As if!

Right out of college, I had a job doing nutrition counseling. I was so green, I really felt like I was making it up as I went along. But, one client stuck with me, I think because we were both surprised that I actually helped her a little.

She wanted to eat better, but hated to go to the grocery store. Now, there are a lot of different ways to eat healthy, but if you won't step foot into the grocery store, you've put up a wall that is just too high to climb. You simply have to go to the grocery store, or be lucky enough to have someone do it for you. I tried to problem solve with her, only to be met with "yeah, buts...". Finally, I said "Here's what I want you to do - for the next couple of weeks, I want you to pretend you don't hate going to the grocery store, and then go". It was a weird suggestion, but it was weird enough that she didn't have a "yeah, but" to give me.

The next time I saw her she told me that it worked - she pretended not to hate the grocery store, went grocery shopping, and found out that it wasn't that bad.

A lot of the healthy habits that we would like to have are sabotaged by our own "stinkin' thinkin". How many times have I grumbled about hating to exercise - making it feel like I'm walking through thick mud just to get my bum on that treadmill - only to remember that it's really not that bad, and actually feels good once it's done.

Next time you find yourself hating something that's actually good for you, try this trick - act as if you don't hate it. Teachers use this technique when they assign students a debate topic that is opposite of what the student really believes. When you are forced to act as if you believe something, you actually end up closer to believing it.