Remove the Temptations
Hello!
We had some technical issues on Friday, so my apologies for not getting this letter out before the weekend. Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Dr. Doug
REMOVE THE TEMPTATIONS
As one of the professors at a large conference said: "It's far easier to re-engineer our house than it is ourselves.” My interpretation of this: if trigger foods are readily available around the house, we are more than likely to get into them sometime, no matter how strong we feel our will power is. For that reason, I thought I would rhyme off a few suggestions that might help.
• Buy only smaller portions of your danger food. Smaller unit packages may cost more per ounce, but you will save money in the long run (aside from expenses for losing weight that you will gain from eating them to excess). If you buy a larger bag of cookies, you are more likely to finish them off once the bag has already been opened. If you have to open several small bags to eat the same number contained in a larger bag, you have to make a choice each time you open a new bag to eat more. It will automatically make you stop and think. (this is why I'm no fan of the large big box stores, the large packages are no bargain! In fact they are downright harmful to your health).
• Separate the amounts you buy into smaller portions. Keep foods in tightly covered containers-anything that will make you work a bit more to get at the food, again will force you to pause and think about ‘necessity'.
• Store your danger foods behind the first row of the refrigerator, near the back of the shelf. You won't see them each time you open the refrigerator door and you will have to move another food out of the way to get at them.
• Store non-refrigerator items on shelves in your cupboard that are so high up, you have to get a stool to reach them. Put the stool in another part of the house. It will take more time to get them down (delay tactic) and as an extra bonus you'll get a little exercise by having to take more steps to complete you task.
• The freezer is a good place to store many items after they have been portion-controlled. Bread and muffins, for instance, can be kept frozen except for one or two slices.
• At a party or when visiting at a friend's home, place yourself as far away from the snacks as you can get. Turn your back to where the food is displayed if you cannot locate yourself in another room of the house. When you do serve yourself, get only one piece at a time. Go back each time for another one. You'll have to excuse yourself form the conversation you may be engaged in at the moment (which may force another delay in getting food).
Recently, my wife brought home from Costco a large bag of potatoe chips (a trigger food for me). Now, she has better control than I do when it comes to this snack-so I ‘hid' them in a basement cupboard. Interestingly, after a few days I forgot about them, and on the occasions when I did (usually before bed)-the trip downstairs, bringing them up, putting them in a bowl just didn't seem worth it.
So, smaller portion trigger foods, keep them hidden, and put them at a distant location. What we are trying to do, is delay that instant emotion that ‘craves' the food. Even with a small delay we might become less tempted.
You see, it's not easy. So, keep on trying and never give up!
Dr. Doug