You deserve to reach your goals. You deserve to make progress. You deserve to feel good and in control.

This post comes to you courtesy of long-term LBC client Rainy Thordar. Aside from being a client of Erik’s for several years, she is also a Clinical Health Psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy for overeating, weight loss problems, and self-image issues.

“‘I had such a hard day at work, I deserve this chocolate for crying out loud.’

We are all guilty of fabricating justifications like these for our actions. We use them to give us permission for wandering off the diet track and pull us over to the dark side of losing control.

You won’t change your mind through a plan for changing your body. No diet or training program is going to put a duct tape over the mouth of that negative voice in your head.

In order to obtain long-term results and gain control of your eating you must do a spring-cleaning in the grey matter, vacuum out the negative thinking and change that voice in your head that gives you permission time and again to stuff your face.

Because you know guilt, shame, and self-blame are lurking around the corner once the momentary pleasure is over, and their only agenda is to drag you down into even more sabotage eating in order to escape these negative feelings.

Now that you have those rubber gloves on, continue with the cleaning and wipe the dust off a more positive response that will help you stay on plan.

For example, next time it creeps into your head that you deserve to reward yourself with chocolate after a stressful day, hit the pause button.

Instead say to yourself: ‘I deserve to reach my goals. I deserve to make progress. I deserve to feel good and in control. If I reward myself with food and overeat, I’ll feel guilty, ashamed and mad at myself. These feelings are the opposite of reward. If I stay on plan I’ll feel great. Food rewards don’t work once the food is finished.’

That way you tame and take control of that permission giving voice. Each time we resist temptation like that proves to ourselves we are in control and strengthens our self-belief, which makes it easier to stay on track next time.”

Take control of that voice!