Tempations and How to Face Them

If I'm bored, upset, tired, had a bad day- I eat.  Why does eating junk food comfort us?  Why do we consider eating an activity rather than simply a way to fuel or bodies?  Has temptation ever drove you to an all out binge?

Living to Eat

There's always those days I just feel like eating nothing but junk.  For weeks I'll do really well and only eat a "cheat meal" here and there.  Then it seems there are times when the "cheat meals" become the main meals and I try to squeeze in a healthy meal when I can.

Food has become a reward.  Something to make you feel better on a rainy day or to occupy your hands when you have nothing to do.  We live to eat rather than eat to live.  There is much too much emphasis placed upon what we're going to eat each day rather than what we're going to do.

Peer Pressure

I find that my weakest moments come during social situations.  Family and friends can place pressure on you whether they realize it or not.  They may not realize the struggle you face.  They may not realize that you ate a whole tub of ice cream yesterday and you really don't need to top it off with a piece of pie today.  Not letting others influence your decisions is very hard, but they don't know what you need.  If you fell off the wagon the day before the party then you know you need to get back on it today- even if there's pizza!

Sometimes you don't even need to be offered anything- just being around other people indulging can be enough to talk yourself into a treat.  You need to decide if this is something you really want and whether or not it's going to set you back.  Don't blow an entire week's worth of work on a single meal!

In Your Home

What happens when a family member brings temptation into your home?  It's easy to stay on track when there is nothing unhealthy to eat, but if a spouse or child brings junk into the house it can be hard to resist during times of weakness.  I've recently struggled with this problem.  There are a few ways to handle this situation.

• Talk to your family and try to get them on board with your healthy lifestyle.  (There's a chance this may not work, at least not right away.)
• Place all unhealthy items out of sight.  Let your family know that they need to place unhealthy foods towards the back of the fridge, in a drawer or cabinet.  They shouldn't be on display.
• Eliminate trigger foods from the equation.  If there is a certain food that triggers you to cheat or binge ask your family if they could please keep just that one food out of the house.
• Talk yourself out of it.  You can always give yourself a little pep talk and remind yourself of why you don't NEED to eat junk food. 
• Do something else.  Step away from the fridge go for a walk, chug a big glass of water, clean something- whatever you have to do to remove yourself from the situation.  Often times a craving will fade in a few minutes- especially if you've hydrated yourself.
• Don't let yourself get too hungry.  The principles of The Eat Clean Diet: Eat every 2-3 hours.  This will keep you feeling full and you'll be much less tempted to binge or cheat.

Have any other tips for dealing with temptations in social situations or at home??