Donut in my hand

Girls Gone Vegan (Nola) a "worth it" donut if ever there was one

I keep a notebook, next to my computer, during nutrition sessions. Sometimes I’ll write down a product a client wants me to research or a restaurant they suggest. Most of the time, I write down pearls such as “I looked down and there was a donut in my hand.”  My client added “my friend said she's experienced this too, please tell me why this happens.”

I explained the following to her. It doesn’t just “happen” in that no spell comes over us and places junk food in our hands. But it’s a symptom of what hasn’t happened. Things end up in your hands when you stroll into the kitchen with no idea what you’ll walk out with. Or, when you’re tired at work and something is sitting out. Things end up in your hands because your food was unplanned or because you didn’t specifically have a plan for the bread basket, business meeting or the food calling you as you walk home from a date.

Try these two things:

•  Every morning mentally walk through what you will have for each meal. Or, take it one step further and write or type this out.
• As you’re doing your walkthrough, try troubleshooting. Analyze the obstacles. For example, I’m going to walk into the office and there will be bagels, I’m not going to even pause in front of the platter. I’ll have my breakfast instead. Chances are the challenging situations are reoccurring. You want to avoid deliberation when you are tired or stressed.

To whatever degree you can, ban the unplanned. If things end up in your hands, you should enjoy them.