I remember years ago buying one of my besties 2 bags of haribo gummies as he absolutely adored them. I distinctly remember then sitting with him as he opened the bag and then proceeded to eat one, then two, then the whole bag and then hang on………...… Is he really about to open the second bag??
It was a truly life changing moment, as I realised that it’s not what we’re eating that matters, but how we’re thinking about our eating that makes all the difference. My friend was cool, calm and collected as he ate his way through nearly 2 bags of haribo. It was no big deal to him. He wasn’t ‘binging’. He wasn’t judging himself or hating himself and then eating more to shove down his feelings of regret. He was merely a guy who was enjoying his haribos. That was it. It was as simple as that.
But to a person who dieted and binged, this was mind blowing. Had I eaten nearly 2 bags of haribos (and let’s be honest, there wouldn’t have been any left were it up to me), I would’ve felt guilty, judged myself severely and then have classified it as a binge. This would’ve likely led to more eating that night as I would’ve felt that I had crossed an imaginary line and so now I may as well eat everything in sight.
Sound familiar?
This experience truly showed me that it’s the way we think about things that matter and not the actions that we take. Someone can eat nearly 2 bags of haribos and have it mean nothing, or someone else could engage in the exact same behaviour and have it mean that they’re a failure, that they have no control or willpower, that they’re a binge eater and that they’re broken and need help…..
So what do you want to make your food choices mean?
Because really at the end of the day it’s up to us to decide whether we just ate a lot of haribos or whether we’re binging.
Haribos anyone?
