Off Plan Foods and the Power We Give It...

Some days are harder than others to remain focused and oriented towards optimal health.  I find that the last few weeks I have been giving wayward glances to that glass of wine, or that gourmet chocolate, or even the cheese-and-cracker tray and each day that passes it is becoming more painful to say "no".

This is an interesting phenomenon, because I KNOW what giving that type of food ANY attention at all, ANY second thought at all, does to my brain. 

When I begin to take my eyes off where I'm going and instead affix them to what I am "depriving" myself of in this process of attaining and maintaining a healthy weight, I begin to FEEL oppressed.  I begin to FEEL like a martyr.  I begin to FEEL like the tension is rising.

And I am creating structural tension in the WRONG direction.  Structural tension means setting my brain to work on a "problem" or an "issue" that requires a solution, that requires a "working out" of.

Our brains will continue to work a problem in the back ground of our lives for a solution, while we continue living the day to day.  And by taking my eyes OFF of what I am CREATING with this awesome process of attaining and maintaining a healthy weight, I also took my brain off the task of working a solution to that issue.

And I reminded my brain, in focusing on what I am depriving myself of, that I am in fact NOT able to drink wine, eat cheese (please no one tell me that cheese is allowed on this plan...I am not a vegetarian and I follow the Quick Start Guide for optimal results and cheese stalls me out every time), eat crackers or gourmet chocolates.

And my brain gets resentful when it feels like it "CAN'T" have something.  My brain gets resentful when it feels like it "SHOULD" do something else.  And my brain begins working out that solution to resolving the tension of "not having" by increasing the pressure to "just have it already".

Does anyone relate to this phenomenon?  We can suddenly feel "overwhelmed" by the urge to eat something off-plan, so much so that it hurts our head NOT to do it, and we wonder where that came from?  It seems to come out of the blue, but it does not in fact come out of the blue, it is a result of our brain trying to work the solution to our feelings of deprivation, if we have been focusing on those feelings for a few hours, days, weeks, or months.

This is why people who fight so hard and stay on plan for months and months and months can have a "bite" of something off plan and then find it nearly impossible to have another 100% on plan day.

For ME, this occurs when I have entertained feelings of deprivation or martyrdom, feelings of "poor me, why did God make me like this?" and feelings that I'm missing out.

I INTENTIONALLY practice turning those feelings and that focus around to begin dwelling on what I am desiring to CREATE with this process of BECOMING.  When I intentionally do that for a few hours, days, or weeks, it gets "super-easy" to make decisions that support my primary goals.  But it is a discipline of the mind.  And it is never too late to start creating this positive "structural tension".

So what are YOU focusing on today?  Are you feeling sorry for yourself because you are so deprived of the yummies?  Or are you focusing on WHERE YOU ARE HEADED with this amazing process of becoming fully YOU?

I choose to turn my thoughts towards where I am headed, and why.

And that is that.