What Rewards?

This blog is for my bestie Cheryl, who has seen me through thick and thin, literally.  I was fat when we first became friends.  She was there when I changed my habits and finally took off the weight.  So of course, she has heard me blather nonstop about food choices ever since.  Poor thing.  Anyway, we have been talking about losing the Thanksgiving bulge for the past few days (like everyone else!)  AND motivating each other to stay on the good eating track until we get rid of that Thanksgiving 5!!!  BTW, I can't underestimate the importance of good diet sounding board.  One with a good sense of humor.

Anyway,  we were discussing the pleasure we get from a piece of pumpkin pie.  MMMMM!  With whipped cream.  So good, I think I should have another piece!  A little slice of heaven.   But wait, when I'm finished I feel bloated and sick and disgusting!  I knew that would happen, but I did it anyway.  The MMMMM Yummys took over my brain for a second and I didn't see the consequences...remorseful, bloating, pants unbuttoned yuk.  Why do I do this to myself?  Why do WE do this to OURselves ( I'm not alone, am I?)

When rating the consequences of overeating; overweight, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes (the list goes on) thin folks and heavy folks gave the same ratings.  All bad.  So we know the consequences of overeating and choosing the wrong foods!  When the same folks were asked to rate the REWARDS of eating that piece of pie (or cheeseburger, or cookies, or chips) the heavy folks way overrated the rewards of eating the junk compared to their thin counterparts.  Clearly some of us get more rewards from eating cheesecake and chocolate than others.  Or at least we think we do! 

So the reasons NOT to eat poorly, we already know them.  All too well.  Let's look at the highly overrated reasons TO overeat.  "It tastes sooo good."  "I'm so hungry, I need to eat right now."  "McDonalds is right around the corner."  "I've had a bad day, I deserve this."   Really?  Are these our best reasons?  If we think like a thin person, we would say "Nothing tastes as good as being healthy." "I can wait."  "I've had a bad day so I'm going to take a bubble bath."  Stop rating your indulgences so highly.  Self talk your way out of the chip bag.  It may not work all the time, but hey, every little bit helps.