Setting Eating Standards

“I feel out of control when it comes to food.”

I hear this more often than I’d like.

And if those words come out of your mouth, listen up:

💥 Your eating is out of control because you’ve got very low standards for taking care of yourself. 💥

You may not want to hear that; but it’s the truth.

And if you have a low standard for yourself with how you eat, I’m guessing those ways of handling yourself might be spilling over into other areas of your life.

I say this because I happen to believe that the way we do anything is the way we do everything.

Standards are like the expectations you have for yourself, the non-negotiables about the things you always do, as well as the things you never do.

People have an endless list of things they believe they should do or should follow through on. And these “shoulds” carry about the same weight as a New Year’s resolution — that is, if it happens, that’s great. But if not, it won’t be too disappointing because you kind of knew it wasn’t really going to happen anyway.

But what happens when you decide something is an absolute “must?”

What happens when you cut off any other possibility than your succeeding — when you decide that you are either going to find a way to make something happen or you’ll create the way yourself?

When you raise your standards and turn “should” into “must,” you are making an inner shift to take control over the quality of your life. Any area you are not getting what you want is because you haven’t raised your standards.

If you’ve ever gained or lost too much weight, and immediately started taking action to reverse the process, you are experiencing the fundamental effect of your standards on your appearance. You will not let yourself deviate so much from your standards because it feels wrong and unacceptable.

Raise your health standards by eating healthy foods, training your body or even minimum low-impact exercise on a regular basis, sleeping well, and relaxing on purpose, and not just when you get a minute here or there.

You need to set your weight control standards around food and eating, and I suggest you start with how you will react to temptations.

Temptations are immature. They seek only momentary pleasure and disregard the future. You don’t have to act on your urges.

When you’re faced with urges, acknowledge them, but do the right thing anyway. You will feel proud, and your self-confidence will become unshakeable.

You raise your standards every time you ignore your impulses, say no to distractions, and delay momentary gratification.

If standards are too high from your starting point, you’ll never feel like you’re making any progress.

And if they are too low, small wins that you’re making also won’t feel like they are helping you change.

But raising your standards is about having a healthy level of self-respect.