Pantry Purge

Do you NEED to purge your pantry to lose weight?

I can’t even remember how many times in the past I would start a new diet on Monday and “purge” the pantry of all of the BAD things that I just couldn’t stand the thought of having in my sight while I was trying to lose weight AGAIN.

And by purge – I mean eat – ALL OF THE THINGS!

Anyone else?

I know getting rid of the tempting items in your house seems like the logical thing to do, right? I mean come on – who in the heck would commit to a diet and keep around all of their favorite “bad” foods, right?

Can you even imagine being able to follow a diet and keep those foods within your grasp?

There was a time that the thought would send me into a cold sweat – my mind would race with ideas of how to hide the food from myself – the fear of food calling my name from the pantry felt REAL Y’ALL!

Getting rid of ALL THE FOODS from your house ranks right up there with having your “last supper” as normal ritual before beginning a new eating plan, right?

So what if we flipped the script this time? What if you kept all those yummy temptations in the house and DIDN’T gorge yourself on all of your “off-limit” foods on Sunday night?

What if you committed to figuring out why food calls your name from the pantry?

Why you choose to believe that food has control over you?

Why you think that the foods you enjoy are “off-limits”?

Why you WANT to diet again?

Are you willing to try something new?

To commit to taking a step back and really evaluate what keeps pulling you back to food?

To learning how to manage the temptations and desires?

Are you ready to finally address why your past weight loss attempts haven’t turned out quite how you wanted them to?

It IS possible to lose weight, have a healthy relationship with food, and NOT white knuckle it every time your favorite foods are in the house.

It IS possible to trust yourself and your decision making.

But it’s gonna take a different type of pantry purge.

The pantry that you really need to do some inventory on is the one that you keep stored in your mind. I’m pretty sure there’s some expired stuff in there – some thoughts that you’ve allowed to gather dust and keep you from moving forward. Some beliefs that you have accepted as staples in your diet – beliefs that you THINK you just can’t live without.

What if you took stock of all the things you allow to take up space in your head?

What if you committed to examining THOSE items with a different perspective?

I know you REALLY want someone to just give you a new diet plan to follow – one that you don’t have to think too much about – one that you can just follow with guaranteed results.

But you’ve done that before, right?

You’ve followed someone else’s plan – you’ve been there and done that. And here you are again trying to decide where it all went wrong and why you can’t seem to figure this weight loss thing out.

It’s not because you can’t handle tempting foods, it’s not because your husband or kids keep bringing THOSE foods in the house, and it’s not because you are lacking willpower.

It’s because you’re not addressing the pantry that you carry with you everywhere you go – the one that’s stocked with a continuous supply of “proof” of why you are a failure, why you can’t control yourself around certain foods, and why this weight loss thing is SO HARD.

So let’s clean out this pantry the same way you would the one in your kitchen.

Let’s pull each item (thought) out one at a time and examine it.

Is it expired?

Does it support you in the direction that you want to go?

Does it nourish you?

Do you want to keep it? Why?

Every thought that you have is a choice – just like the food items in your pantry.

You get to choose what to nourish your mind with – you get to decide whether you want to believe a thought or not – whether it benefits you or doesn’t.

And your willingness to take inventory of your mind with purpose and intention will directly correlate to your ability to handle the foods in your house that USE to tempt you. To handle the desire to want to eat even when you’re not really hungry. To feel confident in your ability to lose the weight once and for all.

Whether you purge the pantry in your kitchen or not isn’t going to determine your success on this journey – but what you choose to fill the shelves of your mind with will.