Many of you have lived the consequence of yourself or someone you are working out with during one of my workouts who drops the "C" Bomb ("can't" - ouch. Hurts to write it.) 50 Push Ups. I recently got a smile out of this Top 10 Navy Seals quote:
"You did something wrong and now you need to increase the size of
your chest muscles through push ups!"
(works well for my kids, too ;-)
I believe "Can't" is one of the most dangerous, debilitating words we can use. Especially when applied to our nutrition.
Positive Eating refers to how we talk about what we are eating. Are we greeting our choices with "I can't"? "I can't have those chips." Immediately we are dissatisfied with the rules we are imposing on ourselves and NO food choice will live up to what we "can't" have. But if we eliminate the negative speech from the initial contact with a food choice, we immediately gain power, control, positive boundaries, and improved satisfaction of our choices.
The following is some science behind negative self talk. This article is specifically referring to the word "no", but I believe "can't" and "no" are similar in their negativity.
Published on July 31, 2012 by Mark Waldman and Andrew Newberg, M.D. in Words Can Change Your Brain
If I were to put you into an fMRI scanner—a huge donut-shaped magnet that can take a video of the neural changes happening in your brain—and flash the word “NO” for less than one second, you’d see a sudden release of dozens of stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters. These chemicals immediately interrupt the normal functioning of your brain, impairing logic, reason, language processing, and communication.
In fact, just seeing a list of negative words for a few seconds will make a highly anxious or depressed person feel worse, and the more you ruminate on them, the more you can actually damage key structures that regulate your memory, feelings, and emotions.[1] You’ll disrupt your sleep, your appetite, and your ability to experience long-term happiness and satisfaction.
If you vocalize your negativity, or even slightly frown when you say “no,” more stress chemicals will be released, not only in your brain, but in the listener’s brain as well.[2] The listener will experience increased anxiety and irritability, thus undermining cooperation and trust. In fact, just hanging around negative people will make you more prejudicedtoward others![3
Any form of negative rumination—for example, worrying about your financial future or health—will stimulate the release of destructive neurochemicals. And the same holds true for children: the more negative thoughts they have, the more likely they are to experience emotional turmoil.[4] But if you teach them to think positively, you can turn their lives around.[5]
My intent today is for us to understand how using the "C" word around nutrition creates an immediate situation of us being dissatisfied with whatever decision we are making, how we suddenly become the "victim" of our circumstance, and we "lose" because if we "can't" have something, then we "aren't" getting what we want.
But what if we change our vocabulary.
You "can't" have a Twinkie?
Oh, no, I CAN have Twinkie. I'm choosing not to.
You "can't" have a Sonic Cheeseburger?
Oh, I CAN, I'm just choosing not to.
The difference in acknowledging your choices and verbalizing that you care taking control of those choices and making a sound decision that positively affects you, is HUGE! You are no longer in a negative situation, but in a very positive one of self-control and empowerment.
You CAN do anything.
It's what you CHOOSE to do that makes the difference.
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