DAY 3 AGAIN: I Gotta Do What I Gotta Do

Looking back, I'm surprised how often I abandoned the simple tenet of today's step. Sitting to eat (i.e., focusing on the experience) is one of the easiest skills Dr. Beck teaches but over the last few months, I let myself forget it, stuffing food into my mouth whenever and wherever it was handy. And look where that got me!

But it's just like riding a bicycle (which wouldn't count for eating while sitting), so I'm expecting to pick up the habit again very quickly and easily.

I don't expect to need a Response Card for this step, but the Response Card Dr. Beck suggests for this step still helps me:

Sabotaging Thought: I don't want to stop eating while I'm standing.
Helpful Response: I need to sit down to eat. When I eat standing up, I just don't notice what I'm eating. I could eat way too much without realizing it. If I want to be thinner, I have to impose this rule on myself. I might not want to give up this behavior, but I'll enjoy being thinner so much more.

The underlined statement is the kicker for me: the idea that losing weight isn't going to be fun but will still be worthwhile is an idea I need to devoutly believe to be successful. So I've created a Response Card with this statement and will read it twice a day along with my ARC.

My progress today:

I read my Advantages Response Card at least twice.

I created a Response Card to encourage myself to sit while eating.

I created a reminder system so I'll remember to sit while eating.

I sat down when I ate: Every Time