When I meet with clients in my office I say this, “For the next 5 minutes, don’t look at my earrings.” Most eyes go STRAIGHT to the earrings. They didn’t even notice my earrings … until I said that. Suddenly, there’s interest in my earrings. It’s the same with ANYTHING you’re told to cut out of your diet. All you can think about is the thing you’re not allowed to eat. In this situation, the thing you’ve cut out has too much control.  When you label certain foods as bad and off limits, they become the elusive, forbidden fruit and therefore more alluring. This gives those foods more power, making you crave them more than you typically would.14 Then, when you eat that food, you feel guilty, which becomes another emotional trigger for overeating.  I call this the power dynamic. When you feel you can’t have something, that particular something has all the power. Remember that food will not harm you as long as you practice moderation. We want to upset that power balance and give the power back to you! While we’re talking about permission, let’s talk about the “cheat day.” I think the entire notion of a cheat … Continue reading Permission