As a long-time weight loss coach and formerly overweight person myself, I know from firsthand experience that telling yourself, “No! Never, ever again!” about a particular food simply doesn’t work. The reason I bring this up is that it’s a big problem for a lot of people. As humans – and especially humans who love food! – restricting our diet does not come easily for us.
A while back, I had the distinct displeasure of learning from my doctor that all those terrible and debilitating stomachaches I was having after meals were, sadly, not caused by an ulcer (I say “sadly” because an ulcer wouldn’t be that difficult to resolve), but instead, severe gluten intolerance. What?
Yippy! Now I had to give up everything I’d held so dear from my cupboard. In my case, the sensitivity is so bad that I can’t have chocolate, coffee, or most grains. Aren’t I the lucky one…?
One must adapt, though, so birthday cakes got replaced with bowls of brightly colored, flavored popcorn – I try to have some fun with what my body can handle – and I switched to a mostly Paleo diet, which made me feel about 1000% better almost right away.
So what if you have to change what you eat?
If you have a health problem, like gluten intolerance or diabetes, that makes it very unhealthy to eat particular food items, don’t count on the negative physical consequences of eating those things to deter you from eating them anyway. Scientific research has shown that just doesn’t work.
Research has also revealed that the anticipation of having a particular food item causes the body to release more of the “happy hormone,” dopamine, than actually eating the craved item. In light of this, eating the forbidden item won’t make you happy, either.
Wait… There is some good news.
I have a tried-and-true tip to share about my own journey giving up favorite foods. For example, as I write this piece, I’m actually picturing this chocolate-covered marshmallow thing that is sold at Trader Joe’s. I love these thingies and am dying for one right now. Bad, Jill, bad! I’ve found I have to deal with this longing, or it will deal with me, and not mercifully. Here’s the tip: Allow yourself to feel the anticipation of having whatever it is that excites you. Then, make a special trip to the store and buy…wait for it…baby carrots! Yep, baby carrots.
Make a big show of sitting down, pouring the whole bag of those bright orange crunchies in a bowl, and eating them. Don’t restrict yourself to just a few, but eat the whole bag or half if it’s a big bag. Again, we know the anticipation triggers more dopamine release than eating the actual item, so much so that from a chemical perspective, eating the food itself is a bit of a letdown.
Baby carrots taste good enough that you will actually eat them, and yet not good enough that you will splurge on them like you would chocolate. The result of eating carrots or chocolate will be the same in terms of satisfaction, except that you’ll get even more delayed satisfaction with the carrots, knowing you didn’t indulge in something that will make you fat. Worst case, you might suffer a little stomach upset from eating too many baby carrots. However, you won’t be hungry anymore, and more importantly, you didn’t contribute to that habit of rewarding a craving. (Often, cravings are a kind of inner child response to stress, because children “want what they want” and won’t be happy until they get it.)
I guarantee you won’t have to do the baby carrot technique many times before you start picturing baby carrots when the craving starts for your favorite sugary treat. It’s an amazing buzz-kill, really, but it works!
If this admittedly pretty ridiculous idea sounds just plain stupid to you, consider that what you have been doing probably isn’t working either, which makes that stupid, too. I encourage you to give this a try, since there’s little to lose and possibly much to gain (not pounds, either). On the other hand, if you find the baby carrot approach doesn’t work and you come up with something better, please email your idea to me. Once I check it out, your tip might appear in a future blog of mine, and be available to help others. The feeling from offering solutions to those in need…well, talk about dopamine release!
In the meantime, I am headed to the store for some baby carrots.
Jill Thomas CCHT
Healthy Habits Hypnosis