Monday, January 31, 2011

Mindset and the Power of Foods

One of the students in my January "Lose Weight" class posted a comment about doughnuts recently, wondering why something so good had to be so bad. I love doughnuts, especially the ones with powdered sugar, but they make my stomach hurt every time I eat them. What do you do if a food doesn't make you sick -- and it calls to you with a siren's song?

Consider this: You can change how you think about a particular food. In other words, you can change your mindset about that food. What I'm talking about is simply about taking away inappropriate power and influence we give to certain foods, and viewing foods as they really are -- that is, seeing both their positive and their negative aspects, with honesty and without judgment.

Most of us are unaware of the power we give to specific foods. I have an advertisement for a steakhouse that shows a huge slab of baby back ribs, with the caption, "Endless Slab!" Every time I see it, I mentally convert it to "Endless Flab!" Instead of "All-you-can-eat," I think "All-you-can-weigh." And so on. Between social and cultural influences, advertising, and our own personal experiences, it's easy to fall into the trap of losing sight of what a food really does -- and doesn't do -- for you.

How can you change your mindset? Ask yourself, "Aside from this one thing -- flavor, mouthfeel, comfort, etc. -- what does this food bring to me?" Consider nutrition, calories, and how you feel about yourself after you eat it. It's not about banishing the food forever. It's about seeing the food honestly, and considering whether you really want and need to eat it. Once you see a food as it really is, the siren's song will sound off-key...and it loses its power to tempt you.

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