Will Power and Kaufmann 1

How many times have you started a diet with the best intentions only to find yourself cheating thirty-six hours in? The cravings and frustration set in, and those are augmented by the fact that it is too early to see any sort of benefit that would merit the discomfort you are putting yourself through. At that point, it hardly seems worth it, and it is at this point that many people cave. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak; at some point, the spirit caves too, which is when the flesh quickly follows suit. What is it about addictions, whether they are with food or things more nefarious, that makes them so difficult to overcome?

Countless studies have been done and volumes have been written on the nature of habits and addictions and the extent that human will power (or sometimes lack there of) plays in changing or overcoming these things. I’m no psychologist, but I have a couple ideas about what makes breaking bad habits or getting over addictions (in this case, bad food addictions) so difficult. My hope is that if we (and I’m certainly not excluded from this) can see what some of our thought processes are, it will give us an edge on defeating them.

There isn’t a deceased smoker that died from one cigarette. One cigarette turned into two, two turned into a pack and that pack turned into a pack a day. Quitting cigarettes is arguably one of the more difficult habits to break, and I think I have an about idea why. At the moment that nicotine craving begins, every smoker is thinking that, “one more isn’t going to kill me.” Like I mentioned above, the first one didn’t do it – so really, what is one more? After the 200,000th time this is said (which is approximately how many cigarettes a pack a day smoker who smokes for 27 years will smoke), the idea of “one more won’t kill me” is pretty much moot.

This same mentality is certainly present with dieters and people trying to change their whole lifestyle in order to attain better health. What is one more piece of cake? Sedentary day Sleepless night? Six pack of beer? After all, one more isn’t going to finish me off! But days turn into weeks, turns into months… you see where I’m going with this.

The incentive to give up smoking is obvious; there are mountains of research proving that inhaling combusted tobacco will give you all sorts of serious health problems – the consequences of ignoring this are heavy. There is a new PSA out encouraging people to quit smoking that states simply “Every cigarette makes you sicker.” But realistically, does the incentive of changing our eating and exercising habits have any less gravity? Hasn’t Doug compiled mountains of research linking poor diet, especially one contaminated with mycotoxins and that feeds fungus, to serious health problems? Even mainstream health advisers are saying that diet and exercise are key to preventing serious kinds of illness. Knowing this, every day is a step in the direction of health or away from it.

It is difficult to say with any seriousness that eating one more slice of cake makes you sicker. But the reality is that the choices we make every day amount to a a lifetime of choices which equals our lifestyle. Lifestyle plays a critical role in how healthy or unhealthy you are. I’m all in favor of occasional indulgences – after all, what’s life without them? But indulge knowing that a lifetime of indulgences is not the best way to feel your best.