Overeating is an annoying tendency that many of us have, myself included. The urge to overeat evolved as a survival mechanism. Food was very limited, so you were better off “pigging out” at any chance you got. Now we are all running around, with the same genetics and cravings as our ancestors, in a totally different environment, where food is not only plentiful, but delicious and cheap. We evolved to like sweet things for example, but what our ancestors had in mind were things like natural berries or other fruits. The love of ice-cream or chocolate is essentially just an unwanted bi-product of our genes. Never the less, we have to somehow deal with our cravings, because we know that in today’s world, what are bodies are telling us is dead wrong.

Ok fine. So we realize that we need to somehow overcome this tendency to overeat. It’s certainly easier said than done. Most people think it takes a great deal of discipline. I think it takes some, but I completely disagree that discipline is the main factor. A better understanding of how your cravings work, and a bit of planning is much more important.

My diet is great now, and I feel it takes me almost no discipline. I can tell you what I don’t do. I don’t starve myself all day, then sit on the couch with a large pizza, a coke, and a bag of chips in front of me, and try to “will” myself not to eat it. I’d fail that test miserably. I’d almost certainly be such a pig that I’d burn my mouth on the pizza sauce because I couldn’t, or chose not to, control myself. I hate working really hard to control myself. So do most people, and that’s why most people are victims to their cravings.

I notice that I don’t always crave food. If I’ve eaten a healthy meal, and then I’m in the middle of playing a tennis match, scarfing down a pizza would be the last thing on my mind. Even if my friend said to me after the match, “how about we grab a pizza?” I might be a little tempted, but I likely would be more up for having a banana, some water, and a healthy meal again. The craving certainly wouldn’t be nearly as intense as it would be if I was in “hungry couch mode”.

I notice that if I’m at home and bored, I crave food more. My body clearly doesn’t need any more food at that time, but my genes kick in and remind me that eating a ton of calories would be a great idea. If I’ve got nothing but junk in the house its game over. This is where some planning comes in. Buy some fruit ahead of time. Have a glass of water, I prefer a lemon slice in mine, and have a few pieces of fruit to get something in your stomach and raise your blood sugar. Then leave the house and go for a walk or something. If it’s raining, go for a drive, or call a friend on the phone. Changing what you are doing will help get you out of that annoying rut where all you are thinking about is food.

How many times have you heard the phrase, “everything in moderation”?. I could use the same argument to promote heroin use. Realistically, if you only had a little bit of heroin once a year for example, it probably wouldn’t hurt you. The problem is that it would be hard to control because of it’s addictive properties, among several other reasons for not doing it. Most people in society don’t feel they are “depriving themselves” of the pleasures of heroin, yet they feel if they stopped eating junk food they’d be “depriving themselves” of some of their favorite pleasures. I don’t think that when greasy junk food hadn’t yet been invented, people felt deprived either. Heroin addicts also feel they’d be “depriving themselves” of something if they stopped. Remember that humans have also evolved to like pleasure. The fact that people like the euphoria of heroin is just another bi-product of that gene. I’m not at all trying to equate the severity of heroin use with the cravings of junk food, I’m just trying to illustrate a point. The point is that having “none” of something addictive, and YES I am calling junk food addictive, is easier than having “a moderate amount”. If you’d never eaten your favorite food you wouldn’t miss it. If you have it once in a while, you will remember how much you like it, even though it’s a poor message from your genes, and you will crave it more.

Isn’t it easier to not be in the presence of pizza, or your favorite food, than it is to have one or two slices and then stop, even though you can see a lot more in the box and you are still hungry? To me, and many others, its about as hard as having sex for a few minutes, and just deciding to stop in the middle of it for no reason. It feels very unnatural, and your body will send you plenty of messages saying, “You idiot! You have a great opportunity here! Whatever you do, don’t stop now!”

Think of the times when you crave food the most. At night? While watching TV? When you are alone? When you are depressed? When you tried to starve yourself all day? Once you identify your vulnerable times, anticipate them and have a good plan to deal with them. You might feel strong now while reading this, but trust me, your weak time will come again and you will likely succumb to your cravings. Go out now and buy some fruit. Prepare them ahead of time for when you crave food you shouldn’t be eating. The next time you want to overeat, eat a few pieces of fruit, grab a water, and go for a walk, (or plan some other activity you will do when the time comes). When you get back home, compare your cravings now with the ones before the walk and fruit. Also, I recommend eliminating all junk from your house. If you want to quit smoking, you’d be foolish to have cigarettes in the house. Make it easy to eat healthy food and hard to eat junk. Also, make sure you eat healthy food that you like. It’s too annoying to eat some no salt, no flavor diet. It’s unnecessary too for most people. Eat quality meals that you enjoy in reasonable proportions. Have them planned and prepared ahead of time. Make them more easier to access than ordering a pizza. We still need to discuss what to eat and in what quantities, but that will be in a different article.

I’m pretty open minded and I can appreciate that possibly some people would find it easier to have a little bit of unhealthy food once in a while. I’m just saying that if you aren’t one of those people, and most people aren’t by the way, then don’t kid yourself. If someone says, “Why are you so strict with your diet? You are depriving yourself of the pleasure of food.” then just smile and think to yourself why they are totally wrong in saying so.

