Ep #370: If This REALLY IS The Only Time You’ll Ever Eat That Food

Hello! Really quick before we get started, registration for the next round of The Stop Binge Eating Group Coaching Program will be opening in one month, on October 1st of 2025.

This is going to be your opportunity to get personalized help with stopping binge eating, and help that focuses specifically on binge eating and the cause of it, so you don’t have to try and figure it all out on your own, so you aren’t trying to piece everything together wondering if you’re doing it right or if you’re missing something. I’ll be there to guide you through the whole process.

And, joining this time of year means you’ll be getting help through the holidays, and you’ll start off the new year having already made progress and having gained momentum, which can be so helpful.

So, if you haven’t made the progress you want to be making doing this on your own, and you’re ready to get help, go to coachkir.com/group and join the waitlist now. All that joining the waitlist means is that you’re on the list to be notified as soon as registration opens on October 1st so you can register ASAP and get started with the coursework right away as you’ll get access to the Stop Binge Eating Course right when you sign up so you don’t have to wait until the program officially begins to get started.

If you have any questions that aren’t answered on that registration page, you can email them to info@coachkir.com.

Alright, now let’s talk about those times when it really is the only time you’ll ever eat that food.

Throughout this podcast, I’ve talked many times about how we create food scarcity in our minds. We might tell ourselves that this is the only time we will ever eat something when it’s really not and when the food is actually always available to us. And we tell ourselves that because we think we shouldn’t be eating it, we think it’s bad, we think it will cause weight gain or cause us to binge. So, we restrict it from ourselves. We make it scarce for ourselves.

We rarely ever allow ourselves to eat it and at some point, our desire for it is so high that we say “screw it” and eat the food but, we’re telling ourselves it’s just this one time. And because it’s just this one time, we feel the urge to eat as much as we can while we can, before we don’t allow it again. So, we might binge on it.

Then fast forward to the future when we do it again, or we do it with other foods, we again tell ourselves that this is the only time and the whole thing repeats.

We keep creating scarcity with certain foods that aren’t actually scarce, we’re just making them scarce for ourselves because we’re not allowing them, even though we can.

When people do that, my advice is to stop making it scarce. Stop not allowing yourself to eat what you want to eat, so you stop the restrict/binge cycle. And stop telling yourself that this is the only time because it’s not, and it doesn’t have to be, and it shouldn’t be.

The food is abundant in your life, you can buy it and eat it anytime you want to. So treat it that way because with abundance comes relaxation about it, less urges for it, less strong desire for it, and it becomes not such a big deal.

This goes for so many things. When money is abundant, you don’t really think about it. When it’s scarce, you think about it a lot and when you get some extra, you might spend it right away. When time with loved ones is abundant, you don’t really think about it. You just see them when you feel like it and don’t when you don’t. But when time with them is scarce, you might think about it a lot and when you do spend time with them, it’s excessive and you might sacrifice other important things, like sleep or commitments you made, in order to spend maximum time with them.

And when we make food scarce, the same thing happens. We hyper-focus on it and obsess about it and when we do eat it, we go overboard. But when we make it abundant, in our minds, because it already is abundant out in the world, we don’t think about it as much and we eat it when we feel like it and don’t when we don’t.

So when certain foods really are abundant, treat them that way.

But, what about when they actually aren’t?

What about when you’re visiting a different city, state, or country, and they have food that you can’t get at home? You can only get it there.

Or what about when there are certain foods that are available only once a year, like pumpkin spice stuff, or Christmas goodies, or foods that your friends or family only make once a year?

In those cases, the food really is scarce. It really is the only time you’ll ever eat it, or you really won’t eat it again for awhile.

You can’t just tell yourself that you can eat it tomorrow, or any time you want, because maybe you can’t.

So then what? How do you not go overboard with it, and any other food that might be available that’s also scarce?

It all comes down to how you’re thinking about it and what you’re thinking while you’re eating it.

Let’s say that once a year, on a particular holiday, someone in your family, or a friend of yours, makes a special dessert. They only make it for this particular holiday and you love it. It’s your favorite.

And every year, you eat way too much of it. But, what makes the whole thing worse is that you also eat way too much of some other foods that people are only making for that holiday.

All because this is the only time you can eat them. You only get them once a year. So you feel this urge to eat a lot of them. You want to eat as much as you can, while you can, because this is it until next year.

In your mind, you’re thinking that you only get this once a year.

You’re thinking about it in such a scarce way.

But, what if instead of thinking of it that way, you think, “I get to eat this every year.”

Do you notice a difference? “I only get this once a year,” or, “I get to eat this every year.”

Both acknowledge that it’s a once a year thing but, they create different feelings.

One makes it more scarce while the other makes it more abudant.

It can feel so much better to think about getting it every year rather than only once a year.

So even just that shift in how you’re thinking about the availability of it, and what you’re thinking about once a year, can make a big difference in how you feel about it and therefore how you behave with it.

It’s like if you’re thinking you only get to vacation at your favorite spot once a year vs thinking you get to vacation there every year. You’re vacationing there the same amount of time each year but you can either see it as abundant or scarce.

So with the once a year food, be happy that you get it every year. Love that you get it every year.

And, when you’re eating it, love on that food so much. Savor this special treat, be mindful with it, pay attention to the flavors and textures and squeeze every bit of pleasure out of it.

Because when you do, this once a year experience will be so much more fulfilling than if you mindlessly eat it, while paying more attention to what’s going on around you, or while thinking about what else you want to eat, or if you’re feeling sad about this being the only time you’ll eat it this year.

