Liner vs. Process Thinking

I've been listening to the accompanying CD set for Intuitive Eating and I'm learning so much. I hope you'll bare with me as I learn and share things along the way. I listen to them on the way to the gym, the way home, anytime I'm alone in the car or at home. I'm hoping that listening over and over again will ingrain those thoughts into my head. It's definitely cheaper than therapy. :)

Today's thought that really caught my attention was changing our thinking from linear thinking to process thinking.

Linear thinking is focusing on the goal. So, if you have a bad food experience, you overeat or gain one week, and know it's because you pigged out all week, you feel like a failure and begin the self-hate talk. This is because you think of it as ruining your chances of reaching your goal. Your focus is on the future.

Process thinking is focusing on each situation as a part of the process. When I ate those "just-one-more" bites after dinner last night (even though I had a feeling I shouldn't) I went from feeling satisfied to feeling a little too full. "Darn it!", I thought and then reminded myself that I'm learning. It's all a process and along the way I am learning what works and won't. Process thinking is dealing with what is happening now. Ultimately the learning along the way will help the goal be met.

So, there's some food for thought today compliments of the authors of Intuitive Eating.

Have a great day everyone! ;)