I changed my mind and lost 2 pounds.  Changing my mind was all it took.  Because, by changing my mind, I changed my behavior.  I’ve been trying to shake 5 pounds for the past year.  Five measly, pounds.  And, I haven’t been able to do it.   I was obsessed with thoughts of food and it was making me miserable!  Then, one day, I realized that at the very first sense of feeling hungry, I went to the refrigerator and ate something.  Then, when the clock said it was meal time, I ate again, whether I was hungry or not, because, after all, it was mealtime, so I should eat.   I was careful what I ate but I felt as if I was eating all the time.  Again, at dinner time, I wasn’t even hungry, but, the clock said eat so I obeyed.  I realized I wasn’t enjoying the food I was eating at meals because I wasn’t really hungry.  I began noticing how much I hated feeling stuffed in the evening and it was affecting my sleep.  But, as with any change, I had to shift my thinking away from what I didn’t want (the feeling of being full) toward what I did want. I craved the feeling of being hungry.  So, I decided to change how I thought about that feeling and therefore, how I responded to it.  When I first felt a hunger pang mid-morning, I said to myself, “I really like the feeling of being hungry.  I enjoy it because it makes me feel lighter, healthy, energetic, in control.”  So, as I went about my morning, enjoying the lightness, I noticed the sensations of hunger went away.  I just felt ‘normal’.  Neither hungry nor full.  And, I continued being productive.  The next thing I knew, it was mid-day, I had accomplished what I set out to do, and I was genuinely hungry. Now, it really was a reasonable hour to have lunch.  Remembering my positive sense of feeling light, I ate a light healthy, satisfying lunch, which I enjoyed because I was, indeed, hungry for food. Later in the afternoon, when I first felt pangs of hunger, I waited, savoring that feeling of lightness and energy and sure enough, in most cases, the feeling passed and I stayed focused on what I was doing.  If the hunger sensations continued, I had a piece of fruit, but usually, if I took my mind off of it, I was fine.  Again, I could really enjoy my dinner in the evening because I was truly hungry when I sat down to eat it.  And, I could eat pretty much whatever I wanted because I hadn’t been packing in calories all day long.  And, voila, at the end of the week, I had lost 2 pounds and I hadn’t suffered one little bit!!

I came to realize a number of things.  My feeling of hunger, was really the expression of other needs. In some cases, I was bored, other times I was frustrated and needed a distraction, other times I was tired and needed a break from what I was doing, still others I needed human contact or to have a conversation with someone to get some need met.   As I began to recognize the real need I had been addressing with food, I could meet it in healthy, more effective ways.  In addition to losing weight and regaining my sense of control over my eating, I also got a lot more done.  I was amazed to realize how much time I had been wasting focusing on food, thinking about it, finding it, preparing it, eating it, lamenting about having eaten it and on and on!  So, by changing my mind about hunger, I became much more productive. 

Changing my mind led to huge gains and some weight loss.  What could you change your mind about in order to produce great results?