So I am okay with the idea when the author of The End of Overeating said to make rules for myself to help navigate past the foods that are all around me which are speaking directly to the depths of my brain. Studies show that there is a cycle of "cue-urge-reward-habit" which is imprinted on the brain. It is highly automated and below the level of conscious awareness. We must rely on other levels of the brain, the frontal cortex which makes conscious decisions, to override the strong emotional/repetitive behavior. They say the frontal cortex has Executive Control over our actions and that is where the rules come in.
So one of my rules is Whole Grains only. I am eating low carb because I am a carb lover - love the bread and pasta. So when I am dining out, this rule saves me. For instance, the other night, I got out the door to go to work without my dinner. When the staff was putting together an order at about 7 pm and I was hungry, I was tempted. They were going to the Mexican place. I looked at the menu and thought I could order a chicken quesadilla with just a little cheese. But they didn't have whole wheat tortillas (I don't like corn) so I did not order. I was hungry, but I ate a snack when I got home.
I was saved by my rules. The other part of this, according to author David Kessler, is that the response must be automatic. The minute you start bargaining or thinking about it you lose the upper hand. It must be a rigid response to "rewire" the brain.
There are more "food rehab" tips I will write about lateer in the week. What are your rules that help your "rehab"?
6 comments:
Now these rules I could abide by:) I am committing to the whole grain thing myself right now, but I can still manage to overeat even with that rule!
I found that part of his book interesting. I clearly have a cue and response when I sit in front of the TV.
I don't mind rules that make sense, and I think that's why making my own set of rules to change my eating patterns worked. I did the Whole Grains Only rule, and the 5-7 Vegetables per Day rule, and the One White Flour product per Week rule, and so on. Now it's all habit, and I think the rule-making helped retrain my brain to take the more wholesome path automatically.
I've always said that, when it comes to dieting, I am a yes/no person. Tell me 'no' for a certain food and I am much more likely to be okay than being told 'you can have just a little bit once in a while'. That sort of flies in the face of most teachings (you can have anything you want in sensible portions) but my personality just works better with things either being allowed or not allowed.
I only have a few right now:
No sodas, juice, etc. Only water.
No snacking after dinner. (I'm having a hard time with this one.)
Chocolate is okay, but only in a very small amount, only one time per day. (I could eat it all day, every day and be happy with it.)
At least two fruits/veggies per meal.
I like this idea of rules - but like Cammy said, I like best the ones that I make and accept for myself.
I have several, but usually only concentrate my efforts on a few at a time.
One of my big ones right now is to "exercise regularly" - I need to go back to long stretches of doing this. My record (so far) was 6 months.
I too find some of the low carb ones really helpful - just cuts out huge numbers of temptations for me.
Eating whole foods was probably one of my most important ones, and I didn't know that when I started it. But the whole foods thing pushes you to cook more and it eliminates a ton of junk.
I also have standard meals that I eat a lot (not rules, but more guidelines). Lunch is veggie plus protein, most of the time. Can be a big salad, can be a lot of things, but I don't need to look at the pizza, the pasta or the desserts.
I need to look into the source article - this topic probably warrants more thought from me...
That does seem like a good idea. I'm a carb person, so when I go Mexican I forfeit the tortilla and ask for whatever it is as a "bowl" and without sour cream and easy cheese. There's nothing not too like about some shredded pork and beans mixed together topped with a little cheese and a lot of pico de gallo.
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