How being around your cravings can aid with weight loss

July 9, 2017 Ashley 0 Comments

Ever hafta actively slap your hand away from desserts?

Or burgers? Or whatever your bad-food vice might be?

(It’s not easy, exercising restraint around frosting topped tongue nirvana such as this…)

Your answer to turning down getting turnt on sugar or fat may have been avoiding it altogether up until now. (Ya know, to avoid blue-screen-of-death style freezing up like the poor pup above.) You don’t go to the pizza shindig. Or come to the ice cream social. You maintain a radius around the snack table like it’s satan. But, according to some of the experts of fit nibbling, that might not be the best choice. And why? Well, first, this avoidance behavior forces us to miss out on positive social interaction – which is also vital (from a holistic standpoint) for overall health ‘n well being. And, even if we tell ourselves we don’t care, deep down we kinda sorta do. (It’s tough to fib to our own subconscious mind.) And that FOMO leads to resentment for the diet we sacrificed healthy social validation to keep. Which means that – before long – we’re more likely to smite our own diet with midnight munching, ironically, on the same stuff we were avoiding in the first place.

But, more than that, being around bad food might be helpful.

That is, if we treat it like an exercise in mental strengthening.

See, when I was first starting my plant based diet, there were times that were tough. Really tough. If I was around pizza or some sort of dairy deliciousness in dessert form, the magnetic draw to have “just a bite” was overwhelming. But I knew me. And I knew where “just a bite” went. It almost made me not wanna come to events like these. Sure, that first turn-down initially felt like a thai kick to the tummy. . (Especially with coworkers taunting you for your healthy tendencies.) But, then I went home and woke up the next morning. And I felt… self affirmed. It was a different feeling than simply swerving Duck Donuts or Papa John’s. It was more of a “Come at me, bro!” kind’ve mentality. One where I felt good because I hadn’t avoided the appetite possessing demons. Rather, I’d gone to the event, stared into the abyss with my shade giving side eye, and shamed it back to the snack counter.

(“You have no power over me…”)

And the more I practiced this – using poor quality food gatherings as opportunities to fine tune my mind muscles – the better I got at it. And I’m not alone. Why? Because this is a beautiful cocktail of what psychologists call “flooding”, and what neuroscientists mean when they say “neurons that fire together wire together”. That former thing – flooding – is all about facing your fears head on. Terrified of water? Force yourself to take swim lessons. Hate spiders? Have them crawl on you until you’re desensitized to it. (Or run on trails, occasionally faceplanting into them, like I do. That’ll do it.) The point is – you expose yourself until that anxious reaction diminishes. And, once it does (and the normal reaction to stress-eat the object of your terror ensues), that’s where the willpower comes in. But that willpower effort – having to summon that inner strength – only lasts for a little while. The first week or so of being around your fear, it’ll be emotionally exhausting to forego your favorite vice. The second, less so. But, within a month or so, something magical happens. The neurons in your brain will form networks around this habit (by something dubbed associative learning). And, before you know it, you’re not having to summon inner strength to deny yourself unhealthy stuff. It’s just become what you do – part of who you are, even. So, if total avoidance has been failing you, then maybe don’t hide from your fears anymore.

Face ‘em head on, til you have the upper hand.

And soon, the only reason you’ll be slapping your hand is to high five yourself for being so awesome.