Your Feelings Aren't That Important

I was listening to Dr. Laura on the radio telling one of her callers to stop paying so much attention to how she was feeling because feelings are irrational. She told the caller to use her brain and think instead of dwelling on her emotions that were keeping her stuck.

Voila! That's exactly the point I make over and over in my book. Your feelings will betray you.

Let's look at a specific example. Think of the last time you overate due to emotions. What was the emotion behind it? Was your thinking rational? Did it lead you to take action that resulted in satisfaction or regret?

It's not easy to break this cycle of putting too much stock in your emotions. The other day I was practicing shifting my attention from my emotions to my logic. It was tough! I was feeling sorry for myself because of a situation outside of my control and it was putting me in a bad mood. I told myself, "This feeling doesn't matter. It's just a temporary fleeting thing. I can focus on changing my thinking and I will feel better."

It took some struggling before I was able to successfully shift my focus from my "poor me!" emotions to rational logic that the negative situation was temporary and I could feel okay in spite of it. But it was worth it because I was able to put control back into my hands and feel empowered.

So it takes work, as all good things do. So to be perfectly honest, it's not a too-good-to-be-true fix. Nothing really is (so don't believe it if it claims to be). Nothing in my book Stop Overeating Today! pretends to be. That is something people appreciate. One reader today told me, "Stop Overeating Today! gives you hope, but it's not too-good-to-be-true. It's realistic and encouraging." The same is true for this exercise. When you practice thinking yourself out of a bad mood instead of dwelling in your feelings, you will get better and better at it. The good news? You won't be stuck in negative emotions without an alternative.

So next time you are feeling too much and it's getting you down or urging you to overeat, put on your thinking cap instead.