How to Use an Easy Mental Game to Help You Stay on Your Diet

If you buy every new diet book as soon as it's published, but you're still overweight, you probably blame your motivation (or your genes or your past...)

However, the kind of foods you eat now could be the problem - not just because the sugar and fat you consume is making you tubby, but because they're physically addictive.

Yes, it is entirely possible that you have the "wrong attitude" for dieting success, a feeling of sluggishness and a lack of enthusiasm when it comes to changing your diet, because your brain is trying to force you to eat the fattening food you're trying to avoid!

Have you ever heard the term "stinking thinking?" This is how the folks at Alcoholics Anonymous describe the mental battle that goes on inside the mind of anyone who is trying to give up a bad habit, and it applies to food addictions as well as alcoholism and drug addiction. It can even be a problem when you're trying to give up a purely emotional addiction, such as habitually spending too much money or watching too many reality shows on TV.

Here's how "stinking thinking" sabotages your diet: A thought comes into your mind that quickly becomes an obsessive desire for a "fix." You walk up to the lunch counter intending to order a salad, but find yourself wanting that ham sandwich with a side of fries, instead.

Unless you have trained your mind to recognize where those thoughts are coming from, and to turn your mind to something more positive and helpful, you'll be right back at the desert table, dishing up a second helping.

Most of us in the United States were not brought up in a culture that teaches truly conscious living. We are bombarded from birth with advertisements that encourage us to follow through on every desire, buy every trinket we crave, and eat everything on the plate. We can pay for it later, or so we're told.

In the case of fattening food, the payment comes in the form of excess bulk, poorly fitting clothes, and a poor self esteem. More importantly, we pay for poor eating habits at the doctor's office, when we're hit with the chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes that are a natural consequence of eating badly.

Since we've been taught that we can have anything we want as long as we want it bad enough, it's easy to see why "stinking thinking" has so much control over our minds.

Since awareness and control of our thoughts is so important if we're to succeed at losing weight, one of your best weapons against food cravings is meditation. People from every continent have been using various meditation techniques for thousands of years to bring their minds into conscious awareness. A good book on simple meditation techniques should be sitting on your bookshelf right next to your diet books.

If you'd like a fun and easy way to help yourself take control of obsessive thoughts, try this fun and easy little mental game:

Start by simply noticing when one of those obsessive thoughts pops into your mind, such as the subtle suggestion that "an ice cream cone sure would be good right about now..."

Then imagine this thought is being whispered into your ear by a tiny, evil-minded elf with a nasty sense of humor who is sitting on your shoulder. When I play this game, I imagine myself grabbing that little guy by his feet and then I pummel him into the floor. (Is it just a coincidence that he looks a bit like my ex?)

The thoughts and cravings will come again, of course, just like Wily Coyote, so feel free to use your imagination and "kill" the creature in the most ridiculous ways possible.

This mental exercise always brings a smile to my face, and the imaginative process magically erases the obsession - temporarily, of course.

The next time you find yourself "needing" a Quarter Pounder with Cheese or a second helping of Aunt Martha's Key Lime Pie, try this little mental trick. It could help you on your journey towards a thinner body and better health.