Drift

Gretchen, at The Happiness Project, mentioned drift the other day. She describes it as "...the decision you make by not deciding..."

Isn't that how most of us get to the weight we are? We might be focused on a diet for a while but then life happens, other things take priority and, well, we drift. We drift mentally (thinking about higher priority things)and physically (our weight is drifting upwards). We don't mean for it to happen -- like much of life, it just does.

I was stopped in the hall at work today and asked for my opinion of the South Beach Diet. My response was "Well...it will definitely work. If you follow it, you will lose weight. But what will you learn from the diet that you will keep doing once you are done dieting? How will the diet change your behavior after the diet is done?"

We drift into diets all the time. New Year's Resolutions -- perfect example. We drift into the extra 3 bites of a dessert or entree that we don't really need. We drift into ordering a soda with our meal when water would have suited us just as well.

What do we do about drift? Pay attention. Make decisions. It's okay to tell yourself "Not right now" -- as in "I don't need any more dinner right now". Are you going to die from that? Probably not. It might make perfect sense right now -- but why doesn't that happen when you are at the dinner table? Because we drift!

But with a little bit of attention, maybe not tonight.