Key Lime Pie for Dummies

Key Lime Pie for Dummies
A good, smart member contacted me today to discuss her latest “falling down.” She readily admitted that she had been eating quite clean for several days but then had three or four feedings over a two-day period that were just way off base. She knew it. She knew what she was eating while she ate it. She was conscious of her choices while eating the crappy foods–but ate them anyway. Today, as you can imagine, the water bloat was in full swing and so was the guilt and self-loathing.
After more discussion about goals and choices she admitted she has the same “weakness” when it comes to spending money. Even though she knows that successful people are able to put off what they want RIGHT NOW for what they REALLY WANT she just hasn’t been able to succeed with this mindset when it comes to food and spending money. Sees a new pair of slacks she wants but also wants to save for a new swimming pool? Guess what wins–the slacks. That’s caving to what you want RIGHT NOW rather than being disciplined and putting off that immediate gratification for what you REALLY WANT. It’s a “fatal flaw” in achieving large, worthwhile goals for anyone and any endeavor.
I’ve come to the conclusion there are simply some people who will never truly understand the power in this fatal flaw and even if they do understand it they won’t really address it by whatever means necessary to overcome it–including but not limited to professional therapy. It’s not negative thinking on my part-it’s reality thinking. And as I discussed with this member there really are people who are LOSERS in this world–people who consistently make poor choices in many areas of their life–not just weight. But I doubt 99.5% of my members fall into the LOSER category. As this member and I both agreed the real LOSERS are too busy bellyaching without action, whining and being victims to actually apply for membership here.
I knew this member wasn’t a loser but I was about to move down the “you simply may never change your food choices even though you know they are not the right choice for the long-term goal” when she told me she had key lime pie for her splurge–one slice. Then, I had a light-bulb moment. And it wasn’t even a new light-bulb moment for me but it was a refresher.
I asked her if the key lime had real sugar in it. “Yes,” she said. “But I only had one slice.” Right. But if real sugar or some other ingredient in that pie is a trigger that one slice is how the trigger fools, confuses, manipulates and pulls your puppet strings to get you to screw up. I’ve written before that triggers aren’t simply identified by some food you can’t stop eating. Oh,no. Those are the EASY triggers to identify. Many other triggers aren’t so easy to find. A trigger could be a food you can stop eating after one serving but that TRIGGERS YOU TO CRAVE MORE JUNK AFTERWARDS. These cravings can occur hours later or even days later after consuming the trigger!
Then it all started to come together. A craving for key lime pie was satisfied by making a low-fat version with real sugar. Eating the one slice of pie was a trigger. This trigger led to more cravings that day and the next. The next trigger consumed was another sugar-laiden, carby food (very common for triggers to be in the same class) and then more cravings and more “falling down.”
You can imagine how this made our member feel–pathetic, undisciplined, a loser, weak-willed, you name it. As I told her today, triggers make really good, otherwise disciplined people look like complete idiots. They really do. Trigger foods are much like addictive substances. Addictive substances are sneaky, cruel, underhanded “feast beast” voices that tell us we will be okay if we just “have some.” We’ll be alright and feel so much better if we “just have a little.” The addictive substance “feast beasts” its way into our heads with “Come on, you’ve been too good lately and worked too hard–one won’t hurt, you know you want it.” The voice says “No one should have to be perfect to lose some weight–aren’t you supposed to satisfy cravings?”
I had to apologize on the spot to our member. Even I was about to give in to the idea that she was simply going to be one of those people who is disciplined in other areas of her life but may never get a handle on being disciplined when it comes to food–never being able to give up what she wants RIGHT NOW for what she REALLY WANTS.
Trigger foods are sneaky everyone. Think about your last series of bingeing or simply having things not on your Leanness Lifestyle plan. What did it start with? Review in The Leanness Lifestyle V.4 the ABCs (antecedent, behavior, consequence), which I now refer to as TBCs (trigger, behavior, consequence). You were doing SO WELL until what happened or what food was consumed? Instead of making it far more complex than it has to be the place to start is with the FIRST BITE of the FIRST FOOD you may have THOUGHT was okay but that “triggered” the series. Eliminate that food. It’s only one or two things. Eliminate it! If you find you are a disciplined person in many areas of your life but always seem to fall down with food review my TRIGGER FOOD section in The Leanness Lifestyle V.4 first.
In health,
David Greenwalt – Founder
Certified Wellness Coach – ACSM
Professional Member (NSCA – CSCS in 2000)
Leanness Lifestyle University