Observation:
1. an act or instance of noticing or perceiving.
2. an act or instance of regarding attentively or watching.
3. the faculty or habit of observing or noticing.

I’ve completed week 3 of my 12-week emotional eating experiment with the Shrink Yourself program and it sure has been a good one! By the way, if this is your first time reading about my emotional eating experiment, you can read my introductory post to get caught up on just what this is all about.

UPDATE 2015: Hi, as you can see by the date on this article, I wrote this a LONG time ago, May 2008 which was over 7 years ago. At that time in 2008 I was not a professional, certified coach and professional certified Master NLP Pracitioner. I had not yet founded The Inner Self Dietâ„¢ which is my proven, proprietary, step-by-step personal coaching program for permanent weight loss. That’s right! I personally coach my clients to the end of their emotional eating, binge eating, self-sabotage, food obsessions, food addictions, low self-esteem and much more. Click here to read coaching client testimonials from my coaching client, click here to listen to audio testimonials, and watch videos of graduates of The Inner Self Dietâ„¢ in the sidebar of this page you’re on now.

Back in 2008 I did this Shrink Yourself Program and it was nice and all, but it didn’t heal the root of the problem like the binge eating coaching and emotional eating coaching I do with my clients does. I wish  you your Best Life…IN Your Ideal Body! ~ JoLynn Braley, Permanent Weight Loss Coach, Founder of The Inner Self Dietâ„¢

This was a week filled with more observation, with the additional step of beginning to take new actions instead of eating in response to my hunger switch. Remember, a hunger switch is a trigger for your emotional eating, which you discover through guided sessions one and two. What is different in week three is that you start to learn that you do have other options besides eating for comfort.

What I really like about the online Shrink Yourself program is that it easily walks you through the sessions step by step, and it’s interactive. You answer a lot of questions that get you thinking about your emotional eating habits, and based on those questions you come up with your own answers of how to cope with your emotions instead of using food.

I also like how the Shrink Yourself program builds upon itself. I totally understand why it’s 12 weeks long because after all, if you’ve had the habit of emotional eating since you were a kid or teen (like I have), it’s not realistic to think that you could just switch off that behavior in a couple of days or weeks. This is a program designed to help you come to your own awarenesses, let that awareness sink in, and come to the realization that you can choose other actions.

As far as my progress goes, I’ve been holding strong without weight gain or loss until this week – I dropped a pound, which brings me to a 13.5 pound loss. In a way I feel like I “should” be doing better, but I’m measuring that “better” by the scale, which is how I think most people judge success when it comes to the topic of food and eating, however like I’ve mentioned in my previous updates, my focus for the moment is on making the inner changes which will result in the outer changes.

It’s also a huge accomplishment that I’m not binging and stuffing myself with food or indulging in guilt over my eating schedule because that only makes things worse. If I were doing any of those things then I’d be gaining weight.

All I want to do is “get” this and move on from the emotional eating. I’m very encouraged after learning that people who have completed the Shrink Yourself program lose the desire to emotionally eat during week 5. That sounds great to me, and I can see why so far the focus has been on observing my triggers, habits, and actions. Stay tuned to see what week four holds!

2015: Please read the update near the beginning of this post. I wrote this post over seven years ago and the truth is that Shrink Yourself did not give me the results that my coaching clients receive from my proven, step-by-step personal coaching system The Inner Self Dietâ„¢. In the end, the root of your emotional eating must be healed, otherwise the behavior will resume. All the best! ~ JoLynn Braley Permanent Weight Loss Coach and founder of The Inner Self Dietâ„¢.