Little Lies We Tell Ourselves: Part Two

My previous post talked about the lie we tell ourselves 'this will be hard.' It's not true.

And that's not the only lie we tell ourselves.

Little Lie Number Two:

I don't want to deprive myself.

My response to that:


And it sounds kinda logical, doesn't it? If you white-knuckle yourself into willpower to turn down, say, cake at the office birthday party, it seems to make sense that you'd want a piece of that cake even more.

Weight-loss programs makes tons of money on this doozey. I can't even count the number of times I've heard, "If you deprive yourself of something, it just makes you want it more."

This is why so many weight-loss programs tout moderation. "You can have anything in moderation!" "I can eat anything I want, just in moderation!"

The funny thing is -- it doesn't really work.

Moderation doesn't make me want something less. Whenever I've tried to moderate, it just makes me continue wanting that thing. Every time I have a piece of that cake, I want another. I keep wanting a piece of cake every time I see cake. 

The way I've come to not want cake? By giving it up.

Abstinence makes me want something less, not moderation.

Consider this. No smoking-cessation programs tout moderation as a long-term, lifestyle strategy. I can't name one smoker who decided that having one or two cigarettes a day was much effective in promoting long-term health and wellness than giving them up altogether. 

I've never heard of a drug rehab center that tells addicts, "you can have any drug you want, just in moderation!" (To me, sugar is as addictive and sickness-inducing as cigarettes or drugs.)

So why do weight-loss programs continue to trot this one out -- so persistently?

Probably because the addictive nature of sugar isn't fully accepted and known.

But I think the real reason is because it's what we WANT to hear. Of course, we want to be told not to deprive ourselves. That means we don't have to give up our favorite "hit."

But here's a better way to look at it:

When you give up sugar and flour, we aren't depriving ourselves. Just the opposite. When sugar and flour are a big part of our diet, we rob ourselves of the things we REALLY want -- good health, energy, memory, and a longer, higher quality life.

Getting yourself healthy, well, and happy is about abundance, not deprivation. It's about adding all those good things to your life.

What do you really deprive yourself of when you give up sugar and flour? You deprive yourself of diabetes, depression, poor sleep, headaches, hypertension, dementia, even cancer.

Now those are things I'd happily deprive myself of.