The good news is that the healthier your eating becomes, the more energy you will have and the more likely you will be to exercise more. You will look and feel much better. You will be far healthier and there will be about a zillion other benefits, (living longer, being more confident, being more attractive to the opposite sex. etc). You won’t crave the food nearly as much the longer you go on. Eventually you won’t want it at all. It’s hard to imagine this if you haven’t experienced it. It feels to me like a break up with a long term girlfriend. At first its hard to even imagine getting over them, but as time goes on, you forget them and don’t want them back. It’s even easier to give up junk food, because its less emotional and less sentimental. It should be anyway or you’ve got other issues.

I was sitting in my room and I noticed that I was talking to myself. Out loud. The moment I noticed I was doing it, I started to feel a little embarrassed and ashamed. Society looks down upon people who talk to themselves. It looks “weird” because it seems so pointless. Why talk out loud when you can think? It seems you shouldn’t need to hear yourself.

For the first time in my life, instead of just feeling stupid, I asked myself, “Why do I talk out loud sometimes when I’m by myself?” I realized that I often imagine having conversations with other people. I create scenarios in my head about what someone might say, and then I practice giving different answers. Sometimes I actually speak my answer out loud. I don’t use my full voice but I do make a sound. Anyway, although many people might find it weird, I realized that I actually enjoy “talking to myself” occasionally. I don’t want to quit and I don’t see any reason why I should quit. It’s certainly harmless and it makes it easier for me to think clearly.

I then realized that the stupidest part of the whole thing, and the real problem, was that I felt ashamed about talking to myself. It’s just so ridiculous for me to feel guilty, ashamed, or embarrassed about something that is true about me and I don’t want to change.

I’m sure everyone has certain thoughts or a habit that they feel ashamed of, but have no intention of changing. If the habit isn’t hurting anyone or yourself, just keep it and don’t worry about what other people think of it. It’s just lowering your self esteem for no reason. Think of some habit or thought that you have that you don’t wish to change but you feel ashamed of. Think about how that shame is so pointless and destructive. If you can just realize how pointless it is, it will probably help you to eliminate your shame in the future. It’s really a big relief. Then after you finish that, look at another area of your life where you have needless shame and eliminate that too.

It’s amazing how easily certain opinions can become so mainstream that they seem as if they are fact. People seem to take it as a fact that watching TV is a “mind numbing waste of time” even though they themselves do it anyway. Writers make silly calculations about how much time people “waste” watching TV each year and say something like, “if only you were to use that time doing something productive your life would be much better off”. They make you feel guilty for the “countless hours you spend in front of the tube”.

Fine, even the critics would agree that watching some educational documentary is fine, but that’s not what most people watch. I’m talking about your favorite sitcom for example. Ironically, it is conventional wisdom that laughter is incredibly important. It’s referred to as the “best medicine”. If I’m watching something funny on TV, I often laugh out loud. I leave the couch feeling great after watching a good comedy. The best episodes of the Simpson’s and Seinfeld for example are hilarious. Of course spending hours on end flipping through the channels when there is “nothing on” is a waste of time. It’s also possible to spend too much time watching even good TV, much the same way as its possible to spend too much time doing anything. Work, eat, sleep, and exercise are all things that many people do in excess.

Of course I’m not saying that you need to watch TV or even should, but if you get a kick out of your favorite shows, watch them on your free time and don’t even feel a little guilty about it. Don’t kid yourself. It’s fun. Even reruns are ok sometimes, as long as they are still really making you laugh. You’ll know if you are overdoing it.

With that said, make sure you are getting out of the house enough and having fun in actual social situations. It is obviously unhealthy to become too dependent on TV. I’m just saying that if you genuinely like watching TV, the next time you come across an article about how you are wasting your time watching TV, just think about how much time you are wasting reading an article like that. It will give you guilt, teach you nothing, and “numb your mind”.

Almost everyone would agree that having a good attitude is among the most important ingredients of success, but ironically most people seem to put very little effort into improving their own attitude. People seem to generally see themselves as having a “good attitude” and think attitude adjustments are for people with a “bad attitude”. The fact that they categorize attitude types as either “good” and “bad” is part of the problem. It’s hard to admit that you have a “bad attitude” in life. Society looks down upon people with bad attitudes so its easiest for us to believe that we ourselves aren’t in that category. It should seem obvious to an intelligent person that attitudes fall into a spectrum with an enormous range. They can always be improved.Most people also don’t think that their attitude is something that should be worked on every day. If you ask a random 1000 adults if they are satisfied with the amount of physical exercise they do each day, most would say that they’d like to be doing more. If you ask the same group if they are satisfied with how much time they spend each day working on their attitude, most people would be too surprised and confused by the question to even give a straight answer.

Not surprisingly, people are better with some concepts than others. Most people, (unfortunately with some exceptions) are pretty good with the concept that they need to shower every day. They realize that one shower, even a really good one, won’t hold up forever. Their daily activities will certainly make them need another shower before long. People seem to get this one. If you ask them to read a good book on positive thinking, many people will tell you that they know all that stuff. Let’s face it, most stuff written about personal development isn’t earth shattering stuff. You don’t read it thinking, “I never knew that having a positive attitude, a clear set of goals, and a great work ethic was a good idea”. Everyone knows that.

My point is that this information needs to be refreshed a lot, even if you already know it. You need to consistently shower, consistently exercise, and consistently work on improving your attitude for many of the same reasons. Your cleanliness, health, and attitude decay over time without constant attention. Your attitude will certainly improve temporarily after reading some good motivational material, even if you didn’t “learn” much from it. You need at least 15 minutes a day reading some self-improvement material to keep things fresh on your mind.