There’s a myth going around, something that has been spread for a long time.  It goes like this:  “I’m overweight but I watch everything I eat, while my friend is skinny as a pole and doesn’t worry about what they at at all!”

This couldn’t be farther from the truth!  It’s the other way around.  Think about it — if you are constantly worry about food and food is always on your mind, what are you going to want to do?  Eat food!  Alternatively, if you’re not on a diet and don’t worry about food all the time — you go about your normally daily habits and eat regularly.

There’s a lot of psychological aspects at play.  If you worry about what you’re eating all the time, calories, etc., you’re not just eating a piece of food.  Everytime you take a bite of something you’re taking with you some kind of emotion — whether it be guilt, fear, anger, or something else negative — because of all the thoughts you have in your head.  Whether you see or agree with it or not, it’s true — our emotions are infused with the foods we eat.

This means that instead of eating food, you’re instead consuming guilt, fear, or anger about you and your weight loss program, why you can’t lose weight, the negative effects the calories from that particular piece of food will bring, etc.

Think of it this way.  How many times you have divulged and ate something really good — like a piece of chocolate pie you made, or some chocolate chip cookies, etc?  More often than not, while you prepare, cook, and eat the food you’re constantly thinking of the calories that it’s going to bring into your body.  Instead of truly rewarding yourself and enjoying a good moment of indulging which you probably deserve, you’re feeling guilty about it.

These negative feelings will impact the way you metabolize the food and will eventually make you eat more to try to feel better about yourself, which is when the underending cycle begins.  Before you know it, you’ll be offer you diet, binging, and you’ll have to start a diet again in 6 months to try it all over again.

Before you count that next calorie, stop!  It’s great to be aware of your health and your diet, but don’t let it consume your life.  Eat smart, workout as much as possible, and make smart choices — you’ll naturally lose the weight over time.