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| 9.8 | Diet Tip - Distract Yourself from Food Cravings with Mind Puzzles |
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How to fight hunger, distract yourself from food cravings and make dieting easier by doing mind puzzles.
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 According to thefreedictionary.com, a habit is “A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.” Food cravings, light all habits, bubble up from our subconscious. We do not choose to crave certain foods. Our subconscious mind chooses it for us. Many people are discouraged when the subject of subconscious thought comes up. If it is below conscious control, what can we do? How can we ever hope to manage our cravings? The good news is that your subconscious mind can be trained. You can actually take advantage of the power of your complete mind to make dieting easier.
The trick to controlling your subconscious mind is to interrupt the pattern of behavior. Certain triggers (like smells, images or feelings) cause the cravings to come up. From the initial trigger, a pattern of behavior emerges. For example, the image of a certain food on television creates an almost irresistible urge to get up and go to the refrigerator for that snack. To interrupt this pattern, give your mind something else to think about.
When you get that initial craving, use this as a trigger to do a mind puzzle. Once your brain is focused on this new goal, the subconscious craving will go away.
When I get that flash of hunger, I instantly start doing what is called an N-Back puzzle in my mind. I start saying random numbers and try to remember the sequence for three numbers back. For example, I start by saying “3, 9, 1, 20”, then I say the last three numbers in the sequence and add another number. “9, 1, 20, 7” and so on “1, 20, 7, 1”. This is enough to keep my mind busy and forget about the craving.
 
Smart phones make this very easy to do. When you get that craving, turn on the phone and play a mind game. Many N-Back games are available. You could also try crossword puzzles or matching games. If you do not have a smart phone yet, get one already! It makes many things in your life much easier.
Good luck!
Let me know if I can help in any way.
Jett Brenner
jett@succinctsuccess.com
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