 Obsessed with the marshmallow? | |
A pretty cool (and long!) article in The New Yorker: Dept. of Science: Don’t!: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker
I think some of the things there could be successfully applied to Atkins, when one is tempted to eat candy/cake/pasta/potato/etc.
An excerpt from the article: Quote: |
At the time, psychologists assumed that children’s ability to wait depended on how badly they wanted the marshmallow. But it soon became obvious that every child craved the extra treat. What, then, determined self-control? Mischel’s conclusion, based on hundreds of hours of observation, was that the crucial skill was the “strategic allocation of attention.” Instead of getting obsessed with the marshmallow—the “hot stimulus”—the patient children distracted themselves by covering their eyes, pretending to play hide-and-seek underneath the desk, or singing songs from “Sesame Street.” Their desire wasn’t defeated—it was merely forgotten. “If you’re thinking about the marshmallow and how delicious it is, then you’re going to eat it,” Mischel says. “The key is to avoid thinking about it in the first place.”
| For me singing is out of question as I don't want to force everybody to evacuate the building, but I have two office mates... maybe they want to play hide-and-seek with me. 
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"The truth is that temptation lurks everywhere, unless you deny yourself a social and working life and the attendant pleasures of eating out. I believe that the best way to overcome temptation is not with willpower, which is so often in short supply, but with our brain power, a potentially unlimited resource.
Imagine that you're doing great, losing weight, feeling better than ever, thrilled with yourself, hearing compliments from friends and acquaintances---and then it happens! Despite all your good intentions, you're mightily tempted by a food you're not supposed to have. What to do? I'll tell you this: You'd better have a strategy ready!"
(Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, Chapter 19)
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