{Rules vs. guidelines} For me, the major difference between needing to follow rules versus living with easy guidelines begins with our degree of awareness. I tend to think of awareness on a spectrum: on one end, we have extreme awareness, or what I consider obsession. This is when the majority of your time and mental energy is dedicated to thinking about food and exercise – how many more minutes until my next meal? How many protein grams is this? How much carb have I had today? Where am I with my water? What time can I head back to the gym tonight? What treat will I eat this weekend??? It might not feel like it in real time, but this is a full time mental job. And it also leaves very little room for other mental pursuits like social time with friends and family, reading, writing, working on a business idea, being creative, doing some introspection work, whatever. Rules create a false sense of control. And they perpetuate the “good” and “bad” dieter scenarios. And to me, theyre the centerpiece for those who are both at the extreme awareness end of the spectrum AND the other far end of the spectrum, which I call “brain shut-down mode.” Brain shut-down mode is the opposite extreme ... and it’s zero awareness. Brain shut-down mode is when you’re eating with abandon and pretending it’s not happening. It’s that zone-out binge mode. We’ve all been there. And the all-or-nothing dieting mentality perpetuates this vacillation between the two extremes. Finding a middle ground feels impossible. And honestly, not even enticing. And that middle ground? Its mindfulness. The nature of mindfulness is that it’s actually easy once you start practicing. It’s simply *thinking*. But, automated thinking -- a 24/7 level of awareness that is actually not hard to maintain because it’s just an operating system. And when you stop vacillating from one extreme to the other, mindfulness becomes a relief, not something that’s hard to do. Mindfulness is successfully navigating the middle of the awareness spectrum constantly and effortlessly. And when you operate mindfully, you don’t need rules. Rules by definition are not supposed to be broken. On the other hand, guidelines are suggestions. They are navigational tools that help us stay mindful and moderate. They are flexible and they are easy to follow, not rigid. Guidelines are useful. Strict rules that need to be followed to a T or else, are not.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 11:45:00 +0000
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