Who are these people who are so ignorant they don’t know the number of calories in a chocolate chip cookie, who don’t even know what they do to stay thin? Why are naturally thin people like that, and how did they get that way?

The answer is that they didn’t do anything and they don’t know anything – that’s just the point. Being thin is a natural state. We are the ones who have created the myths and the patterns and the rules that make and keep us fat. Take those away, and what you have is a natural state – thin. The Thins are like animals in the wild, following their body’s instincts from moment to moment. We are the ones who have done something out of the ordinary.

It’s not that thin people don’t enjoy food – they do. They probably enjoy it more than we do, because they actually taste it. I used to buy ice cream cones, and the first bite would taste just great. After the second and third bite, I couldn’t taste the flavor anymore – all I tasted was cold. If a thin person stopped enjoying the ice cream, he would probably toss the rest of it away.

It doesn’t occur to thin people to use food as a reward. They reward themselves with other things. You see, in order to be effective, a reward has to be just a little bit naughty. Thin people sometimes think it’s naughty to take the morning off to play tennis or to spend more money than they should on a new pair of slacks, but since they don’t find food even the slightest a bit wicked, it’s of no use to them as a reward. They can’t use it as a weapon against themselves or others. To them eating is like breathing – neither good nor bad.

They don’t graze because they always have something particular in mind when eat. They go after a specific food, rather that food in abstract. They don’t indulge in scarcity eating because it never occurs to them that someone might take their food away. And if they took it away, so what? There’s always more. Thin people believe that food is all around them, there for the taking whenever they want it, so they never feel deprived. They have permission from themselves to eat whatever they want, whenever they want it, so what’s the hurry?

Thin people also have this funny point of view that what their body tell them to it is exactly what they need to stay healthy. Usually, they don’t worry too much about nutritional value. They know it will all work out in the end. If all they want to eat on a certain day is three chocolate bars, that’s what they have. They may not get the chocolate craving again for a month. Because they give themselves permission to eat the chocolate when they want it, the craving goes away. The next day, they may only want vegetables or meat or bread. They trust their body’s instincts, even when those instincts seem crazy.

Thin people never indulge in closet eating. They don’t have anything to hide. In fact, they often do the opposite. They’re actually more likely to eat when someone’s watching and may even eat more in a restaurant or when they’re out to dinner with other people than they do when they’re at home alone. It’s a mystery to people who are overweight how a thin person can sit down and devour an enormous meal. The answer is that tomorrow they might not eat anything.

When thin people are anxious, they’re more likely to undereat than overeat. They don’t know about the trick of burying their emotions under food. They may do something else – pace back and forth, sleep more than they normally do, go to a movie, or stare off into space – but when they’re upset, food is often the farthest thing from their mind. They’re too preoccupied to eat. Whatever is upsetting them has priority, and they can’t even think about food.

It’s not that thin people don’t have problems, it’s just that they don’t make the connection between problems and food. Food is either neutral to them, fuel they use to keep their body functioning, or it’s their friend. Thin people don’t fell deprived, because they’re not only eating what they want, they’re doing the things that make them happy.

Are you beginning to get behind a thin person’s eyes and see his approach to eating and food? The trick is to start thinking like a thin person, feeling like a thin person, and behaving like a thin person. Be a thin person right now, and do it naturally. You’ll have to change the self-image you’ve had for a long time, and you may have to pretend at first, until the new “rules” start to take a hold.

What you will be doing is creating an environment in which the naturally thin person inside you feels comfortable and starts to emerge. The more you can allow that to happen, the more this new mentality will truly be yours. You will be a thin person inside, and it’s only a matter of time before your body reflects who you really are.

You can’t try to put a thin body underneath a fat head, you can’t keep a fat body underneath a thin head for long. The more able you are to think like a thin person, the more effortless it will be for your body to follow suit. You won’t have to think about it or worry about it. All you’ll have to do is enjoy being thin. You didn’t have to diet to gain the weight. It’s only fair that you shouldn’t have to diet to lose it.

DONOTCHANGE