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 Dear
Friends,
This little figure on the left
is simply called "Appetite". (You will learn much more about
her/him in my latest book, The Appetite Connection.)
In both
The Taming of the Chew: A Holistic Guide to Stopping
Compulsive Eating and
The Appetite Connection: Six Steps to Your Delicious Life
and the Body You Long For, I discuss habitual
eating…. Or robotic eating. It is helpful to understand what
this behavior is, how it is connected to your Appetite and
how to move on.
Most of us eat “robotically” at times. Sometimes we eat and
don’t even realize we are eating – the biting, chewing and
swallowing have become automatic. When we perform any
behavior for a period of time, it becomes automatic. It is
performed without conscious thought. Remember the first time
you drove? You’d studied the traffic laws and watched the
films in class. The first time you got behind the wheel and
the instructor told you to start the car, you had to think
of each detail. You had to pay close attention. You thought
about putting the key into the ignition, placing your left
foot on the clutch and your right one on the brake or gas,
shifting into the appropriate gear, and then turning the key
to the right. It felt strange and unfamiliar. It did not
take long, however, for these behaviors to become automatic.
Today, you most likely hop into your car and go without
giving any of these details a conscious thought. You know
how to drive. The motions have become automatic. Your
subconscious is fully aware, however, to ensure you succeed
at starting the car. And of course you must still be
extremely conscious of being on the road and of other
vehicles.
The same phenomenon takes place with our eating behavior and
at a much younger age. As infants we cry for many reasons –
perhaps we have an uncomfortable, wet diaper or a pain
somewhere in our little body. We can’t speak to tell our
caretakers what is wrong and they often respond to our cries
by putting a bottle or breast into our mouths. So we learn
through this that crying brings us oral gratification. We
quickly learn to associate food with comfort. We don’t even
have to think about it. It is automatic. We feel “bad,” we
reach for food. We experience discomfort of any kind, we
eat.
 As adults, if we feel “better” eating chocolate when we are
upset about something, it doesn’t take long for eating
chocolate to become an automatic response when we want to
feel better – and who doesn’t frequently have times when
they want to feel better? If we begin to eat snacks at night
in front of our television sets, again, it can quickly
become a thoughtless habit. Many women eat automatically
when preparing meals for their families. They “taste” as
they prepare supper and when the actual meal is ready, have
already eaten more than enough. They then sit down with
their family members and eat the full supper they have
prepared for everybody else. The “before dinner food” was
eaten automatically and barely noticed. They don’t realize
they have eaten the equivalent of two or three dinners and
are truly surprised when the scale reflects their actions.
READ MORE...
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START
YOUR DELICIOUS LIFE! |
 Stop
by Water Street Books on Tuesday, October 18th at
7PM - 125 Water Street, Exeter, NH
and join in the celebration as Dr. Denise launches
her hot-off-the-presses, The Appetite Connection:
Six Steps to Your Delicious Life and the Body You
Long For. She will give a brief talk, then we'll
have refreshments, prizes, mingle and you can get your book
autographed. Sure hope you'll join us!
The Appetite Connection: Using the Six Steps in a
Therapeutic Setting, Oct. 7, 2011
9:00am -4:00pm
Sweetser Training Institute, Bath Maine
207-294-4454 to register or for further information
 Order
a Bach Flower Emotional Overeating
Kit designed by Dr. Denise and get a free Emotional Eating CD $37.00 value
for $24.00 plus shipping – Order Today! Offer good
through October 15, 2011
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