Persist – By being a good parent to our inner child
That might sound a bit weird: “be a good parent to our inner child”. But this is an excellent image to foster for the struggle towards changing an obesity lifestyle, with all of its negative patterns of overeating and inactivity, to a new recovery lifestyle.
So what is a good parent?
A good place to start is considering what a bad parent is, and it can be summed up in large part by thinking about a continuum from harsh/judgemental through to laissez-faire/anything goes.
Both extremes are best to avoid when it comes to parenting our inner child who craves certain foods when it’s not meal-time, overeats during meal-times (esp the treat food), or who just wants to lie on the couch, meal-time or not.
Being harsh and judgemental just makes our inner child want to eat more and do less, but equally a do-nothing, anything goes type of parent simply allows a pathological state of overeating and inactivity to reign.
The answer lies in the middle between these two extremes, and comes in two main qualities – kindness and firmness. Being kind yet firm with our inner child will get things moving and stay moving during the tough times, which will see us persist with the long and happy journey.
Eat Well – Be careful what we eat between meals Enjoy Life – Get as much good sleep as possible
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