Step 8 in the Learn to Be Thin plan is called "Making Eating a Premeditated Act" (147-155). The simple part of this step is to write down everything I eat before I eat it. Ms. Simon argues that this will put one more stumbling block in the path of unconscious eating, disrupting stimulus-response chains that reinforce unwanted behaviors. But this technique is also part of a larger campaign of planning ahead so that I'm not caught in the grip of a powerful eating compulsion and taken down before I even realize I'm in danger.
Planning ahead can take the form of checking the menu of a restaurant before eating there to see what I can choose that would be on my eating plan. It can be anticipating what might be available at a social gathering and planning accordingly, either by bringing food I can eat or saving up a bread or meat choice to use at that event. One of the easiest ways to plan ahead for me is to bring my lunch to work. It serves two purposes: limits my eating choices, and prevents me from being hungry when my lunch time is delayed or in some other way disrupted. Over time I've refined what I bring, expanding it to include snacks so that I'm never without allowed foods when I get hungry during the day.
But despite all the plans I make, there are still some moments of impulse eating. A coworker, for instance, might offer home-made or otherwise special treats that are hard to pass up. Or an unanticipated celebration might come up that requires me to decide whether or not I'm going to eat cake. Those are obvious ways that my plans might get derailed. But there are more subtle sabateurs lurking. Shirley talks about one habit she had that was hard to break: chewing gum. Here is her description of how she changed it:
Because I decided to focus on the stimulus-response chains in that one behavior, I realized that whenever I finished a cup of coffee I had some gum; every time I ate a fruit, I had some gum; every time I took out the car keys, I had some gum; and on and on throughout the day. Becoming aware of these stimulus-response connections made me realize that many of the times that I took a stick of gum I didn't even want any. My automatic gum chewing decreased quite a bit just because I had focused on it and had become aware of the dynamics involved. (148)Her problem made me think of one I have: eating mints or other hard candy more often than I should. Though each piece of candy is only 20 calories, they do add up. I decided to limit myself to two pieces a day, but didn't plan when I would eat them, so ended up eating more than I planned to because occasions came up that "required" a mint. What were those occasions? Well, one was going to a meeting. Every time I headed for a meeting, I'd grab a mint. And if it was going to be a long meeting, I'd grab two (or even three).
Once I noticed that habit, I asked myself why I needed to eat mints at meetings. One answer I gave myself was that I needed something to moisten my mouth in case I got thristy. Another was that I might get hungry and need a little sugar boost, or a little pick-me-up because I'm sleepy or bored. But I have to admit that the real reason is that I'm habituated to grabbing the mint; it's a stimulus-response chain I've forged that now tugs on me every time I head for a meeting. (Fortunately, I don't have too many meetings to attend.) But I can change this behavior, try to break this one chain. After all, there are other ways to avoid dry mouth or hunger, boredom or sleepiness. I just have to use them.
Breaking those chains is at the heart of the Learn to Be Thin program. After 34 weeks I'm still discovering these little snags that keep me from gaining control of my eating. I'm facing fewer hidden pitfalls than when I began, but after a lifetime of eating a certain way, I'm not out of the woods yet.
I'm getting closer, though. See you next week.
mints.....mmmmmm
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