I have a problem with Over Eating

Do you over-eat?

On Saturday morning I woke up feeling like a slug.

Super lethargic, I didn't want to get out of bed and I had brain fog.

This felt all too familiar and similar to many 'Nay' mornings of the past that had been down to excessive drinking.

On Friday I'd had a token, but only one beer and it was delicious.

For the beer drinkers among us you would know the feeling of a fresh local tap beer on a Friday night after a long week - heaven.

Obviously applicable to the wine aficionados and lovers of cocktails in the crew too!

So my Drinking game was good.

Location was in a new part of town

It was date night with my partner, so the Company was awesome.

The Food was tasty.

But then I went and ruined it all by doing what I do far too regularly.

Eating too much...

I've always had a problem with leaving food on the table.

It stems from growing up and wanting to get all the left-overs.

I remember my Dad saying to me, 'If you keep eating like that, you'll end up the size of a house'.

I was conscious of it, as the majority of my family have issues with weight all the way up to obesity.

I'm a pretty skinny dude naturally, but I've been skinny-fat twice in my life.

Awareness of skinny-fat and love of sports and training has saved me on that front.

But Saturday morning.

My blood alcohol would have read 0.00%

But I had a serious HANGOVER.

Think about it:

• I didn't want to get up.
• I felt ill.
• My motivation levels had flatlined
• I slept like shit because my body spent most of the night digesting.

We all know that eating can be a vice just like drinking.

But more to the point and for the most part with everything - it's over-consumption from a place of unconsciousness.

So what do we do in this situation?

We apply self-reflection and self-inquiry.

Look the fat fuck in the face and say how do we shift this.

Framing is important here so:

What's the story I'm telling myself as to why I eat all the food even when I'm beyond full?

These are those stories (Law and Order sound)

1) I hate food wastage: I'm doing it for the environment. FYI - Australia is far and away the worst country for food wastage.

2) I can take the food home in plastic, but I try as best as possible to avoid unnecessary plastics.

These are both true, but just a sneaky way to justify being a Tubby Taylor.

So I declared Saturday morning as I rolled like a rissole out of bed and into the bathroom.

That I 'Benny Wallington' have a problem with over-eating.

Just like I've had a problem with drinking, buying clothes, sugar, coffee, porn, my phone etc. etc.

But the good news.

This comes from a place of knowing and having the power to change

This is merely another rad challenge.

So what am I doing about it?

On Saturday I sat down with myself and in the same way I did with those previously mentioned vices - asked how can I shift it.

This time I had my partner to bounce ideas off and we came up with this.

New restaurant strategies:

- Take our own containers for leftovers and ask waiters if they will put left-overs in there. If they won't due to health and safety, we just order less food. Side note: we get caught out with plastic straws so we are going to make it a little restaurant kit with our metal straws too.

- I set my intention for how much I'm going to eat prior to the meal. If I go over it, I don't get dessert. We usually share it and I love dessert, which screws with the ritual. Putting a ritual on the line is a powerful motivator.

- "hara hachi bu" Which is the Japanese tradition to eat to 80% full and wait. I've known about this in the past and trialed it and it works. But I'd also conveniently forgot it. ;) Read more about it here.

- Skate to Dinner - I skated to dinner on Friday night. I then proceeded to spew a little bit in my mouth on the ride home. Not pleasant. Don't do it again.

Will this work?

Only time will tell.

My Why motivation is the same for when I go out drinking. I don't get blind, because I want to show up my best the next day.

So now I'll attempt to stop eating like a pig for that same reason.

Question for you...

What other vices can you apply your 'why' to?

Netflix is a pretty topical one and it does all the same shitty morning things when you sit up on a binge till 1AM.

I love this journey of change and challenge and if you've read this far I reckon you do too.

I'm stoked to be on it with you!

Cheers,

Benny

#viceoptimisation #food #overeating