Distraction is the best technique?

[missmunchie]

So, my company catered in Cold Stone Creamery for a treat. Bah. So I'm jumping on the forum to avoid the temptation/resist feeling sorry for myself.

 

It was hard to resist, to be honest. Because at first I was all like, ooh, this is a special treat, since how often is Cold Stone catered at the office? It must be "worth it." Then I remembered there's a Cold Stone down the road by the grocery store, and I can have it whenever I want.

 

What ideas do you have about determining the truly "worth it" from the mundane in disguise? How do you distract yourself when your brain starts poking at you that you're missing out?

[GFChris]

The Whole30 guide to off roading may help you: http://whole30.com/downloads/off-roading.pdf

[MeadowLily]

Stone Cold Truth...ice cream is never so worth it for me.  It's sugar and cream, that's it.  A double whammy for keeping my overall health a priority.

 

I distract myself in many ways but mostly self-talk.  I walk into a different room away from all of the play food.  I give myself a time-out.  Within 5 minutes, I've talked myself down from caving in.  I remind myself of the weeks it took to overcome the Sugar Dragon.  Sugar withdrawal wasn't worth two hoots and to let myself bounce in and out of wringing my hands...over and over and over is not so worth it.

 

I think if you're at your optimum set point and very active,  an individual may be able to have the so worth it moments about every 10 days.  Budgeting so worth it moments for every weekend may leave some using 5 days for restriction and 2 days for a full on food bender blow-out.   One may simply overeat when not hungry because the weekend is here and it's time to let loose.

 

For many of us,  we have to take kindly the counsel of the years...gracefully surrendering the things of youth.  What we could get by with at 15 or 25, we can't get by with at 33.   

 

In the noisy confusion of life and fun foods galore, keeping peace with the soul is so worth it to me. 

[MeadowLily]

http://whole30.com/2015/05/every-bite-worth-it/

 

[MeadowLily]

LIFE AFTER YOUR WHOLE30: WHAT IF EVERY BITE IS WORTH IT?

 

26 May, 2015

From Melissa Hartwig, who (thanks to the Whole30) is one of those annoying people who really can eat just one square of dark chocolate

 

After an interesting experience at Blue Star Donut in Portland, I posted my “One Bite Rule” on Instagram. I encourage you to read the whole post (and theexperience that prompted it), but I’ll summarize it here:  If you get one bite into a less healthy treat and realize it’s not worth it, stop eating. The whole point of eating something that makes you less healthy is that you’re going to enjoy it so much, the consequences will be worth it. So if you discover it’s not as tasty as you had hoped, what’s the point?

 

This prompted a good question from two members of my Instagram community. First, @saradomz commented, “But what if the donuts are never NOT worth it? Then what?” And later, @wholecoop4 wrote (in her own post), “What if EVERY bite tastes ‘worth it’? What if EVERY bite of something less healthy is blissful and delicious? Is it okay to eat an endless amount of it?”

 

Interesting questions, right? So interesting I decided to write an entire article about it.

Every Bite WON’T Be Delicious

 

First, the idea that every single bite (or sip) of a less healthy treat will be worth it from now until infinity is just wrong. Think about the last absolutely incredible, totally worth it, blissful less-healthy food experience you had. For me, it was a goldenrod and lavender yogurt cake dessert confection at RN74 in San Francisco. I would have married that cake, I loved it so much. But because I ate is slowly, savoring every bite and then asking myself, do I really want another, I was able to note when the bites started tasting slightly less delicious, and stop when I had enough of the taste and the experience.

 

In both economics and food, we all have a set “bliss point”—a quantity of consumption where any further increase makes you less satisfied. In food, it’s the point at which sweet things are too sweet, savory things are too savory, and things can quickly cross into “too salty” territory. Maybe that’s four bites in (some things are so rich, you just don’t want to eat a lot of it), or maybe it’s 20 bites in and you order a second dessert.

But if you’re really paying attention and savoring the experience, you’ll know when enough is enough.

 

I’m not just talking about the reward sensations of eating sugar, salt, and fat. You have to think beyond your brain in this instance (I know that’s a silly thing to say, but bear with me) and evaluate the entire experience, not just the reward sensations. This comes with practice and awareness.

 

Pay attention & savor the experience; you’ll know when enough is enough. #whole30

CLICK TO TWEET

 

I wanted to savor that dessert because it came at the end of an incredible meal, was shared with a friend, and was truly, incredibly delicious. But I didn’t need to eat the whole thing to make that experience complete for me. I not only evaluated when the flavor stopped being quite as delicious, I asked myself, “Have I had enough to satisfy the experience I wanted to have?” When both of those things were a ‘yes,’ it was easy to stop eating.

If that means you need two or three donuts to satisfy the flavor and experience, so be it. But you may discover sharing a donut with a friend achieves the exact same satisfaction in a less less-healthy way,  and wouldn’t that be winning? The point isn’t that you should aim to only ever eat one bite—it’s that as long as you are making a conscious, deliberate decision about each and every bite, and continuing to evaluate along the way, there are no wrong answers, and you are always in control.

 

You Won’t Actually Eat it That Often

The second point is this: even if you find that perfect, always-worth-it, I-really-want-to-eat-a-lot-of-this-to-satisfy-the-experience foods, at some point, it will no longer be worth it.

