This month I have had interactions with two people who were settling for their current situation regarding food and their bodies. The first person told me that, “She knew she would always be overweight”. The second one informed me that “She will always be bulimic and she would just have to find ways to control it”.

One of the main reasons both these people were in these situations is because they truly believed there was no way out. This is completely understandable when we continually have experiences in our lives that substantiate this type of thinking. Or we have been told by others that we can’t change, so we don’t.

However if we keep thinking like this then absolutely we will be stuck where we are because we won’t be open for an alternative as we feel it is hopeless.

The first person is now working with me through my Natural Eating course and she is beginning to change her mindset as now she is starting to have positive experiences that are proving that change is possible. She knows it won’t happen overnight, but now she is building on the successes and simply reflecting on any challenges and continuing to move forward. She is also no longer focusing on the weight but listening to her body and tuning into her natural instincts.

Another way we sometimes settle around food is eating something we don’t really want. This could be because:

· We are trying to be “good” and end up eating a healthy item when we really wanted something unhealthy.

· Someone has offered us something and we don’t want to be rude and decline.

· What we really want isn’t available and it’s too much trouble to get it.

What generally happens with all these scenarios is that we end up overeating. This is because we have settled for what we didn’t want, so therefore we aren’t emotionally satisfied. Therefore we continue to think about food and continue to eat looking for that magic feeling.

However it will never come unless you eat exactly what you want. When you do you find you are satisfied very quickly and can often be happy with a very small portion. This is because you’ve wanted something, you’ve let yourself have it, and you’ve focused while you’ve eaten it. This has enables you to stop when your body has had enough.

Therefore I encourage you to reflect on your food choices and see if you are settling in some circumstances. If so, be mindful, so you can eat exactly what you want instead and be satisfied every time you eat. You’ll probably find you eat significantly less.