6/6/2009

Won’t Eat It Is VERY Different Than CAN’T Eat It

By Laura Moncur @ 5:00 am — Filed under:

Yesterday I talked about cupcakes and how the easiest way for me to eat them is to not eat them. If that is confusing, take a moment and read yesterday’s entry:

What if I really WANT a cupcake, however?

Chocolate mini cupcake, alone by Nicole Lee from Flickr

If I really want a cupcake, I can eat one whenever I want. That is the most powerful reason why it was so easy for me NOT to eat those delicious cupcakes a couple of weeks ago. I knew that I could have one if I wanted, but the thought of eating them stressed me out so much that I didn’t, even though I had plenty of calories left that day to afford one.

Every time I read a diet book that goes into scolding mode about what foods I can and cannot eat, it sends me into a binge. Even if I’m not planning on following that diet, I will start to WANT to eat foods that I never wanted to eat before. If I read a book that told me pickles were bad, I would suddenly want all sorts of pickles: dill, bread and butter, kosher, and sweet. You call it a pickle and I’d want it.

Won’t eat it is VERY different than CAN’T eat it. One is control imposed on me by another person. The other is a CHOICE. We all prefer to have choices. A prison is a prison, no matter how gilded the cage.

For me, eating healthy is about having infinite choices and fulfilling them. The minute I start limiting my choices, the animal within me rebels and craves only those foods I am denied. Ironically, I don’t need to eat foods to consider them one of my choices. I just need to give myself permission to eat them. All of this makes very little sense to me, but learning how to deal with the way my mind works will eventually set me free.

Photo via: Nicole Lee

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One Response to “Won’t Eat It Is VERY Different Than CAN’T Eat It”

  1. Renee Says:

    Perfectly put Laura!! We are free to eat whatver we choose but we always need to remember we have to live with the consequences of our choices. That’s where the real question lies – do we want to live with the consequences of what we choose to eat?

    I enjoyed reading this. :o)

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