In the previous post about irresistible urges, the message was sent out terse and unforgiving. In this post, I think I’d ought to elaborate on the justification for that.
The first assumption that I am going to make is that we as human beings do not relate to our food rationally on a energy requirement basis. If we did, then every single unit of energy needed for growth, repair and activity would be consumed to a precise balance, and we would magically stop eating by losing all fathomable further urges for food consumption.
It doesn’t work because the while the body can sense energy intake, it doesn’t do it very well. It doesn’t work because our energy needs change through the day, and we are restricted to when we can eat. Finally, it doesn’t work because so many stimuli, from fluctuating ghrelin to watching a McDonald’s ad can stimulate an urge to eat.
We need a philosophy of food because we need some guidelines to prevent us from steering into dangerously unhealthy territory. Such a philosophy also serves as a source of comfort; a way to tell ourselves that we are doing something right; a way of self acceptance and approval. This is something that no external body can give the individual, and thus an individual philosophy is needed
Hence, this post becomes a sharing of my personal philosophy towards food, and the guidelines that I believe are important.
I separate my philosophy into 5 levels: Acceptance, Ostensibility, Objectivity, Ascendency, Appreciation
Let’s run through them one by one.
Acceptance
This means acknowledging the fact that we as human as fallible to our own device if we do not keep ourselves in check. Take a chocolate addict and put some chocolate in his/her house. The question is not “whether a binge will occur”, it is “when will a binge occur”.
Acceptance means that we become aware of this tendency and gear our mindset to take the next step. Which is…
Ostensibility
An ostensible fact may appear to be true, but may not actually be. For example, we may treat an acquaintance to lunch with the ostensible purpose of having a nice chat, but with the real reason of forging a business relationship in the future. That still doesn’t take away from the value of the lunch at the table.
In the case of food, we first need to tackle the apparent reasons; the triggers that we cannot explain. We need to get every single bit of chocolate out of the chocolate addict’s house.
Another example would be to eat lots of protein before a big social event to prevent oneself from bingeing at the event. We basically need to take the short-term practical solution to our problems.
Objectivity
Only after we have done that, are we out of “binge mode”, and have the clarity of thought to consider the true reasons as to why things occur. Now we are in a position to consider…
Ascendency
This means to occupy a position of dominant power. In this case, we want to occupy a dominant role over our “natural” urges. This comes in various names (Self-Discipline, Self-Restraint, etc) which all point towards a common goal of letting objectivity prevail.
To the chocolate addict, this means being able to have chocolate in the house and not binge, perhaps avoiding chocolate altogether.
Appreciation
The final step is the ideal. It is where one faces the old problem and manages to embrace a solution that satisfies the individual precisely amid uncontrollable external factors.
For the chocolate addict, this means being able to enjoy chocolate on a regular basis without ever feeling the urge to binge. The addict has changed his/her relationship with chocolate. Now it’s time to move on to to squash other “addictions”.
Final Words
How one moves from each step to the next is always the hardest part. To that, I’ve got no generic answer. Neither can I say that I can achieve that final step with all my urges. The best one can do is to keep them in mind, and keep on trying.
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