Hard Habits

I once attended a wellness seminar where the presenter made an argument that we are all dopamine addicts.  Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that gives us a feeling of pleasure.  The problem is that dopamine doesn’t accumulate and it doesn’t last very long.  For this reason we are always seeking out our next dose of dopamine from anything that can provide to us that feeling of pleasure.

One of the ways we gain pleasure is through food.  This is what makes changing eating habits a tremendous challenge to many people.  From an early age we are conditioned to associate unhealthy food with reward.  This could be in the form of a birthday cake, a piece of candy for a good deed, or going out for pizza for good grades.  Unfortunately, this behavior often carries on into adulthood and many of our bad eating habits are based on so-called “comfort” foods for a quick dopamine fix.  Once this connection is made in the brain, it’s very difficult to disconnect the association which is precisely what makes old habits hard to break.

While it may be true that disconnecting a feeling of pleasure can be difficult, you can always make a new association.  The same speaker who taught about dopamine shared with me a strategy that he uses with clients to make this new association.  You merely need to take your favorite self-sabotaging “comfort” food and eat it in front of a mirror while watching yourself.  Oh . . . and you will want to do this naked!  That’s right, totally nude.  How many servings of Rocky Road in the buff do you believe it would take to make you lose some pleasure in the tasty treat?  This may sound like a bizarre tactic, but it is based in science and basic brain chemistry.  Give it a try and I would love to know your results (rivertownchriowellness@gmail.com).