How to Stop Glamorizing Food Over Your Goals {Strategies to let your weight loss goals outweigh your cravings!}
You want to lose weight more than anything! It’s been your goal forever. Decades perhaps! So, why do you give into food cravings that take you away from the thing you want the most? Why does a cookie in the moment seem more important than then future you dream of? Let’s figure out how to stop glamorizing that food, and instead, recommit to your goals.
I’ve been here a million times before. I wake up in the morning with a renewed resolve to “stick to my diet” all day. I imagine the results. I love who I can become by sticking with the promises I make to myself, and my goals. And things go well! Until 10am when I see an open jar of Nutella in the pantry. And to make it even more tempting, it’s sitting innocently on the shelf, right next to the peanut butter!
Do you know how delicious a spoonful of peanut butter, combined with a spoonful of Nutella is? It’s the best combo out there! And thinking about gabbing a spoon from the drawer to get some, somehow becomes more desirable than what I really want in my life- which is to lose weight!
Why does the food win more than our goals? It truly doesn’t make sense. Food is just food. It’s always been there. It will always be there. It doesn’t bring the same joy as your goals. It doesn’t bring ANYTHING to the table to improve your life except MOMENTARY pleasure.
While I do believe it’s important to enjoy food, over-glamorizing it detracts from achieving our long term health and fitness goals.
For 45 years I let the food win. Almost EVERY TIME. And I can say from experience, it was never rewarding. Especially when 90% of the time, I wasn’t ‘enjoying’ the food with loved ones. No. I was standing in the pantry , shoveling it into my lonely mouth.
For 45 years I let food get in the way of my goals! Even dumb food like cereal!!
For 45 years I chose immediate pleasure, over the pleasure I’d get from keeping promises to myself.
The Excuses
I’ve written VOLUMES on this blog about the excuses I make, to give myself permission to overeat. But, it usually can be summarized by these:
- One bite isn’t going to keep you from your goals.
- This little bit won’t matter.
- I’ll just start tomorrow, so I can enjoy this right now.
- It would be socially awkward for everyone if I turned this down.
- Peanut butter is HEALTHY. I can’t deprive myself of something healthy, can I?
Anyway, you get the idea. My mind goes into overdrive just finding new ways to talk myself INTO eating and giving in to my fleeting desires.
The Seduction of Food
Our brains are excellent at giving food this halo around it and belief that we MUST have it. Our brains are great about talking us into immediate pleasure or gratification. Why is food so seductive? Why does it feel like in the moment, one bite is going to satisfy all your cravings? The irony is, giving into the craving never satisfies it. Food happens to be one of those things that the MORE you indulge it, the LESS satisfying it gets. It just leads to more cravings.
On the other hand, not giving into the craving actually carries more satisfaction. Don’t believe me? Try it!
But, platforms like Instagram, Tiktok, Pinterest or blogs has taken visually stimulating images and videos of food to a new level. In fact, it’s so extreme that some people even refer to it as food p* rn! And I h ave to say, I’m guilty of contributing to it! I love creating recipes, and I really love taking pictures of food that really capture how delicious it is.
But, there’s a tipping point for too much of a good thing. I love a good photo of hot dripping caramel, but just seeing it one time makes me CRAVE hot dripping caramel with whipped cream on top.
This kind of food photography and videos can distort our perception of what’s normal and healthy. It will increase your appetite, weaken your resolve, and quite literally, change your behavior.
Strategies for Letting your goals win over food
Can you see, be around, and appreciate food without letting it control you? Can you see food as fuel and nourishment, rather than indulgence? Do you even WANT to stop thinking of food all the time?
Here’s a few strategies I’ve picked up along the way that helps my goals outweigh my cravings!
- The most important thing to remember is that food is just food. Put it in it’s proper place. It’s an inanimate object, not designed return your love, affection or attention. Sure, there are some nice memories related to food, but it’s not the food that created the memories. It’s the people you shared the food with. No need to conflate the two.
- Limit exposure! HANDS DOWN the most important step. Visual triggers is where it always starts. Where is your food exposure coming from?
- Cookies out on the counter?
- Twinkies at eye level in the pantry?
- Your explore page on Instagram FULL of cookies (I say this because mine actually IS!!!)
- Browsing pinterest looking for a treat you’re going to make “after you reach your goals”. lol I’ve done this too.
- Put your goals front and center! How can you remember your goals throughout the day?
- Write them where you see them on your phone or desktop.
- Carry photos of you at your goal (or inspirational goal photos) to check up on.
- Visualize your goals throughout the day. Take 5 minutes out to reflect, think, and remember.
- Practice the PAUSE between stimulus and response. I have to imagine I’m speaking to a toddler about to have a tantrum. When I think I want this food NOW, I remember- you’re an adult Amy, not a toddler. You don’t have to throw a fit when you don’t get you want in the INSTANT moment you want it.
- Ask questions!! (or one question like I talk about in this article) When you have a craving, consider the thoughts that are going through your mind. NOTICE the excuses your mind will try to offer you to give into the cravings. The justifying. the rationalizing. Notice it and ask yourself WHY are you trying to sabotage your OWN goals. The goals you set for yourself.
- Create a reward system for yourself that doesn’t involve food. Here’s 51 non food rewards for weight loss.
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-> There’s more to life than your next meal!
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I think you nailed it when you said food is food! It is just that , food. Much too often we are bombarded by lots of visuals and we think we “just have to have” what ever it is! I like the suggestion to “ pause” and think about it! I’m going to put the “pause” in to practice. Thanks for the tip, I’ll keep you posted
Thanks for replying commenting! We all need reminders like this for sure!DEFINITELY keep me posted!