Probably the most common excuse I heard for dietary indiscretion from my patients was that they just couldn’t control their diet when under some stressful situation. The cravings got the better of them.It sounds reasonable. Psychologists write about elephants and riders and multiple selves fighting with one another because that’s how most people tend to react. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We are not that helpless.
I have applied the techniques of activating the pleasure receptors over my quitting smoking - I am definitely feeling GOOD about NOT smoking - and the thought of smoking itself is just so disgusting.
Applying these same techniques to making better decisions about eating habits will be more difficult, however I don't expect this to happen overnight. I am slowly noticing (and giving myself credit and pleasure feelings) when I CHOOSE not to eat something even though in theory I could (but I know that in the long term - that little something will turn into a bucket of little somethings).
I don't plan on making excuses over my eating habits... It's not harder to pick up an apple instead of a muffin when I'm busy/stressed/worried/bored/whatever. If I ate the muffin then I CHOSE to eat the muffin, not because some other external magical force made me.
Lol. It's quite ridiculous really, the way we make excuses for ourselves as if we have no control over what we do.