Getting dressed in the morning is ritualized too. You might comb your hair and put on makeup then put on clothes. Some others put their clothes on first and then comb their hair and put on makeup. I eat breakfast and take my one-a-day two-a-day three-a-day vitamins minerals and calcium pills. I even arrange them on a paper plate in four little piles for easy access later. That’s a ritual too. That’s what we do:
We organize and ritualize so we can narcotize.
All this busy work distracts you at least for the moment from feelings or thoughts with which you don’t want to deal.
I’ve practiced and perfected many constructive rituals into my life. After doing them consistently for many years they are now automatic and mindless and serve my needs. They help make my day run smoothly like using a pencil when I write in my appointment book. There is comfort in the familiar.
It is the ritual of the first thought or word or action that leads to the next thought or word or action to the next and the next and the next. Eventually you succumb to what you think is the allure of the taste or smell or even sight of food. But it is really the tail end of a ritual where you might be tired or bored and just used to surrendering to whatever is set before you. Some of us eat as an excuse to take a break or to rest. It is hard to say no because it is all knitted together from the first thought of a ritual to the first feelings of remorse. There’s always remorse. That’s part of the ritual too. This cycle of behavioral ritual needs to be interrupted and unraveled. Identifying these patterns even acknowledging you have patterns is a wonderful first step in changing habits.
As you become more aware of your patterns of thought word and action you can begin the process of rearranging or omitting the automatic next steps and to create new constructive patterns for yourself. Eventually you’ll learn to be comfortable thinking saying and doing something else instead of putting food into your mouth just because it’s there.
This unraveling of the ritual of food addiction helps you to make pro-active choices so you can become the person you want to be. Sometimes the new way is quite different from what you’ve accumulated in the way of behavior. Your old way was built over a lifetime of unconscious actions and reactions. You now have the opportunity to create something new and wonderful that better serves your present need to weigh __________ pounds.
Bobby F. danced the I can go all day without eating but once I start I can’t stop tango a remnant from a previous weight-loss plan.
Since evening activities weren’t as stimulating as the daytime ones he was without things to occupy his mind; old feelings and thoughts bubbled up. With no place to go and no one to talk to he incorporated going into the kitchen into his usual evening activity of killing time. One trip to the kitchen yielded a piece of candy another trip yielded a nibble of leftover salad another trip two grapes. The once- or twice-a-night ritual became more and more frequent. It really took off when he had a phone installed in the kitchen. He found himself sitting on a chair with wheels while speaking on the phone and rolling over to the refrigerator where he’d open the door and window-shop the ...
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