Your effective strategy for avoiding food temptations
When The Temptations sang “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” in 1964, they earned their first top-20 hit. That was sweet, seductive music for sure. But the temptations you face from added fats and sweets in
your everyday life affect the way you do the things you do, but not in such a positive way.
Anyone who’s struggled to shed pounds or overcome diet-related health issues knows that temptations are everywhere:
— In the grocery store checkout line you’re surrounded by processed, added sugar health bombs. (In England they tested eliminating such foods from the checkout aisles and found a 76 percent reduction in “grab and eat” purchases of snacky foods!)
— TV and the internet bombard you with ads for snacks, sweets and treats. In 2012 fast-food restaurants spent $4.6 billion on all advertising, and Happy Meal display ads increased 63 percent to 31 million ads monthly.
— Social media is relentless, too. In 2012, 6 billion fast-food ads appeared on Facebook alone!
To embrace healthy eating habits, you need a plan to deal with the temptations you face every day. But first, let’s clear away the biggest myth that may be keeping you from making progress …
Willpower alone won’t cut it. No matter how determined, chances are you can’t endlessly tough it out. It’s only natural to crave sugar when you’re tired and to feel captivated by the enticing look or smell of some calorie- and sugar-packed treat. You need a strategy, not an iron will, to resist temptations.