Why Change Is So Difficult 2
Author: Rob Jager

OVEREATING

The reason most people are overweight is because they eat too much. Simple as that. This overeating has nothing to do with genuine hunger or nutritional needs.

More often than not it has its origins in a desire to be self-indulgent or relieve the unpleasant emotions associated with boredom, loneliness, anxiety and frustration. Cultural expectations can be a contributing factor as well.

Most weight loss techniques focus on the reversal of the effects of overeating through dieting and exercise. Rarely is an attempt made to understand and address the underlying causes of the urge to overeat.

The ? program is different in that it targets the real reasons people feel compelled to eat too much and tackles the problem in two ways:

By defining the cognitive processes that cause the need to overeat, and

By providing a simple set of exercises that can be used to retrain the mind from creating this need.

When this compulsion to overeat has been eliminated a sensible, moderate eating style can be adopted. Weight loss and the maintenance of a more acceptable bodyweight are the inevitable outcomes of a balanced, nutritionally-sufficient eating pattern.

The ? program can provide you with the effective means to achieve a permanent lifestyle change and give you the ability to manage your bodyweight.

For more information please visit the website at www.hungermaster.com.



The Reason Change Is So Difficult 2

In a previous article “The Problem With Change” I explained why it is so difficult to change our behaviour. The mind mechanically forms images from sensory input to which we mindlessly assign meanings which generate emotional responses. While ever we allow this cognitive process to continue unchecked, we feel emotionally compelled to behave in our familiar way. I would now like to outline the second way in which images or perceptions find their way into our minds.

When we think about an object or event, a part of our mind will form an image of what was thought about. When our mental attention is directed in a certain direction an image must be formed of that object or event in what is termed the reactive or conscious mind.. As with images formed from sensory input, we can regard this process as inescapable.

For example; when the suggestion to think about your mother is received, your conscious mind will must form some sort of image that corresponds to what you associate with the term “mother“. You may not have been aware of the image at the time, but it was formed in the conscious mind the moment it received the suggestion to “think” in that direction. Interestingly, the directive to not think about your mother will bring about the same result.

When the image has been formed, the process is exactly the same as with perceptions that have been created as a result of sensory input. A meaning is selected from memory and assigned to that perception. This assignment has now become automatic and the ensuing emotional response seems to be unavoidable once the perception has been formed. You are now emotionally compelled to react in your familiar manner.

To take another example; if ice-cream is a food that you have trouble resisting the moment you think about ice-cream you conscious mind will form an image of an ice-cream. You will then automatically assign a meaning to that image. This meaning package will be laden with all the desirable qualities you associate with ice-cream., and they will set off the desire in you to consume ice-cream to satisfy that craving An actual ice-cream is not necessary to cause this response, an image is enough.

This image formation from thoughts also explains why it is impossible to change our behaviour using negatives. A directive to “not think” about something also results in a perception of that “thing” and the cognitive process of assigning meaning and generating a response is initiated. The resulting desire to eat the ice-cream is the same as when we positively choose to think about it.

Anybody trying to change their behaviour using so called “will-power” knows this problem only too well. You try with everything in you to establish a new way of doing things while all the time the cognitive processes that have now become automatic work away to undermine your efforts. They continuously create the emotional drives that urge you to behave in your familiar way. The result is guaranteed. A return to the old ways is inevitable.

The way out of this cognitive trap is the same as that with perceptions generated from outside sources. The mind must be retrained to not assign meaning to every image the conscious mind forms. When this automatic involvement is withdrawn, we can experience something resembling free will and actually make choices about our behaviour.







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Rob. Jager is the founder and director of the HungerMaster Weight Management Program. He can be contacted at www.hungermaster.com or rob@hungermaster.com

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