Into temptation
Temptation is something that we are confronted with every day of our lives. Different people have different temptations and for a lot of people the biggest temptation they have to confront is food. If you look at the increased size of our population, in general you’d have to say that temptation is delivering knock out blows in its battle to lead you down a unhealthy path.
Most of us can relate to this situation; you sit down at night after dinner and start to watch TV. You’re engrossed in the latest programme you love and then the ad break comes on. Suddenly Temptation exposes itself and the game for control begins. Temptation starts by planting the seed in your mind, ‘something sweet would be good right now’. You try to battle back ‘I shouldn’t as I’m trying to lose weight’; Temptation doesn’t give up that easy, ‘it’s ok, you can make sure you eat healthy tomorrow, it won’t hurt’. The battle continues but eventually you find yourself moving towards the cupboard and grabbing an excessive amount of junk food because temptation tells you ‘well if you are going to do it you may as well make the most of it’. The battle is lost and you are going further down the path to an unhealthier you.
So what is a strategy that we can use when temptation shows its ugly face?
One effective strategy that works well with food is the delayed response strategy. Let’s look at our previous example: The ad break comes on and temptation hits you straight away. The first thing you need to do is be aware and acknowledge that temptation is there. Once you have done that allow yourself to have the temptation that you desire but under one condition: Firstly, you have to wait one hour and secondly you have to eat a low energy, healthy, small snack first. This way you know that in an hour from now you are allowed to have the junk food.
An hour goes by and your body has had time to digest the healthier snack alternative, you find that you no longer desire the food you were craving so much an hour earlier. You go to bed feeling better about yourself and your body is in better condition because you made a healthier choice.
The delayed response strategy is one of many healthier ways that can help you deal with the times when temptation hits you. By practicing it you will get better at winning the battle which will help you to make healthier choices.
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