DAY 7: Food Shui

Day 7 of the program is arranging your environment to reduce or eliminate triggers to eat.

Since I'm unemployed, rearranging my work environment isn't possible. I do remember the tradition of Friday morning doughnuts or bagels and that blasted vending machine, a wellspring of chocolate bars and cookies, because I never was able to resist any of it. So I see the benefit of rearranging the work environment, and I'll revisit this step when I'm working again.

And I already know I can't have dangerous foods in the house, or I'd eat them. Hiding them from myself wouldn't work! For necessary staples that could be turned into dangerous foods, I have the ARC posted in my cupboard and on the refrigerator. So I won't be rearranging my home environment either, but I'm covered, and so far, so good.

But this step does annoy me a little bit. The idea that everyone around me should rearrange an environment to accommodate my weakness is too presumptuous. Dr. Beck addresses this concern with Response Cards that boil down to, "It won't really bother people and why should it?" I don't find that a realistic response, so I'm not sure how I will implement this step when it applies to my life again.

For now, I will continue to keep dangerous foods out of the house and post my ARC in front of all other food.

This step does peripherally address something I struggle with. When I host potluck parties, which I do at least once a month, I end up with a lot of leftovers. And those leftovers are usually foods that aren't good for my diet... I've tried convincing my guests to take the food with them and convincing myself to throw away what they leave behind, but I'm not always successful with those efforts. So this Response Card will help me:

Sabotaging Thought: I don't want to waste food by throwing it out.
Helpful Response: If I don't throw it out, I'll be at risk for "wasting" it in my body, where it'll turn to fat. Which is a better way to waste it?

I'll be reading this card religiously because my next party is only 5 days away.