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My Five Eating Danger Zones

Ever since finishing Mindless Eating, I've been hyper-aware of the environments and situations in which I eat. One of the points in that book is that its not that we are unaware of the nutritional choices we make but more so that our emotional side kicks in and takes over regardless of hunger or health.

 Think about the Rider / Elephant metaphor from the Heath brothers' book, Switch. Our logical side (the Rider) is well aware a donut is not a healthy choice, and its easy to tell ourselves not to eat a donut when they're not around. But then, you have a coworker bring in a box of Krispy Kremes, and your emotional side (the Elephant) says it's game on. Despite the fact that we know the donut is bad for us, we don't care and scarf down five of them.

 (Okay, maybe five is an exaggeration for most people, but... well... that's not an exaggeration for me. 😌)

 That said, I thought I'd share my five biggest "danger zones" as a means for you to think through what your own danger zones are. I'll come back in another post and talk about strategies to mitigate those danger zones.

1. The office. Easily my biggest danger zone. Easily. A coworker brings in a box of donuts? I'm there. A team is celebrating an accomplishment with lunch? Count me in. Those peanut butter M&Ms in the vending machine? Calling my name. Without a doubt, this is the place where I mindlessly eat most often. After all, it's not like free food is appearing in my house on a regular basis. I definitely suspect you all can relate with me here!

 2. Mornings when I serve at church. I serve on the Tech Team at Eastview Christian Church once or twice a month, and as a thanks for serving, they provide breakfast for us volunteers. Donuts before services begin and a full hot breakfast in between services. I'm talking full on breakfasts. I am super grateful for this gesture but have found myself over indulging at times. Like if we're having breakfast pizza and I go back later to find lots of lefties, I will definitely snag a couple extra slices. It's an epidemic!

 3. Family get-togethers. Whether it's celebrating a birthday, enjoying a Thanksgiving feast, or simply just hanging out, food is always in abundance. And I. Lack. Self control. My mom has gigantic dinner plates, and you know I'm filling every square inch of that thing. Nothing is safe when I'm around! I always feel miserable driving home because I never know when to stop.

 4. At restaurants with friends. When you go out with friends, you obviously go because you want to enjoy their company, and I just don't feel right sticking around, hogging a table, just to extend that time with them. To that end, I'm always ordering extras. More appetizers. More chips and salsa. And how about some dessert? Wait staff have to love guys like me.

 5. Long car trips. I'm a weirdo that love gas stations and truck stops. When my wife and I went to Carbondale a few weeks back, I got stupidly excited when I saw the variety of snacks this one particular gas station had. (There's such thing as a CHERRY Sprite Zero?) When I'm driving on the road, all I can do is think about eating. And because eating is one of the few things I can do while driving, that's what ends up happening.

 What are your danger zones? Could you relate to any of the ones I shared? I'm already adopting some strategies to help myself out, so look forward to that post in the future!
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