Do You Know About The “Last Supper Mentality”?

Halloween is officially over, and I wonder how many of you have been staring at your kid’s Halloween candy, thinking “I want it but I can’t have it”, only to find yourself staring at it again an hour later.

When we tell ourselves we can’t have a certain food, we (including our bodies) want it more. Then, when you inevitably ‘give in’ to your cravings for that food, it leads to overeating and feelings of shame. 

Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, the creators of the intuitive eating approach, said “Deprivation sets off a biological drive. Psychological forces wreak havoc with your peace of mind, triggering cravings, obsessive thoughts, and even compulsive behaviors.”

Then, the deprivation backlash leads to ‘rebound eating’, such as: The Last Supper mentality - 

Have you ever been on a diet and broken a ‘rule’? 

Did you then tell yourself that today was ‘ruined’ and you would start over tomorrow? 

Did this then lead to overeating on forbidden foods, despite not feeling hungry? 

This is Last Supper eating, and contributes to feelings of guilt, as well as lowered self-esteem (because you feel like YOU are the problem, rather than the diet!)

Maybe you have tried to diet and feel caught in a diet/overeating cycle.

Or maybe you alternate between overexercising and not exercising at all.

Or maybe you feel unable to trust your body will tell you when it is hungry and full.

If any of this resonates with you, then you are in the right place.

👋🏻 Hi! I’m Andrea. I’m a Pregnancy + Postpartum EMDR Therapist, Eating Disorder Specialist, and a mother of two.

🌱Follow me @nurtured.embodied.mama for more on how to heal trauma and find peace with food/body during pregnancy, postpartum, and parenthood.