When your experience of eating it is more fulfilling, it’s easier to be satisfied with less and therefore easier to stop eating and move on.

When you’re feeling that scarcity, sadness, or aren’t getting as much pleasure as you could while eating it, that’s when you might want to go for more to get more pleasure and get more food, because you didn’t get as much pleasure as you wanted since you weren’t present with it and because you were making yourself feel sad, or some other negative emotion while eating it.

So, you can create some abundance with your thinking even when certain foods are kind of scarce.

And you can also use this way of thinking for when you eat at places that you will visit again or places that you visit once a year, or once every few years. You get to eat this every time you come here, rather than, “It’s going to be so long until I can eat this again,” or, “This is the only time I’ll eat this for awhile.”

You will eat them again, and you can love that now is the time when you do eat them and you can savor every moment of it that you can.

But what about when it’s for real, just a one time thing?

Say you’re in another country and you may never visit that country again.

This is your only chance to eat the local cuisine and the local specialties.

Just like in the other example, you might want to get as much as you can while you can because this is your only opportunity, ever. So, you might overdo it. And then, not only have you overeaten but now, it might be hard to enjoy the rest of your day, or the morning the next day, because you ate too much and you feel uncomfortable, maybe your energy is drained, you feel sluggish, and maybe you have some brain fog.

So what can you do to prevent this?

Again, it will help so much to change how you’re thinking about it.

Rather than telling yourself, “I’ll never get this again so I have to have as much as possible now,” you can simply love that you’re able to have this experience.

Like I talked about in the other scenario, you can love on this food, be so happy you get to eat it, and be grateful that you get to have this experience.

So you’re not even thinking about the fact that this is it, you’re more focused on how awesome it is.

Yes it might be a one time thing but, it’s an amazing thing.

And it’s so important that you know that eating more of it isn’t necessarily going to give you more pleasure, more awesomeness, more amaingness.

That’s what most of us think a lot of the time. We think more in quantity is more in pleasure.

But really, you can get the same, or even more pleasure from less, if you’re eating mindfully, are savoring it, are putting so much attention on it, and are loving on it.

You could eat 5 delicious cookies, while scrolling on your phone, not even paying attention to the food, and not feel satisfied at the end. You feel like you didn’t get much pleasure from them, or not as much as you’d wanted, because you weren’t putting your focus on it, so now you want more.

Or, you could eat 1 of those same cookies, without any distractions, putting your full focus on it, eating it slowly, and feel so satisfied. You appreciated it, you gave attention to it, so you got so much pleasure, you got what you wanted, so now you’re ready to move on.

It’s just like if you’re on that trip in another country, and you’re not even paying attention to what’s around you because you’re on your phone the whole time. You finish your trip and you don’t feel fulfilled. You don’t feel like you got enough, so you aren’t satisfied and you want to stay longer.

But, if you’re paying attention to everything, are taking in the sights, the architecture, the scenery, the culture, everything, then you’ll finish and feel so fulfilled, so satisfied, and so you’re ready to leave and go home. You did it. You got what you came for.

So when you’re eating that food that’s legit a one time thing, love on it, so much. Appreciate it. Be so glad that you get to have this experience.

And I want to give you another tip too.

This is really for any time you’re eating something that’s legit scarce but especially when you’re on vacation and you have multiple days of exploring and fun to be had.

When you’re making the decision for how much you’re going to eat, consider how you want to feel afterward and how you want to feel later and the next day.

The amount you’re eating, whether it be at a meal, for dessert, or just a random joy food in the middle of the day, is going to affect how you feel.

I bet you want to feel alert, energized, comfortable, be in a good mood, and just feel your best all around as you’re on this vacation. So consider that when you’re making your food choices.

Consider how you think you’ll feel and how you want to feel, when you’re making decisions. It will be an effect of your decision and it will matter to you. So think about it.

And one more thing. If there are multiple options at one time that sound good to you, and you know that if you eat all of them then you won’t feel so great, please know that you will be okay if you don’t get everything.

You’re going to get so much pleasure from what you do choose that not also having the other things really won’t matter. You’re going to get a new experience with what you choose, and hopefully it’s as great as you imagined it would be.

You don’t need to hold on to what you didn’t get. You’ll be okay without it. There is so much more amazingness for you to enjoy beyond that food. So appreciate what you did choose and appreciate everything else around you that is worth appreciating.

Not trying all the foods won’t be the end of the world and you don’t have to live in regret about it.

Again, love what you chose.

And if you do feel disappointed with what you chose, you don’t have to then overeat with getting something else. You can let it go, knowing that you made what you thought was the right decision at the time, and the next opportunity you have for something new and special, do your best to choose something you think you’ll love.

And a side note, I actually did an episode about disappointing food, episode #199, if you want to give it a listen to help you with those times when the choice you made was disappointing.

So, I hope that helps you to see how you can handle those for real scarce food moments. It really does come down to how you’re choosing to think when you’re in those moments. So think with appreciation, think with abundance, and choose to love what you chose.

Alright, that’s all for today and don’t forget, registration for The Stop Binge Eating Program is opening in one month, on October 1st of 2025 and if you want in, if you want help, if you’re ready to do this work as a team rather than on your own, then join the waitlist at coachkir.com/group so you can get started ASAP once registration opens. And if you have any questions, email them to info@coachkir.com.

Alright, that is all for today, bye bye!