I usually work weekday evenings, getting home around 9 p.m. My typical routine for years was -- yes -- to reward myself and relax with a little something to eat. Every night. For years.
So I'm training myself differently. Lately, the routine has been that when I get home, I make a cup of a particularly lovely herbal tea. It's warm and soothing and peppermint-y and I love it. This is my "it's-been-a-long-day-and-I-need-to-relax" tea.
This tea doesn't get used for anything else. It's only for special relaxation. I don't drink it just as an ordinary, anytime tea.
And, ta da, it's working. The other day, I got home and felt my brain start to demand, "hey, where's my special cup of tea?" rather than "hey, where's my nom-noms?"
It's kind of amazing. Apparently it's true that you can retrain your brain to associate particular triggers with different rewards. This is something I've read about. But I've never experienced it quite as vividly as this.
So it occurs to me that I can retrain my brain to associate healthy rewards with other triggers.
Birthday? Maybe a massage at a place I only go to for my birthday.
Big work project I'm dreading? Maybe I get to light a special scented candle used only for those times
There are lots of special, wonderful, happy-feeling things in the world besides food. I just have to retrain myself to crave those things rather than crap.
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