Below is a written inquiry I did a couple years ago that may be of some value to you if you’re still very personally identified with your thoughts/beliefs. It may be of particular interest if you have a history of dieting/issues around food…
There are many ways to practice self-inquiry, but when I first started, I found the Work of Byron Katie to be a simple, straightforward framework. At the time, it was a bit easier to feel the emotional defensiveness/activation in my body when my mind had the same four questions to come back to. If you’re not familiar with Katie’s Work, read any of her many books, or check it out here: https://thework.com/
Anyway, here’s my stab at The Work (circa 2022):
OLD DIET BELIEF INQUIRY:
"I ALREADY ATE OFF PLAN, SO I MIGHT AS WELL KEEP EATING."
❓Is it true?
🔸 No
❓What happens and how do I react when I believe the thought?
🔸 I feel justified and like I have permission to eat more food, even if I don’t truly want it or I’m starting to feel physically sick. It almost feels like I’m OBLIGATED to eat more than I want in a moment, because there’s panic that I somehow won’t be able to have the foods I want again. Scarcity kicks in, and there’s a lot of fear.
Of course, this is completely illogical and patently false. I don’t HAVE to do anything. Highly palatable foods are available to me 24 hours a day in any amount I want; that is the reality of the situation. I’m completely making up boundaries, enforcing them (or not), and they’re all arbitrary anyway.
❓Who would I be without the thought?
🔸 I would stay present and listen to what my body is communicating to me. My body is very clear about when it’s satiated when it comes to food. I would enjoy my food without scary thoughts of an imagined future where I couldn’t eat the things I like. That future is not real, and I have always been the one to determine what I eat and what I don’t. That is the way things are.
🔄 Turnarounds:
🔸”I’ve already eaten ‘off plan’, I might as well STOP eating.”
Wow! This is MUCH more accurate than the original belief. If I’m trying to honor my physical health by managing my weight in a “healthy” range, it makes sense not to CONTINUE overeating, right?
🔸 ”My thinking about my eating is ‘off plan’, so I might as well STOP eating.”
This is even more accurate! I created an eating plan via my thinking, so I’m the one that determines what that plan looks like at any given moment. ANY plan is entirely made up anyway; we eat what we eat based on the most believable thoughts that show up in a moment. Plans and intentions can be wonderful, but they mean absolutely nothing if I’m thinking my way out of them.
The big thing to see here is that whatever happens in a moment, whether I eat or I don’t, it's perfect. How do I know? Because that’s the way it happened, and Life doesn’t get it wrong. Without my identification with the mind-driven comparisons of the illusory past and future, there is only what is happening now. Sometimes I eat more than my body requires. Sometimes I eat less. I know that the clearer my mind becomes, the more likely it is that these old diet beliefs will dissolve on their own. I will continue to welcome all of these thoughts and feelings and meet them with understanding and curiosity. It’s amazing what there is to discover!