Headlights

Originally Posted by Pam Turner on 08/23/13:
I remember when I was taking my driving lessons (Thank you Mr. MacCarthy from California Driving School!) that my instructor taught me to never stare in to oncoming headlights. It is something people do and don't realize that they are gradually steering towards them. Not a good thing when out at night on a two lane highway! It's normal for the body to follow the mind. If you are focused on something, you tend to gravitate towards it.

This applies to what we are doing here. If you are trying to lose weight, but you allow your mind to remain focused on thoughts of food, you WILL eventually cave in. Social media such as Facebook and Pinterest or recipe sights and the food channel all keep your mind focused on exactly what you don't want it to be focused on. It is button you keep pushing and then wonder why you can't stop feeling anxiety about being on your diet.

We all have to get in our cars and drive by fast food places that pump their frying oil smell out to entice hungry drivers. We have to grocery shop for the family and smell the deli counter with the fried chicken or the bakery with all those tempting smells. It's unavoidable for most of us to smell food throughout the entire day. You can't control that, but you can control what you expose yourself to when you are alone and that is when most of us do our worst damage.

I have a few customers that have "friended" me on Face Book. I am always surprised to see how many recipes they post daily with enticing pictures of sugary fatty foods. What good are they doing themselves or others by sharing that? They are pushing that button over and over and almost inviting failure. I confronted one and he told me that "just because he can't eat it, doesn't mean he doesn't want to look at it". Hmmm....If you had a drug addiction, would you go hang out with dealers?

Clean out your environment. Avoid food signals in your social media. Don't watch The Food Channel. Take a different route to work that doesn't pass your favorite fast food place. Wear a spot of perfume under your nose to the store so you don't smell the fryer or the bakery. Close your eye during food commercials. Hearing about it won't cause a craving, but seeing it will.

Don't steer towards the headlights and expect not to crash.