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How many times you have found yourself eating something that you know is not good for you, but you do it anyway? I am 99.9% sure we all have done this at some point in our lives—or perhaps many times. I’m not talking about those serious cases where a health condition determines what someone is allowed to eat. I’m just talking in general. To be more specific, I’m talking about our addiction to junk food. I include myself since at some points in my life I too was not mindful about my eating habits.
Imagine you’ve been invited to go to a fun party. You’re getting ready, but you’ve had to change outfits few times since some of your clothes don’t fit you well. On your way to the party, you can’t stop thinking that you need to lose some weight. You are also super hungry because you didn’t have time to eat before leaving your house. You get to the party and find a huge table, completely covered with all kinds of food: fried chicken, French fries, hot dogs, burgers, chips, bread, pizza, onion rings, chocolate cake, cookies, cupcakes with lots of frosting, donuts, etc. Everything is perfectly served at the right temperature so you can smell the fried food like it was recently prepared. The donuts smell like heaven. The burgers are cooked to perfection. The cookies are still warm. At the end of the table is a huge platter with lots of fresh cut vegetables, hummus, and beautiful fruits. You get a big plate and select your food for the night. What would your plate look like?
I know a large percentage of people would only eat the junk food. Some others would mix some junk food in with the healthier options. Only a few would completely ignore the junk food and eat the healthier options. Even though you were only thinking minutes before that you needed to lose some weight, the junk food somehow works its magic and makes it to your plate. Why do we let this happen? Why can’t we be strong enough to do what we know is best for us? The answer is very simple: we are addicted to junk food. Hundreds of scientific studies have proved this fact over and over. The amount of sugar, fats, and other additives used to prepare this type of food are enough to create really strong addictions. The food industry is the biggest drug dealer in the world.
You might be wondering why I’m talking about junk food on a divorce blog. How does that subject relate to divorcing smart? Well, I’ve been doing some thinking, and I’ve realized that we are addicted to junk thoughts the same way we’re addicted to junk food. Some experts estimate that on average, we think more than 6000 thoughts per day. Therefore, our minds never stop. Of course, we’re not aware of everything we think. Thoughts are like a movie running in the background of our minds—they get our attention when the volume goes up. It has been said that we think pretty much the same thoughts every day, and many of those thoughts are negative. I call those the ‘junk treats’ for our minds. Why do we have so many negative thoughts? And why do we keep repeating them over and over? My personal theory on this subject is that we are addicted to them.
As with any addiction, we don’t have control over it. We let our unconscious mind lead this dance. The same way we dig into the junk food without any awareness, looking only for the emotional “comfort” it gives us, we keep recreating the same negative thoughts. These negative thoughts are comfortable and make us feel “safe” because we’re familiar with them. But the dangerous part of this addiction is that we create our reality with our thoughts. Therefore, the more negative thoughts we have, the darker our reality becomes. It’s a dangerous cycle. When I look back at my darkest times while I was married, I can see how I kept picturing the same negative situations over and over. I used to have this image of getting home to find my ex-husband with someone else in our bed. I’m not saying I forced him to cheat on me; that was his choice. But I definitely understand how powerful our thoughts are. We create our reality.
Don’t worry. The same way we can do a reset and become more aware of our food intake, we can also work on resetting our thoughts. Is it an easy task? Heck no. You really have to work to reset those two addictions. But wonderful free tools are available to all of us to win this battle. If you are thinking it’s impossible, you’re letting that monster win the battle for control already. I have won the battle over junk food. I can tell you from my own experience that it is totally possible to get to the point where you don’t crave anything that won’t nourish your body. I’m still fighting against my addiction to negative thoughts, but I have become more aware that they exist, and I keep working on replacing them with healthier options.
How can you start working on this? I highly suggest doing everything gradually. Pick one thing at a time. Don’t try to multitask on this effort. If you think your biggest struggle with junk food is sugar, then start lowering the amount of sweets you eat every day. Small steps will take you really far if you are consistent. As for the ‘junk thoughts’ battle, you’ll need to start working on your awareness muscle. If you’ve been reading my posts, you probably know that my advice to get there is to give meditation a try.
I don’t want to sound cliché, but it is true that we are what we eat … and think! So if you want a better you, choose your food and thoughts wisely.
Love,
Irene
