There is a well known intersection that I pass by on a regular basis. It is the intersection of Hopeless Avenue and Desperation Drive. Most of us are wandering around the middle of this intersection with traffic - and life - whizzing by.
When I find myself there, it is because I'm engaging in some form of self-destructive behavior and I feel that I can't stop. I feel trapped in a frenzy. Like I've been swept up by a tornado and I can't escape the whirlwind. That is when I feel the desperation - like a wave of fear - struggling to be free.
Enter liposuction, the lap band, fen-fen, ephedrine, jaw wiring, etc. At times I wonder if the newest solution that everyone was getting results from was taste bud removal, would we consider it? Don't fool yourself. If you are at the intersection, you might. But the problem with taste bud removal is you end up binging on wood chips instead of potato chips. Either way you are still binging.
I am the best diet gimmick out there. And so are you. You see, in then end if we are choosing a tool to control our behavior, instead of trusting that the power is within us, we'll find ourselves at the corner of Hopeless Avenue and Desperation Drive. I don't mean to make it sound easy like flipping a switch because Lord knows I've struggled. I also don't know all there is to know about diets and self-control and personal power. All I know for sure is the solution isn't in a pill or a shot. It's all in your head...and your heart. (...whew! just go mooshy!)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
aaaah-chew
I thought I knew what I was going to write about tonight. But I don't.
If you have read any of the past posts, you know that I would write about a "lie" followed by the counter balance of the "truth". And then there was a long void when I didn't blog at all. I didn't want to write because I thought I was complaining and I thought the writing may be perpetuating a problem. It seemed like the more I shared, the more the corresponding behaviors showed up. Sort of like after you have a baby, the more you try not to pee your pants when you sneeze, the more you have to sneeze.
Then a friend suggested that I just write. No lie, no truth. She said it didn't matter what I had to say. Just write.
Don't you know I began to write, and was asked by fol-liars "where are the lies?" Which has made me realize something. We love familiarity and we hate change. And this is the biggest lie of all - change. We all see change through different lenses. I have a friend from grade school who loves change. She seeks change on purpose...bitch. Then there is the rest of us who run to hide from change.
Change in my life is a process. I'm starting at a snails pace and hoping to increase to slow walk in the change game. First I have to stop at the ladies room before I sneeze.
If you have read any of the past posts, you know that I would write about a "lie" followed by the counter balance of the "truth". And then there was a long void when I didn't blog at all. I didn't want to write because I thought I was complaining and I thought the writing may be perpetuating a problem. It seemed like the more I shared, the more the corresponding behaviors showed up. Sort of like after you have a baby, the more you try not to pee your pants when you sneeze, the more you have to sneeze.
Then a friend suggested that I just write. No lie, no truth. She said it didn't matter what I had to say. Just write.
Don't you know I began to write, and was asked by fol-liars "where are the lies?" Which has made me realize something. We love familiarity and we hate change. And this is the biggest lie of all - change. We all see change through different lenses. I have a friend from grade school who loves change. She seeks change on purpose...bitch. Then there is the rest of us who run to hide from change.
Change in my life is a process. I'm starting at a snails pace and hoping to increase to slow walk in the change game. First I have to stop at the ladies room before I sneeze.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
More, more, more
I want straight hair because mine is curly. I want a narrower butt because mine is curvy. I want the red sweater because I bought the blue one. I want greener grass.
My mind is wrapped around wanting different. And most of the different has to do with more, thinner, bigger...better. And dieting is quite the opposite. Dieting in my mind is deprivation. I don't like deprivation. If you tell me what I can't have, instantly I want more of that very thing.
This actually makes sense. Our brain is designed with a whole system to address deprivation. We have something called a reticular activating system (RAS - pronounced RAZ). Whatever you do, don't think of a pink elephant. Our brain has to imagine the pink elephant before it can know what it is now supposed to think of. So now, don't think of sugar. It just doesn't work that way.
What will you replace with instead of what will you eliminate.
I had an interesting experience with this concept recently. I read about "flavor clearing". Naturally I had to try it. The idea is you don't stimulate your taste buds for one hour. No toothpaste, no gum, no soda, etc. Then you take a Vitamin E, 2 Omega 3, and a flax seed oil supplement followed by another hour of "palate void". I never made it to the point of supplements.
On any other given day, I can easily go without flavor. On many occasions, I forget lunch. But tell me I can't have a single morsel, and all I want is a million morsels.
New year, new plan. More, more, more. I will increase, add, reinforce. The truth is more is better. Verde, olive, or lime - green is green, not greener.
My mind is wrapped around wanting different. And most of the different has to do with more, thinner, bigger...better. And dieting is quite the opposite. Dieting in my mind is deprivation. I don't like deprivation. If you tell me what I can't have, instantly I want more of that very thing.
This actually makes sense. Our brain is designed with a whole system to address deprivation. We have something called a reticular activating system (RAS - pronounced RAZ). Whatever you do, don't think of a pink elephant. Our brain has to imagine the pink elephant before it can know what it is now supposed to think of. So now, don't think of sugar. It just doesn't work that way.
What will you replace with instead of what will you eliminate.
I had an interesting experience with this concept recently. I read about "flavor clearing". Naturally I had to try it. The idea is you don't stimulate your taste buds for one hour. No toothpaste, no gum, no soda, etc. Then you take a Vitamin E, 2 Omega 3, and a flax seed oil supplement followed by another hour of "palate void". I never made it to the point of supplements.
On any other given day, I can easily go without flavor. On many occasions, I forget lunch. But tell me I can't have a single morsel, and all I want is a million morsels.
New year, new plan. More, more, more. I will increase, add, reinforce. The truth is more is better. Verde, olive, or lime - green is green, not greener.
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