By Sue Hill
Founder of Finding Your Haven. Havening Techniques® practitioner and trainer.
One of the unexpected things I've noticed, while developing and following the Dieting Mindset Rewrite (DMR) myself, is that the changes haven't stayed with food.
The aim of the programme was always bigger than eating differently. It was about building a different relationship with food, by noticing my habits, creating a pause before reacting, and making more deliberate choices.
Over time, that same pause has started to show up in other parts of my life.
Unexpected shifts in everyday choices
I've always been quite impulsive about buying things. If I decided I wanted something, I usually wanted it there and then. While putting together my new garden office, I've found myself going about it differently. Instead of buying everything that caught my eye, I've been asking, do I really need this, does it actually add anything? I've held off on purchases, decided against some altogether, and been happy to keep things I already own because they work perfectly well.
It made me wonder whether the change ran deeper than food. Whether I was strengthening a broader skill, the ability to pause, reflect and choose, rather than react automatically.
When learning in one place ripples outward
It reminded me of something from years ago. Through my work with the horseman Mark Rashid, I took away a principle of softness with structure. It was taught in the context of horsemanship, but it slowly changed the way I moved through ordinary life. I found myself walking more quietly, closing doors gently, putting things down softly, becoming calmer in the way I moved. A lesson that began with horses became part of who I was.
Perhaps something similar is happening now. When we genuinely change an underlying pattern of thinking, the benefits aren't always confined to the one area we set out to change.
What my own experience shows
I've noticed some changes in my health too. My cholesterol has come down from over 7 to 5.9, and my GP was pleased with the improvement. I'm not suggesting the DMR lowers cholesterol, and I would never promise that to anyone else. It's simply part of my own story.
The real question
The interesting question, for me, isn't whether everyone will experience the same changes. They almost certainly won't. The question is whether learning to pause, get curious, and make more intentional choices around food might sometimes ripple into other parts of life as well.
Rather than making claims, I'd much rather ask that question, and listen to what people tell me about their own experience.
This article shares my own experience. It isn't medical or psychiatric advice. The Dieting Mindset Rewrite is about your relationship with food, not weight loss.