Little Lies We Tell Ourselves: Part Four

This is my fourth in a series of posts about lies we tell ourselves because we don't want to give up eating sugar and flour and we don't want to start eating more healthfully:

Little Lie Number Four:

I don't have time.

My response:

Thinking we don't have enough time to shop for, prep, and cook fruits and vegetables is one of the most popular excuses we use to not eat well.

And I get it. You do have to shop more frequently if you eat a lot of fresh produce. It does take time to core and deseed bell peppers, peel carrots, chop onions, and all the other gazillion things you need to do, especially when you eat a lot of produce.

But really, I think the time excuse is just an excuse.

The other day, I found myself on the couch scrolling through Instagram. Just a few hours later I was grumbling because the bell peppers need to be prepped and I just didn't want to. So I told myself I didn't have time. Yeah, right, but I had plenty of time for Instagram. It was just an excuse.

My brain wants me to think that prep works takes an unreasonable amount of time and effort because it doesn't want me to eat this way. It wants to give me an excuse to grab a packet of crackers and peanut butter rather than chop and prep bell peppers for lunch.

And I do willingly and happily give myself permission to pay a little extra money to buy pre-prepped veggies. If a store will sell me peeled carrots and pre-cut pineapple, yeah, I'll pay a little more to save myself a little extra work.

But there's more than that. There's a shift in thinking.

When you think about it, eating lots of sugar and flour takes AWAY time. It makes your brain fuzzy so anything involving brainwork takes much longer. It makes you tired so you lose time with family. If you're eating especially large quantities of these things, you're likely to fall into a food coma, frequently.

Heck, you take it to the extreme and notice that eating the Standard American Diet takes away YEARS by robbing you of health, giving you hypertension and high cholesterol, obesity and all the other health complications that come with chronic poor eating habits.

Yes, it takes time to prep veggies, pack your meal in advance if you're taking a road trip, and scan menus to see if the restaurant you're going to has something suitable for you to eat.

But that time is well-spent if it leads to years of healthy, quality living.

It's all about how you choose to see it.

Little Lies We Tell Ourselves: Part Three

Today I want to talk the third lie we tell ourselves when we give up sugar and flour:

Little Lie Number Three:

It's too expensive.

My response:

It is a lot more expensive to recover from a sickness than it is to buy healthy food. Buying healthfully is about thoughtfully spending your hard-earned money to become -- and stay -- well.

Eating healthfully helps stave off infections and reduces your chances of developing obesity-related diseases. You don't have the expenses associated with walkers and wheelchairs from weak knees and hips, pacemakers, physical therapy after a knee or hip replacement. You won't have to buy insulin to manage your diabetes.

Your brain benefits too. A healthy brain functions better. You'll have more money because you'll be making better decisions.

It is a lot less expensive to eat well than to cope with diseases caused by chronic poor eating habits.

Little Lies We Tell Ourselves: Part One

To kick sugar and flour, I have to get my mind in the right place. Too many people come up with a bazillion excuses to stay sick and addicted.

I've used them myself, over and over. The little lies that keep me fat, shackled, and depressed.

So I want to bring my lies out into the open. No more hiding in the dark recesses of my mind. And with them, I am going to write down the responses that blow them out of the water.

Here we go:

Little Lie Number One:

This will be hard.

My response to that:

It is much easier to focus on getting healthy and recovering than to stay sick/addicted/slowly degrading your brain. Yes, change is hard at first. Any major change is hard at first. The human brain hates changes. Hates, hates, hates it.

So of course it will resist change and try hard to do what it has always done. But with the right attitude, strong strategies, and a firm commitment, it can be hugely rewarding.

Lie number two coming tomorrow ….

[Thanks to Daniel Amen's Memory Rescue book for the inspiration for writing down the little lies I tell myself]