Scenario #1: You find that perfect less-healthy food (the donuts in Portland, or your Mom’s chocolate-chip cookies, the wine at your favorite restaurant), and you know it’s delicious and will be worth it, but you don’t eat it that often, because it’s only available when you travel, or your Mom only makes it at holidays, or it’s really expensive.

No. Big. Deal.

 

So you eat three donuts once a year when you go to Portland, savoring every single bite, knowing you can’t get them at home. So what! You simply suffer the consequences (bloated belly, sugar cravings, brain fog, whatever they may be) and move on, happier for having had this special experience.

 

Don’t have a donut just because you can—make sure it’s worth it IN THAT MOMENT. #whole30

CLICK TO TWEET

 

The point is, these foods are always worth it, but you’re not eating them often, so enjoy them when you have the chance! And if you find yourself in Portland feeling just kind of “meh” about donuts, honor those feelings. Don’t have a donut just because you can—always make sure it’s worth it in that moment, even if you won’t be able to have them again for another year. Trust me—the physical consequences are one thing, but the repercussions of feeling like you weren’tquite in control of your food choices in that moment has a much longer lasting impact.

 

You Don’t, In Fact, Always Want It

Fine, you say, but my “always worth it” food isn’t special or unique or expensive—it’s available on a daily basis, easily accessible, and I always want it.

 

Okay. So now I’m going to ask you, “Is that true?” Do you always want it? If you forced yourself to be brutally honest with yourself every time you are faced with the opportunity of eating that food, will you really always decide you want it, it’s going to be worth it?

You won’t, I promise.

 

Maybe at first, because it’s a novelty. Cadbury Crème Eggs come into the grocery store a month before Easter, and every year I think, “I’ll eat one every day for a month!” (Yes, these are worth it for me.) But I don’t, of course, because the novelty wears off quickly. And when I ask myself every single time I reach for one, “Do I really want this?” eventually, quickly, the answer is “nope.”

 

Your Sugar Dragon will always tell you it wants sugar, but YOU ARE NOT YOUR CRAVINGS. #whole30

CLICK TO TWEET

 

The trick, again, is pausing to think beyond your brain’s desire for instant gratification and reward. Your Sugar Dragon will always tell you it wants sugar. But you are not your cravings. Do you (the whole, complete person with the capacity for rational thinking and adherence to long-term goals) really want it? Are you in the mood for it, do you really want that flavor or taste right now, will it truly be worth it, are the consequences acceptable in this moment, will you honestly enjoy it just as much as you did the last time?

If you give yourself a moment to run through this checklist every single time you were faced with a less-healthy opportunity (a few slow, deep breaths here will help), you’ll find your answer is never always “yes.”

 

It Won’t, In Fact, Always Be Worth It

But what if it is? Let’s play devil’s advocate. Even if you’re faced with the Cadbury Crème Egg every single day, and every single day you decide it’s worth it, eventually your context will change, and it will no longer be worth it.

 

Remember, the effects of these less-healthy foods are cumulative. One or two Cadbury Crème Eggs, little to no discernible consequences. One or two a day, every day, and my Sugar Dragon is screaming, my energy is flagging, my belly is expanding, and I’m not feeling so awesome. And eventually, when I run through my “worth it” checklist, I’m going to have to honestly answer “no,” because I want to feel better than I currently do, and I can’t do that if I keep eating candy every day.

 

Checkmate.

Ride Your Own Bike

Now, where you choose to draw your own line is entirely up to you, and as I explained in my 3-part series “How I Eat” (yes, there are three parts), your line won’t look the same as my line.

Maybe you find that a glass of wine every single day is always worth it, and you always want it (legitimately, after honest introspection). And that wine makes sleeping a little tougher at night, and makes you a little less energetic in the morning, and adds a few pounds of jiggle to your belly… but that’s an acceptable trade-off for you, because you love that after-work wine experienceso much.

 

GOOD FOR YOU.

 

You are the only one who gets to decide which trade-offs are acceptable and which are not. So ride your own bike and make your own choices—that’s the whole point of the Whole30, after all! However, I encourage you to honestly and bravely continue to evaluate what’s worth it along the way, and give yourself the time and space to redirect your course if you discover your context has changed.

As always, I wish you the best in health.

 

[Sleeve]

Along with all the great things I've learned here and in the book, this was surprisingly easy to turn into second nature:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Before-Eat-Guidebook-Real-Time-Cravings-ebook/dp/B00IMGBXUK

 

It's much in line with the methods above.  It covers a lot of personalities so if something sounds hokey, the next idea likely will not.  I took and use 10% of it, the rest sounds like hogwash.  I use that 10% every day.  I still win, I still enjoy great food and decide what great means.

[KTH08]

When it comes to whether or not something is "Worth It", I've decided to implement a "10 Squat Rule."  Before I allow myself to eat whatever it is that is tempting me, I must do 10 squats.  

 

It's not a punishment or a way to burn off the calories.  It just helps me determine how badly I really want something.  It turns out there are a lot of things that I used to eat that I wouldn't be willing to do 10 squats for, haha!  There was only one thing on the 4th of July that I wanted badly enough that I was willing squat for it.  After I ate it, I realized it wasn't worth it and wouldn't make that choice again.  Best of luck to you!