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During the holidays, overeating becomes a habit. How to return to a healthy diet? Italian psychotherapist Giorgio Nardone offers seemingly absurd, but effective ways.
During the holidays, overeating becomes a habit – an endless stream of goodies whets the appetite, and we “fixate” on food. How to return to a healthy diet? Giorgio Nardone, an Italian psychotherapist, eating disorder specialist and author of Captive to Food, offers seemingly absurd ways. However, they are very effective. In Italy, Nardone is a celebrity, and hundreds of people have successfully undergone therapy according to his method. The main principle is “Bring the situation to the point of absurdity, and you will solve the problem.”
1. Five times more
The Chinese have a saying, “extinguish the fire by adding wood.” Following it, Nardone developed a provocative technique – you assign yourself a balanced diet of your choice (1500-2000 kcal per day) and eat whatever you think is necessary during meals. But if you decide to deviate from the plan and have a snack between meals, then you should eat it in five times the size / amount.
For example, if you eat a chocolate bar, you will have to eat 5 chocolate bars. If you eat a piece of cake, you must eat 5 pieces of cake, no more, no less. “So you either avoid snacking between meals, or eat five times as much,” explains Nardone. “Typically, after we ask patients to follow this pattern, they eat five times as much 1-2 times, and then they stop doing it, because eating according to the prescription is not as pleasant as it used to be.” This technique allows us to show our ability to manage the situation and develop healthy control in our relationship with food.
2. Only what brings pleasure
Our brain is filled with numerous “not” and “harmful” about food. But the more we limit ourselves, the stronger the desire to break the prohibitions. Try for a whole week to eat only what you really want, out of pure enjoyment of food. Give up all prohibitions and allow yourself to get the most pleasure. Avoid eating what you don’t like just because it’s “right”, i.e. low-calorie, healthy food.
“There are no restrictions, there are no temptations,” Nardone explains. – If I allow myself something, then I can refuse it. If I don’t allow, it becomes impossible to refuse.” This technique develops the skill of seeking high-quality pleasure from food and thus allows you to restore a harmonious relationship with food. When we begin to look at food in terms of pleasure rather than duty (“I have to eat broccoli because it is healthy”, “I can’t have a cake because it has a lot of sugar and fat”), the desire to overeat disappears.
3. Small digression
The more stringent restrictions you set for yourself, the greater the temptation to eat “forbidden” food. If instead you create an order that allows for a little mess, you will no longer need restrictions and succumb to temptations. A little mess avoids a big one. A small chocolate bar or a couple of cookies keep the system in balance and protect against breakdowns. “Plan yourself a small digression from the regimen (a small chocolate bar, a couple of cookies, ice cream) for each day – it must be new and always tasty,” recommends Nardone. If you manage to consciously allow yourself small deviations every day, they will help you not to lose control over nutrition in general.
Read more:
- How to stop overeating in winter
4. Fear of hunger
Many people believe that fasting is the best way to lose weight. The longer I fast, the more weight I lose. But this logic does not work: when we get hungry, sooner or later we lose control and overeat. This is why fasting is the worst, not the best, way to lose weight. “You make an incredible effort not to eat, and then in an instant you ruin everything – even worse, you get even fatter,” says Nardone. “It must be learned once and for all that fasting inevitably opens the door to gluttony. Every time you abstain from eating, you are preparing the next bout of binge eating.”
The solution is to consciously cultivate the fear of fasting. When you get hungry, remind yourself that the best way to avoid overeating is to avoid fasting.
5. If only
Often excess weight is the result of stress, anxiety, our dissatisfaction with ourselves, insecurity, lack of joy, love, warmth in life. Nardone offers a simple exercise.
Every morning, when you wash, dress, prepare to leave the house, ask yourself the question: “How would I behave / behave differently than usual if I felt / felt confident in relationships with other people”? Among everything that comes to your mind, choose the smallest, most insignificant thing and implement it. Let’s say if you’re usually shy about joking, making eye contact, smiling, saying hello first/first, wearing bolder makeup – make a promise to yourself to do this at least once during the day.
Take a small, specific action every day, as if you feel confident, and choose something new each day. Gradually, you will restore self-confidence and stop eating petty annoyances.