After the post-Halloween sugar surge, everyone coaches you to get the candy out of your house. This is terrific, but many people solve the problem by taking it straight to the office. Yes, it’s now off of your kitchen cabinet, but you've just relocated it to the filing cabinet all day.
And, as the holiday season marches onward, the treats and snacks and goodies start piling up, all red and green, from M&Ms to Cupcakes, on meeting room tables, receptionist’s desks, and most of all … in the break room.
The short term problem
If food is in front of you, you’ll eat it. Sad as it sounds, the mere presence of food is enough to stimulate eating. You can say you’ll be strong (and maybe you can for a while), but sooner or later you give in and have just a couple of those candies, cakes or whatever.
Face it. Food stimulates feeding.
The long term problem
Practice makes perfect. If you practice eating throughout the day, you will become very good, very skilled, at eating throughout the day. Plus, your body comes to expect it, to crave another nibble, and to nag you for that next treat. This is how you create the conditions of long-term overconsumption simply by keeping food around your house or office.
Now what do we do?
Remember that our physiology is a flat out miracle, and adapts to whatever you give it. Not only is it true that “you are WHAT you eat”, but you also become “HOW you eat.” So use the incredible adaptability of your body in your favor by improving your habits.
First of all, you can control your desk. Don’t keep nibbles and snacks there “just in case” because this becomes your rationale-in-advance for eating foods you should not eat.
Set a firm rule for yourself. You don’t eat at work, you eat at lunch. Some can flip a switch and just not eat at work. But, if you are tempted by the red and green dye atop the cupcakes, get a cup of water from the cooler or hot tea and move away. Being out of the proximity of the food will remove the temptation.
In fact, replacing the craving for snacks with something to drink – like water or tea – is a great way to give you something to do with your hands, while enjoying a zero calorie beverage at the same time! These simple guidelines will definitely keep you moving on The PATH to lower weight over the holidays.
Dr. Will Clower is the award-winning author of The Fat Fallacy and founder of The PATH Curriculum, The PATH Online, and Newsletter. The PATH: America’s weight solution. Dr. Clower can be reached on his website www.fatfallacy.com. willclower@fatfallacy.com | 
