Have you ever been tied down and force-fed cookies, crackers, brownies, or cakes?

Nah, me either.

But sometimes it can feel like your eating is out of your control.

Not only do I hear clients complain about this, but I bump up against it myself.

Right now I’m on deadline and will be heading to New York on Sunday. Because I have some limiting beliefs about my ability to handle how much I have to do, I’m experiencing some stress. And this week I’ve been turning to my favorite deadline food of popcorn laced with a tablespoon of dark chocolate chips.

Now neither popcorn nor dark chocolate is “bad,” but I feel that this snack is not the best choice I could be making. The big indicator that I’m out of alignment with my thoughts, emotions, and actions is a little bit of guilt that I feel because I’m giving up my power-greens protein shake for the popcorn. The feeling that my “need” for the popcorn is “out of my control” is also a red flag.

Now there are more ways to address this than you might think.

There is the obvious solution of forcing myself to give up the popcorn and drink the shake. This is what most people would tell you to do. But there’s more going on here than the obvious nutritional advantage.

If I force myself to have the shake instead of the popcorn and I feel deprived and resentful, those negative feelings generate destructive catabolic energy that set off harmful chemical processes that will actually result in my body being less able to absorb the improved nutrition.

So even though I’m giving myself beautiful nutrition, my negative thoughts and emotions would be hindering my ability to fully absorb it.

If my thoughts and emotions are not supportive of the “right” choice, it’s questionable how much I’m doing my body good.

And if I was eating the popcorn and dark chocolate and was focused on appreciating the delicious salty sweet of every bite, relishing how awesome it is to have an occasional treat, was focused on the healthy antioxidants in the chocolate and the fiber in the popcorn, and thrilled at my ability to have all the foods I love on my healthy eating plan, I would be generating constructive anabolic energy that would benefit my body and enable it to fully digest and absorb all the positive elements of the food.

The critical, often overlooked step is taking the time to make sure that your thoughts and feelings support your actions.

The key is to choose foods that you think are good for you, that you feel good about eating and enjoy in the moment, and that you feel good about having eaten afterwards.

What can you do to align your thoughts and feelings with the foods you are eating so that you feel satisfied, energized, and that you are on the right path before, during, and after each meal?

Align your thoughts and feelings with your actions, and the resulting positive anabolic energy will turbo charge your wellness and weight-loss results.

Together we can do it!