Do something Friday

Here's an interesting concept -- Chris Brogan just ask the question:

Who's setting your plate?

He was specifically talking about our seemingly pathological compulsion to grab our phones off our nightstands as our first act of business upon waking.

We need to check, right?  What if something happened while we were sleeping that requires our immediate attention?!  The quicker we know about it, the quicker we can fix it -- which means.....I'm not really sure what.

Ever watch a teenager try to suppress the reaction to check a text that rings in during dinner?  They're half way to their phone before it registers their phone shouldn't even be at the table -- let alone be answered.  Once this thought makes it all the way to their consciousness, they have to fight and squirm and stress that something might be going on that they should know about.  Sometimes it takes a great deal of willpower just to get through the rest of dinner!

Both of these situations are good examples of how we let others control our choices.  We actively reinforce the idea reacting to stimulus is the appropriate response to the world.

So then it is no great surprise when we engage in this reaction behavior in other situations, too.  Like when a commercial come on and triggers us to go get a snack.  We're not hungry -- but a commercial came on, so that's what we do.

Someone brings cookies into work.  Maybe you don't even like cookies -- but you eat one (or as many as you can get away with without embarrassing yourself) because they are in the break room.

A group of your friends decide to grab a bite after work -- you aren't really hungry but you order a full dinner away because that is what they all ordered.

Reactions.  It's exhausting.  Constantly assessing what we should be doing by what others are doing. 

Honestly, it's no way to live.  Yes....sometimes our behavior needs to be based on what others are doing.  But always?  Should we live like this is an appropriate state of affairs?

I don't think so. 

This weekend take some time to notice how many of your eating behaviors happen in response to something else.  If you can isolate your common triggers, you really only have to start changing a couple of them to make a big difference in the number of bite you consume each day!  Remember, we're only shooting for a 9 bite reduction each day.  (eliminate one break room cookie and you're 1/3 of the way there!)

Act.  Chose.  Decide for yourself.  You are the only one who is going to have to live with the body and life you create.  Others will be effected, sure.  But you have to live with you 24/7.