It is a fact if we over indulge in anything, we have an addictive appetite that is never satisfied, leaving us stuck in our subconscious patterns that always lead us to repeat the same behaviour, over and over. If you are watching TV every night and zoning out with a big family size bag of toffee popcorn in your hands, without being hungry or controlling your calorie intake, chances are you will scoff the lot and end up fat and miserable. This is called subconscious eating, something you do without thinking about it and things you don’t think about become a pattern you repeat but never question eventually turning you into a fat couch potato. When you are conscious of what you are doing, you never zone out and would not be stupid enough to eat 1000 calories in one snack, on top of your normal meals.
We have to become aware of our behaviour patterns and learn how to avoid, like the plague, any subconscious behaviour that has become a comfort blanket we hide under because it feels safe. Over eating, over drinking, over doing it, is never going to fill the empty hole and sooner or later if we don’t take control, we will never find true happiness. So now you know why you do what you do, you have to break the pattern by stopping the behaviour and you do this by training your brain, with triggers, that make you think before you drink or over eat.
Instead of zoning out in front of the TV every night, try going for a walk in the fresh air instead because if you are addicted to soaps, you probably need to get a life of your own. Don’t be tempted to buy the foods you normally eat when you watch TV. Buy some dried fruit, brazil nuts or dark chocolate and eventually your patterns will change and your life will change.
Controlled indulgence is all about being able to have a bit of what you fancy, now and again, without it becoming a compulsive addiction you need to get you through your life. Treats like chocolate, wine, beer, bacon butties, cigarettes, cream cakes, sugar, burgers, chips, shopping, drugs etc are only a treat, if you haven’t had them for a while. If you’re daily routine is all about having treats to get you through it, eventually they become nothing more than unwanted extra calories, potential liver failure, heart decease, diabetes or leave you broke which overtime will put your heath at risk and leave you fat, drunk or miserable in debt.
Being a pig, someone who eats rubbish all day or a functioning alcoholic, someone who drinks every day, is doing it because the habit has become stuck in a pattern that feels comfortable but in reality is not healthy or conducive towards pleasure or happiness. If you go for weeks without having any chocolate, then your brain tells you one day you fancy a Mars bar, it will not only taste amazing, you will feel the full benefit of the sugar high, immediate energy and pleasure, without any guilt.
Learning to enjoy and appreciate everything we do, eat or drink is the key to controlled indulgence because when we enjoy something, we naturally feel happiness, which keeps us positive, active and not thinking about anything other than what we have to look forward too. If we continue to over indulge in alcohol, we will only have a hangover to look forward to and a hangover leads us to crave hangover food, keeping us stuck in a rut, unable to move forward and sadly addicted.
Changing anything is hard because we only know what we know but with change comes something new which gives us choices and with choices comes thinking power, a skill required if we want to be the best we can be.
Unless you learn how to think for yourself, you will never get what you desire, keeping you stuck and blaming everyone else for why you are not happy, rich, healthy and grateful.
We have no one but ourselves to blame if we unable to control our own behaviour, so recognise right now, once and for all, no one is forcing you to over eat like a pig or drink like a fish, it is your choice and as long as you continue to behave in this way, nothing in your life will change.
Photo by Gratisography/Ryan McGuire, courtesy of FreeRange