I think for most people, there are always those foods that have a soft place in our hearts. No matter what happens, it’s just extra difficult when you stare into those big brown eyes of that blueberry muffin, if you’re a muffin man, those luscious curves of ice cream, if you’re an ice cream screamer, or crunchy goodness of Doritos Ranch chips, if you’re big snacker.
How could you say no?
“One last time,” you tell yourself. But is it ever the last time?
“Fine, then just a bite.” But is it ever just a bite?
So you end up pigging out and when you’re finished, slightly hyperventilating and lying in a pile of your own sweaty disgust, you think to yourself:
“Man… why did I DO that?”
Guilt sweeps over your previously starving mind and a wave of disgust pours over your conscience. You begin to backtrack mentally, imagining if you had made a different decision at that moment, right before you reached for what you thought would be just a bite or two of dessert, things could be different now.
I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. But we’re human, things like this happen, right? Here’s how to become a superhuman (aka superhero) when it comes to that junk food addiction.
I have 3 solutions that changed my life…
This is a very common situation, I believe, for many people. At least, for myself, I can’t tell you how many times, when I first started out with this whole health, diet, and acne regimen that I would walk downstairs looking for “something” to eat.
Sometimes it would be because I was hungry, sometimes it would be because I just happened to be in the “area” and was curious about what I had left in the food cupboard, and sometimes I’d just be in there shuffling around from sheer boredom.
“I’m bored. Maybe I’ll eat something to pass the time.”
If you’re guilty of this one, you don’t have to admit it. You know who you are. =)
3 SOLUTIONS TO DEAL WITH YOUR JUNK FOOD ADDICTION
Tip #1: Remember the guilt you’re going to feel after the fact.
Because a lot of times when you actually do go through with eating that junk food, it’s only a little while later that you’re kicking yourself for not having the willpower to resist it.
“Mannn, WHY did I do that? Why couldn’t I just have said no?!”
This might be one of the hardest ones to remember while actually in the moment. To actually mentally recall the feelings and guilty emotions that you WILL BE experiencing after eating really bad foods is something that’s not very easy to do.
It literally took me roughly 6 months to 1 year to psychologically reprogram myself to be able to do this one. And that’s because when you’re actually in the moment, whether you’re deciding what to order on the menu while eating out with your friends or you’ve got your hands on your hips and you’re trying to decide whether or not to eat those salsa chips, it’s hard to remember that YES there is going to be an AFTER after you’re done eating.
YES, time still continues even AFTER we’re done eating junk food.
That’s why I think this one took so long for me to program. I had to exercise Pavlovian theory and mentally train myself to REMEMBER how I feel AFTER I eat even BEFORE I eat.
So don’t get too down on yourself if you’re constantly forgetting this one. If you’re able to implement this method in a couple days or weeks, WOW you have more willpower and mental training than most people. But for the rest of us, let’s try utilizing method 2…
Tip #2: Find out what your motivation is.
A lot of times I wouldn’t even think about the guilty feelings after eating that snickers bar or eating few cookies here and there. At that point, I would want to eat those cookies or snacks SO BAD that I would have probably come up with WHATEVER excuse in the book.
How many times have you guys told yourself this?
1.) It’s just one cookie, it won’t hurt
2.) I’ve been working so hard, I deserve a break
3.) It’s just another cookie (after the first one), it won’t hurt
4.) It can’t be THAT unhealthy, it’s got [insert whatever ingredient here] right?
5.) Everyone else is eating it, I should have a couple too.
6.) I can’t turn down [insert person’s name here]’s food, they offered/cooked it to me
7.) And the list goes on...
This method is based on the fact that we’re able to think about what we’re doing before we do it. What I want you guys to do when you’re stopping and thinking about what you’re doing before you take that first bite is to ask yourself this:
“Which do I want more? [Insert Junk Food Here] or [Insert Motivation Here]?”
For example, a friend of mine claimed that he wanted clear skin because he felt like it directly affected his confidence with meeting new people and meeting attractive women. He felt that when he broke out with acne, his confidence level dropped and so did the amount of fun he had socially with women.
So I would advise him to ask himself this question, every time, right before he decides to take that bite into that cookie:
“Which do I want more? This cookie or to meet beautiful women and have fun with them and feel confident?”
And of course, the continuing assumption would be that if he ate the cookie he would probably not feel too confident with attractive women.
I’m not saying that if you have acne, that you’re not going to be able to go out and have fun socially. What I’m saying is that each person has their own vices, their own neurosis, their own reasons, their own excuses and I’m trying to use our reasons as strengths to get us to do what we actually WANT our bodies to do.
Basically, I’m trying to gain LEVERAGE ON MYSELF.
But this method only works if you can manage to ask yourself this question before the fact and not just act without thinking. Then again, if you’re the type of person at cannot control your impulses and does things without thinking first, you may have a bigger problem in your hand, and… in life. But that’s another issue =)
And if that method doesn’t work, I’ve got one last solution for you.
Tip #3: Just walk away.
Sometimes you have to catch yourself in the act and just WALK AWAY. Don’t think about it, don’t analyze or start coming up with excuses about why or why not, just leave the premises immediately before you do something STUPID!
I know this one sounds almost retardly easy, but it’s true. Why are we standing there debating with ourselves wether or not we should eat those chocolate brownies in the first place when we ALREADY KNOW logically that it’s NOT A GOOD IDEA.
Keep it simple, start moving your feet, and get out of there. Why do we make it so hard on ourselves when we’re dangling desserts, ice creams, and junk food in front of faces? Why would you possibly want to tempt yourself and then get yourself to make a critical decision at that very moment?
So just leave the area with the food so you don’t have to be looking at it directly when you ask yourself, should I eat this? Hopefully by then, enough time will have passed for logic to have come back and tell us, “Yeah… probably not such a great idea.”
Some of you may know my close friend Sam, the other cohost of Real Fast Recipes Blogspot well… we were talking over lunch the other day when I told him about these three methods that I had for getting myself to avoid eating bad foods and junk foods.
There was tip that was provided by Men’s Health about how to avoid fast food in malls. The article advised that if you ever walked by some food that you wanted to eat but knew that you shouldn’t touch, to just walk away. The theory is that if you really wanted it, you could always come back.
The column reported an average of about a 33% less likelihood of going back and seeking out that junk food.
I think this also has a lot to do with personality, degree of instant gratification desire, and how hungry you are at the moment, but it’s an interesting point whereby just leaving the area in order to think a bit may dramatically change your food making decision.
So the next time you’re looking at the menu because your friends invited you out to a restaurant to eat, try and think about one of the 3 previously mentioned methods. If you can’t immediately leave the area (because that would just be oddly strange to just get up and walk away), you may want to compare your motivation with that fried food you were about to order. Hopefully, it’ll help you reconsider. =)
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