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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Dealing with Food: Favor Pleasure Seeking Over Pain Avoidance (Encore)

Sunday February 17, 2002

We hear so much about food cravings and so many folks seem to have them. Thus, it may be of interest to ask the following: What effect might a self-managing lifestyle have on mitigating such tendencies? Would it reduce cravings for harmful substances? Would it help you avoid succumbing to extreme self-abuse? As Barry Goldwater might have said, more or less: Extremism is one thing; moderate self-abuse is something else.

I'm sure you can guess my take on these rhetorical questions! A self-managing mindset will diminish cravings for addictive, demeaning treats taken to excess of one kind or another. This is simply one more reason to go to the trouble of crafting a disciplined outlook and lifestyle.

Recall that this recommended lifestyle is based upon a conscious desire for advanced states of physical and psychological well-being. It does not occur overnight; on the contrary, you must learn, apply, test, and refine proven principles in varied dimensions, including self responsibility, physical fitness, nutritional awareness, communications skills, and a delight in humor and play consistent with the pursuit of optimal functioning. All of these qualities temper the need for negative substances and thus mitigate cravings. In lieu of cravings, the self-manager lusts for varied aspects of a healthy life. As long as lusting is done in good taste, in a non-pushy atmosphere, what's the harm, really? Actually, good taste is in the individual palate -- recall the Latin principle, De gustibus non disputatum est (there is no accounting for taste).

The first principle of self-management, if there were a hierarchy of such values, would be this: seize every opportunity to embrace personal responsibility. Be accountable for all choices made as well as foregone. Shun the all-too human tendency to make excuses, to blame something or someone else for your situation or problems, or to allow yourself to be painted (by yourself or others) as a victim, a casualty of your gender, the other gender, fate, clever merchandisers, genes, or some other factor outside your control. Cravings are simply another category of personal choices to make or not to make -- and are no different from hundreds of others choices, for better or worse, day in and day out.

Do you continue to maintain a disciplined lifestyle (wellness) or do you set your goals and best aspirations aside for a while, in order to indulge in dysfunctional short-term pleasures that detract from your larger purposes? Part of effective self-management is a capacity to forego the easy selection with the immediate payoff.

I'll offer a few more principles tomorrow. Take care, be well and look on the bright side.

Subdomain: adaptations and challenges

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