| Why You Must Find Some Low-Carb Friends |  |
I want you to imagine that you've been low-carbing for just
a week. And, though it was hard at first, you got through
the hard part. But carbs still tempt you at times.
So now you find yourself at a big family dinner. They have
quite a spread laid out in front of you. There is turkey and
there are veggies. That's the good news. But there are also
sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, and waiting
in the other room are pumpkin and dutch apple pies.
You haven't said anything to anyone in your family (except
your sister) about your diet. In fact you're worried what
your family would think if they found out.
You plan to just take a little of everything, and load up on
the turkey and veggies, and try to look normal, pushing the
food around on your plate inconspicuously.
Then your sister says, "Vivian is doing a low carb diet --
like that Atkins thing." A sudden hush falls over the room.
Then they start in. Isn't that dangerous? All that fat --
your cholesterol will go through the roof. Vivian, you're
not really doing that, are you? Here, have some more mashed
potatoes.
To prove you're not crazy you have a bite of mashed
potatoes. Then, after dinner, when dessert comes, you have
"just a sliver" of pie.
You think you did all right, but the carbs start to do their
dirty work. You start to fixate on the pie. You can't get it
out of your mind.
When no one's looking, you sneak another piece into your
hand, and make your way outside with it. You stand in the
corner of the garage with your pie, like a teenager sneaking
a cigarette. You chow down, and have a moment of desperate
satisfaction. You spend the rest of the night plotting how
to get more pie.
You tell yourself it's over. You're off the wagon. It will
be very difficult to break the addiction again. Maybe it's
not worth it. You're just doomed to be overweight, and
that's that.
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What just happened here?
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So, what just happened here?
Well, let's look at a little bit of human motivation theory.
We all have three big sources of motivation for our actions.
These sources can cooperate, or conflict with one another.
First, we have our ANIMAL URGES. In the days when fruit was
scarce and seasonal, it paid to gorge when one ran across a
fruit tree. By gorging on carbs our ancestors could quickly
store a few pounds for the coming winter. This was very
good, and often meant the difference between surviving and
not.
So part of our animal nature is to have a sweet tooth -- an
urge to eat carbohydrates. And especially, once we've eaten
some, to positively gorge ourselves on them. But now carbs
are superabundant. That useful urge now leads us to pack on
the pounds week after week -- not just in the late Summer.
Second, there are our SOCIAL INFLUENCES. We are, like it or
not, influenced by the opinions of others. We don't
typically like to do things that will bring objections from
those we care most about. This is often good, but, depending
on what opinions our friends and families have toward low
carb diets, this social sensitivity can spell disaster for
our diets.
Third, there is our RATIONAL SELF. We all have the ability
to decide what's best for us, somewhat independently of our
animal urges and the social influences around us.
Now, friend, since you subscribe to a low-carb newsletter,
it's a good guess that your rational self has decided that a
low-carb diet is the way for you to eat.
But your animal self still craves carbs, and will gorge on
them if given free reign. It's a battle, but you can win it.
But the battle becomes even more difficult when the social
influences around you are against you. When it's your
rational self against the world -- AND the animal within --
it can be too much to bear.
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So what can you do?
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So what can you do?
There are three main plans for action. I want to focus on
just one plan for action in this article. One way to avoid
the scene that opened this article is to work on getting the
social influences in your life squarely behind you. And
there are many ways to do this. Here are two biggies:
1. You can educate your family and friends, and request that
they support you. This might be difficult, but I've found
the following line to be deadly effective --
"I want to lose some weight, and I'm convinced that this
diet will help me reach my goals. I CAN COUNT ON YOU FOR
SUPPORT, CAN'T I?"
There's something about the wording of this request that
will make your friend or family member say "yes". It's
something about the positive, assumed, statement, followed
by the negative question. I don't know why it works, but
it's deadly effective, like I said. I've never had anyone
refuse me when I use this line.
2. Get some new low carb friends. This was the key step that
led me to finally succeed on my low carb diet. If you can
get your social influence going the way your brain says you
should go, then you have the ammunition you need to do
battle against your animal cravings.
The internet has made finding low carb friends easier than
ever. Go to Google or Yahoo and type in "low carb forum" and
find a group that seems like it has the kind of friendly and
supportive people that would best match your personality.
Join the forum (find a free one) and start participating.
It sounds so simple, but for many people this is truly the
key to staying on a low carb diet. If you haven't
participated in a low carb forum before, you might be
profoundly struck by the difference it makes to your
success. It's also fun to have friends who share your goals.
Alternately, you can try to find a "real world" support
group. You can get a start by visiting Google, and typing in
"low carb support group [your city]".
In summary, don't fight the animal alone. And especially,
don't fight the animal AND the whole world at the same time.
Get some low carb friends. It can truly be the difference
between success and failure.
About the Author:
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Jim Stone writes about low carb nutrition and human
motivation. You can read more of his articles by visting
http://www.the-low-carb-way.com or you can sign up for his
monthly newsletter at
http://www.the-low-carb-way.com/coffee.php
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