Hey guys! For those of you who don't know me I my name is Shantelle and I am 22 years old. I found myself married young and the pounds just kind of piled on. While chatting with my fabulous diet-buddies, I had an epiphany. My family has encouraged me to share it with all of you. So here goes. (For those of you who don't like motivation, cover your eyes.)

First, here is a quote of what I told a friend. "Just remember, it's just food. It's not a companion or a friend, it's not the answer to your problems. It's not something to do (Although in my FAT American culture it seems to be an activity for some reason), it's not the thing to do when you are bored. IT'S JUST FUEL. Your body is a machine and it needs fuel, just like a car needs gasoline. You don't see your car fantasizing about that high octane stuff do you? It doesn't feel like it should just put in some gas because it's bored does it? It doesn't wander (without realizing it) to the gas station to get gas it doesn't need does it? You just have to learn to say, no, it's just fuel. And I am not on empty!!!!!!"

This insight brought a whole epiphany to my mind. We are like cars. The problem is, we have stopped thinking of our bodies as machines. We have stopped thinking of food as fuel.

Not many people know this, but did you know it is hazardous to your car to over-fill it? Most people will keep filling their tanks to round up to the next dollar. This is actually bad for your car. The gas you put in above the fill line is evaporated, so you just waste your money. After a while of doing this, the fill sensor in your car will be damaged from the constant over-filling, causing you to need to replace it eventually. Anyway, our bodies work the same way. We think the extra food will not hurt us, but it does. In fact, we are wasting our money because the calories we put in do not get used properly. They just get added to our butts. Or stomachs. Or whatever.

Some of us may feel only slighly dissatisfied with our bodies. We may be a nice mid-sized car like a Toyota Corolla. Perhaps a couple of dents in the fender, but nothing major. Overall, we aren't too bad off. But deep down, is the heart of a Corvette, a Mazaratti, a Jaguar. We want to be something people turn their heads to look at when we drive by. Suddenly practicality and gas mileage appear nice, but it's not what we want to be deep down.

This may not help you at all, but it has helped me. Find a picture of your inner sports car. Maybe it's the Jaguar, maybe a Corvette, a Mustang. To each his own. Maybe find lots of pictures of cars you would like to be. Post them where you can see them. When you find yourself standing in front of the fridge at two a.m., just tell yourself, "I am a car. I just filled up a few hours ago. I don't need to fuel up yet." Keep a picture of your car on the fridge. Remind yourself that you are NOT starving. You are just fine. You just ate. YOU CAN DO IT!

I don't mean to be a down-er here, but this is how i feel about what you've said:

of course it is valid that the goal of eating SHOULD BE to provide ourselves enough fuel to survive... but our bodies are "wired" in such a way that attaches a high emotional value onto eating and consumption. It's the body's way of ensuring our survival by making eating so enjoyable. It is in fact our will the live that - in turn causes us to die. (Speaking of over-weight people who eat in excess and die of related illness).

Food is enjoyment.

The only thing we can do about it is to alter WHICH foods we enjoy, and to manage our health with our temporary enjoyment.

Food is not just fuel according to our brains.




Problems with the car analogy:
~ cars do not run themselves - like people do
~ cars cannot control how much gas they are filled with - like people can
~ cars do not feel any emotion. this means there is no guilt, nor enjoyment, nor excitement - like people feel

People are not cars. People are people and we must deal with our food consumption to our best ability.

:tomato: I guess i disagreed with you a lot. Please don't hurt me. ;)

shantelle8 - I am glad you found motivation. Thanks for sharing.

SmartDan- You sound like a big emotional eater. I am not. At times I enjoy eating. Other times I am fueling myself. Example, Breakfast is not my thing so whatever I eat for breakfast is fuel.

The great dinner I make and eat. That can be enjoyment.

I also often eat the same thing 5 days in a row 2 meals a day. Let me tell you by day 2 it stops being enjoyment.

I am reading a book called "Self-talk for Weight-loss" they believe you can change your brain thoughts. If this is true you can stop being an emotional eater and eat for fuel only.

Don't be silly I would never hurt you! Thanks for the feedback. You are right, food is enjoyable. It is just unfortunate that we are so willing to let our emotions tell us what we need for our body. Our culture supports our desire to depend on food to fill the gaps in our life. You SHOULD enjoy the food you eat. But it shouldn't be your psychiatrist, lover, friend, companion, confidante, or any other EMOTIONAL support. It's just food. Our brain may convince us that food makes us feel better, but in reality it doesn't.

Naturally, this topic won't help everyone. But try not to dissuade others from feeling inspired. We all need our ah-ha moments, and for someone here this post might be it. And that's a good thing whether you personally agree or not.

Try to think about it this way. The mind and body are two seperate things. Our mind is us, the owner of the car. Our body is the car. It doesn't know what's best for it. We do. It can't fill itself with the best kind of fuel. That's our job. But sometimes we let our emotions make our decisions for us. (Just like sometimes we put the cheap stuff in the tank when we know we shouldn't.)

Anyway, hope this clears things up a bit for you.

Shantelle

Shantelle,
I really liked it! Thanks for sharing. Too bad my inner car is a VW Beetle! Just Kidding:laugh:

Jerry

MWAHAHAHAH! So is your engine in the back then? HAHAHAHA! Just kidding! Thanks for the comment!

Shantelle, I love your post! :)

Thank you for sharing it with us.....

jerbear - don't feel bad, mine is a SUV 4 wheel drive - all up high and never stays on full :tomato:


Beth

Shantelle,
You little devil you! Thanks for the laugh!
Jerry

Hey guys-

I think I may be a Geo Metro engine stuck in a Pickup truck body. My gas tank is VERY little, but runs out like 10 times a day....

Shantelle Good post and lots of worthy points raised.

Smartdan yes you are correct we are not cars but assume for a moment we were, if we owned a high speed sports model capable of much higher speed than our roads were suitable for then we run a high risk of killing our selfs if we don't limit our speed,
Likewise yes food is enjoyable but nature never designed us for such good tasting food thats so freely available and If we don't control what we select and the amount, Yes we will suffer, so our brains often need re-tuned , mine certainly did and now I balance up "I want to eat that but what will it cost me"

Good luck to all Acey

Hi all
Right now Iam a 18 wheeler I need to shed some layers before I can take a guess at what could be under it. After some of the weight goes I should be able to tell better if i feel like a sports car or a model T LOL:shrug:

Great responses you guys! Perhaps if you are unsure what you are underneath you can look at lots of cars. Make it obvious to you. Everyone knows a Jag is better than a Golf, so look at lots of cars like those. Maybe you don't feel like a sports car inside. You're tired all the time. You feel sluggish. Your get-up-and-go kind of got-up-and-went. But if you start small, (Perhaps some basic tune up like 8 glasses of water Emily) you can start to hear a little sports car engine revving inside you. Okay it's silly, but sometimes on the treadmill I play an engine revving sound in my head....

shantelle8,
I read your first post here about three days ago. Every time I get on the treadmill or am out walking I think of what type of car am I. I feel like I am a mini van but I know there is a sleek mustang 5.0 GT hiding in here! I am definately going to have to get some cool mustang pictures and tape them up by the treadmill. My husband will probably think I lost my mind but oh well it wont be the first time :D
Thanks for sharing!!

I enjoyed reading this post...Many great answers. Somedays I feel like a Pinto up on blocks!!! What I need is a Hemi...."That things got a Hemi?"

Much love and success,
Ashley

Great responses you guys! It's great to hear that what works for me might possibly work for you guys too! I have noticed an improvement in my attitude while working out if I think about my inner-car. Good luck to everyone!