Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
By Colin E. Champ, MD, CSCS – Radiation Oncologist
After weeks of watching my diet, I find myself tranced while checking out at my local supermarket. The chip bags on my left…the M&Ms on my right. I know I shouldn’t, but I do it anyway, and in no time, I’m munching on a MilkyWay. Wait – what just happened? Why did I cave when I knew well those 264 calories were a bad idea? I fell victim to the phenomenon of instant gratification, and I’m not alone.
We live in a world of instant access, and this isn’t necessarily good news for our health. Fast food on nearly every corner, Uber eats to deliver whatever our craving desires, and Pizza Hut Express on your way out of Target. Temptation is everywhere, and we get what we want when we want it with little effort or thought.
There is actually a whole field of psychology dedicated to gratification. ‘Instant gratification’ is the desire to experience immediate pleasure or fulfillment instead of a better return in your future. You feel like you want something – and you want it now! Even though you know patience and discipline would yield a better reward, you cannot resist the urge of indulging in immediate bliss. “Damn it”, you say soon after.
The most common examples of instant gratification occur with food. The bad news is that need for gratification and pleasure from food ends up as extra weight on our thighs or a roll we would rather be without. And, there is no instant or pleasurable way to fix the consequence.
Here are some strategies to help you make the mindset switch from immediate to delayed gratification:
1) Is your health worth it? To fight the temptation for unhealthy eating, we must feel that eating well to maintain our health is WORTH it. Ask yourself, “Is that hamburger worth developing cardiovascular disease?” “Is that Snickers worth a cavity?” Whatever your eating impulse, ask yourself if it’s worth your future.
2) Trust in the outcome. To maintain healthy eating, we must feel it is worth pursuing BEFORE we have proof. No-one gets a small waistline after one day of eating healthy. We have to trust in the long-term outcome of our eating habits.
3) Make small but sustainable goals. Instant gratification stems from wanting everything right away, but overly ambitious diet goals often lead to failure. Examples of this can be in fast food. If you usually eat fast food daily, instead of quitting cold turkey, experiment with first limiting to maybe five times per week. Then, perhaps three, then one… then eventually none.
4) Reinforce your motivation with milestone rewards. Set small goals and reward yourself for their completion. That way, it gives you something to look forward to at each stage, and renews your motivation when you reach each milestone.
5) Distract and avoid. If the smell of fresh-baked pastries at Whole Foods causes your belly to rumble and your willpower to give in, skip those aisles. Don’t pack your pantry with junk food you can’t refuse. You will find it easy to resist the urges if you do not face the temptation at all.
We have the capacity to delay instant gratification. While toddlers have trouble with this, we should be able to manage!
Dr. Colin Champ, MD, CSCS
Dr. Colin Champ, MD, CSCS, is a radiation oncologist with board certifications in radiation oncology and integrative and holistic medicine. Dr. Champ is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, and his research interests include the prevention and treatment of cancer with lifestyle modification, including exercise and dietary modification.
Inspire Exercise Medicine
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