light show at LL Bean last night. There were opportunities to cheat during each activity- cookies and cocoa skating, lots of pasta on the menu at dinner, and a stop at DQ for the BF to get a blizzard before the light show. But I just didn't even let myself think about having wheat or sugar. It wasn't a possibility in my mind, so it was easy to say no. "I don't eat that."
That's what this whole experiment is about, returning control to my eating. I don't want to feel like food is controlling me anymore.
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I should do that when I am telling people I do not want to eat something because I am vegan. "I can't" does not sound very powerful, as you said ;)
ReplyDeleteI hope you get the control you want! :)
Exactly. When I was a vegetarian and told people "I can't eat that" or "I don't want to eat that," they got insulted or told me just to try it. But when I say "I don't eat that," and just move on somehow they accept it.
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