by Marty Copeland

"There hath no temptation taken you but such that is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

To escape means, "to get away, to avoid a threatening evil."

After many years of progressing in this area, I have learned that there are times when it is simply smarter to avoid temptation altogether. Common sense tells us that just as an alcoholic who quit drinking last Tuesday should not get a job as a bartender, neither should an overeater hang out with food. I'm not trying to minimize the difficulty that it might entail to quit drinking, but rather pointing out the obvious. We must eat to live! While there are many people challenged simply by making the right nutritional choices, the observation from my own experience with past overeating habits and with the habits of those I have counseled is that the greatest challenge most overeaters must face is simply to stop eating once we start. This is especially hard if your mother always told you "to clean your plate!" Whether our dieting/overeating lifestyles have nullified our hungry/full response, or whether we have become masters at ignoring that response altogether, we must take measures to address this issue wisely.

Even when temptation cannot be avoided, it can certainly be outsmarted. Until enough self-control to hang out with food at the end of a meal is developed, here are some preplanned ideas that are tested and tried. First, whether you are making your own dinner or eating off a buffet line, you must consider that you are preparing a plate for a friend who is hungry yet trying to be healthy. I have actually asked people who struggle in this area to pretend that I was coming over for dinner. Knowing that I was interested in healthy eating, yet not on a starvation diet, how would they prepare my plate? This simple exercise seemed to help them be more objective about their own portion sizes. The goal is to not let our appetite determine our portion size but rather our awareness of what we already know about health.

Second, you must take a few minutes to make a list of your top 10 "to do's." Each item on your list should involve an activity that requires getting your mind and your eyes off of food. That, of course, eliminates TV. Also, each "to do" should take about 10 to 20 minutes, although some may take longer. The activity should be productive but not overwhelming. Again, we are emphasizing the impact of small, progressive change.

Finally, you must make a quality decision before you start that at the moment of temptation you will pull from your "to do" list whenever it is possible to do so. This decision must supercede any feelings you might have about whether you want to continue eating or not. The decision has already been made that when you know that you have eaten enough food to satisfy hunger and nutritional needs, you will immediately "escape" your eating environment. Eliminate any feelings of deprivation by reminding yourself that you are not on a "diet" and you are free to eat again when you are hungry. You are simply training yourself to exercise control over food by taking action. You are developing the habit of self-control.

Because we are all at different levels and different seasons of our lives, you will want to custom design your own escape routes to accommodate your priorities and maximize your productivity. Needless to say, you will consistently need to update your list. Here are some ideas to help you get started.

1. Clean out and reorganize two dresser drawers or the top shelf of the hall closet.
2. Shoot a round of hoops with the kids or call that friend or relative you've been meaning to call for weeks.
3. Clean out and vacuum your car. If you have time, drive the car to the car wash.
4. Go through two stacks of the junk mail sitting on your desk.
5. Turn on some fun music and get the kids to each dust a piece of furniture with you.
6. Get the kids bathed, or if you don't have kids, give the dog a bath, or get a dog, or better yet, take a long, hot, relaxing bath without the kids or the dog.
7. Replace burnt-out light bulbs and then make a list of other household items you need from the store.
8. Throw a load of laundry in the washer and clean and reorganize the laundry room mess. Yes, I am assuming your laundry room is messy.
9. Go through one section of your closet and get rid of the stuff you never wear and put it in a bag to take to an outreach or have an organization such as Goodwill come and pick it up. Do another section of your closet next time and get rid of those extra hangers!
10. Go sit outside and think about your progress. You should quickly be noticing that you are more in control of your life. The point of taking on small tasks is because doing the whole job at one time is probably overwhelming, and that is why it has not already been done.

Please note that by using your "to do" list as a way of escaping temptation, you are accomplishing two very important goals at once. First, you are developing the habit of stopping your eating because you have decided to stop. You are developing this habit of control by choosing to get your mind off of food and taking the necessary action to do so. You will find your thinking process after eating begin to change, and this will continue to get easier.

Second, you are alleviating one of the major causes of stress in your life, which is too much to do in too little time. As your "to do" list consistently gets done, you will begin to enjoy your progress and your home more and more. Realizing how productive you can be in short quantities of time simply by being consistent will help rid the pressure of an "all or nothing" mentality. Gaining control of your time and reducing stress is an important part of a balanced lifestyle.

You might not know that there is another great benefit from developing the habit of getting your mind off of food for a while. When you recognize that you have eaten enough yet still don't feel satisfied, it should encourage you to know that it takes 10-20 minutes for your stomach to tell your head that it's full. So if you want dessert, delay it! By the time you're done with your after-meal activity, you'll probably find that you've lost the craving!