One of the basic presuppositions of NLP or Neurolinguistic Programming is that meaning is malleable.

Meaning is subjective and open to personal interpretation. This means that you can change the perceived meaning of just about anything as long as you are somewhat conscious and mentally flexible.

So often we behave as if overeating were something positive. We reward ourselves with food, celebrate with food, self-medicate with food.

We revel in the glory of food! And it is wonderful, until we overeat. Then, all manner of hell breaks loose. We aren’t always paying attention to the moment eating becomes overeating. Yes, that moment slips right by, doesn’t it?

To help myself and you, I’ve reframed overeating to shake some sense into us.

Please bear mind that the following definitions do not refer to eating, but overeating.

Here are seven definitions of overeating:

1. Overeating is not a reward or a celebration. It is a punishment.

This one is inspired by the Drew Carey photo that Natural News shared recently. Carey said, “Eating crappy food is not a reward. It is a punishment.”

Eating any junk food at any time may be called overeating by definition.

2. Overeating is self-sabotage.

Beyond mere punishment, overeating is full scale self-sabotage. By eating too much too often, you feel lethargic, mentally sluggish and even ashamed or worthless.

Beyond that, you are doomed to self-consciousness, chronically worried about how you are being judged. Self-confidence seems so far away…

3. Overeating is a sign of immaturity.

Children are known to lack impulse control and require immediate gratification. So many adults never grow out of these childhood tendencies and would rather sacrifice their health than deny themselves a cookie.

4. Overeating is self-centered and arrogant.

We glut ourselves while millions in the world are starving. We justify it by claiming there is nothing we can do, so why not consider ourselves lucky.

5. Overeating is violence.

It’s violence against your body, which is forced to compensate for the onslaught of food, taxing the tissues and organs to the point of eventual failure.

Rotten teeth, a leaky gut, fatty liver, impacted colon, exhausted pancreas, blown out knees, jammed up spine, clogged arteries, arthritic joints, a polluted blood stream and a foggy brain are the casualties of this war.

6. Overeating is a public confession that you lack self-control.

Yes, people see the evidence.

7. Overeating is slow suicide.

A shocking 18.2% of premature deaths in the United States between 1986 and 2006 were associated with excess body mass, according to a team of sociologists led by a Columbia University demographer. This estimate was published online in the American Journal of Public Health.

You won’t necessarily stop because of this…

Here’s a fascinating fact I have discovered in recent years: People are psychologically attached to what they hate.

In other words, we don’t want to give up negativity. We find secret satisfaction, self-justification and subconscious pleasure in misery. This is why we continue to seek it out, consciously or unconsciously.

We love to hate making a mess out of life and gnashing our teeth in frustration. So, we find every excuse under the sun to hang on to what keeps us in the pit of despair.

Then, when someone offers some much needed advice on how to change, we get defensive and indignant. How dare they!

Bad news is not a deterrent if you are drawn toward negativity.

This is why we created the AHA Solution program at the iNLP Center – to address the root cause of self-sabotage and become aware of what is really going on in our psyche.

More than 15,000 people have seen the free AHA Solution video, and many have gone out of their way to let us know how unique and helpful it has been. Watch the free video. We’d love to hear what you think.

A word about emotional trauma…

Some chronic overeaters are self-medicating personal trauma. This trauma may be emotional, physical or sexual. Regardless, the unresolved emotional pain is stewing in the unconscious, rearing its head with painful feelings, fear and flashbacks.

It’s no laughing matter.

Still, the ugliness of overeating offers no resolution. If you suffer from trauma, it is your responsibility to heal. Today, there are thousands of therapists who are trained in trauma resolution that can help you quickly and effectively using a variety of approaches, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.

Is it your fault?

There are some wonderful philosophies out there that reassure us that we are not to blame for overeating: It’s not your fault. If you are overweight, you did nothing wrong.

Is it your fault? I don’t know. Yet, I am not sure it matters. Certainly, blaming yourself won’t help. This will only serve to keep the cycle of self-abuse going.

The more important issue is, whether or not it is your fault, it certainly is your responsibility. If you have an overeating problem, only you can do something about it.

Overeating is serious. Let’s redouble our efforts to make it a thing of the past.

If you like this post, then like my Facebook Page to keep up with all my writing.