Today, I must give credit to my sister-in-law, Tina, for the post you are about to read.  She e-mailed this instead of using the comment form, and I thought it was worth sharing with my readers.

The Question About Overeating. 

It is easy, most of the time, to pass on foods that you know will make you instantaneously sick.  The cause and effect are clear and unmistakable.  However, eating foods that are safe are a different matter. If it is safe to eat and I can't eat the other stuff, then I can eat just a bit more of the safe food and be fine.  However, one trade like that is fine, but it is easy to do that several times, which then leads to overeating.  

With the amount of things that you successfully don't eat, it isn't a matter of will power, because you demonstrate you have plenty of that.  It often comes down to logic and mind games.

• I can trade this for that because I can't have that.

• Just one more won't hurt.  I don't have consequences for this.

• I can risk this, it really won't hurt me in the long run and it is worth the risk.

I find myself doing this quite a lot.  I have a lot of things that could or might cause me problems.  If I am feeling good and breathing well, then I am invincible and feel I can run the risk of eating it for the momentary pleasure of eating it.  Sometimes I pay for it and sometimes I don't, therefore it becomes a game that I am willing to play.  The foods that cause immediate consequences are no longer a game, and I am not willing to eat them.

So the trick is to figure out how to make overeating a game you are not willing to play.  Easier said than done, but it is part of the mind game that is being played.  Can you set up a 'cost' for you that you don't like that will tip the odds for you to not be willing to play the game?  It sounds kind of mean and negative, but that is how my mind works.  What am I willing to risk and what am I not willing to risk when it comes to food?