Saying No to the Cookie

Food Noise vs Willpower

“Food noise” is the new catch phrase in the world of GLP-1s. “What does a GLP-1 do,” I ask Siri, Alexa, ChatGPT, Google. “It quiets food noise,” they say in unison. But what if you could quiet food noise without injecting yourself with drugs? Wouldn't you rather do that? Or have you tried and failed so many times that you’ve finally thrown in the towel? It makes sense that you’re frustrated and continue to fail. According to Neuroscience News, “Every act of resisting temptation actively drains a finite cognitive reservoir. Because modern environments demand constant resistance, willpower reserves are rapidly depleted, leaving the mind exhausted.”  (neurosciencenews.com) 

Proactive Control

According to Stanford neuroscientists, practicing “proactive control”⎼⎼the act of removing the temptation altogether⎼⎼is a highly successful way to bypass temptation. Proactive control can look like many things. It can be avoiding a social gathering where you know there might be excessive drinking if you’re giving up alcohol. It can be cleaning out your fridge and pantry, removing those sugary snacks if you’re giving up sugar. It can be distracting yourself in a way that the temptation is no longer at the forefront of your mind.

Say No to the Cookie

Today, I walked into the breakroom to fill my water bottle. On the table, there was a plastic container of store-bought chocolate chip cookies. Yesterday (Sunday), I meditated in my garage, and at the end of the meditation I set an intention for the week. My intention was to be healthy, so the cookies were taunting me, trying to sabotage my efforts. As water filled my Stanley, I repeated the mantra in my head: “Say no to the cookie.” By the time I reached my desk, I knew those cookies would be calling out to me all day. I needed to come up with a distraction.

Dopamine Hit

I decided that doing research and writing were the right distraction for me. But, believe me, eating a cookie sounds like way more fun. According to Healthline, “Your sensory nervous system is always monitoring for actions you can take that will deliver a hit of dopamine, the brain’s reward chemical. We’re wired to seek out pleasure.” (Healthline.com)

So I asked the question: what happens if I rewire my brain by switching my distraction—finding a new source of dopamine that isn't a cookie?  What if researching, writing, and posting a blog article give me an even bigger hit? The time it takes for me to research, write, and create a nice graphic to go along with the article will be the distraction (and meanwhile, the cookies are being eaten by my colleagues), and then sharing the article link on Pinterest will be the reward. I will receive the dopamine hit when I have a live post that will inspire and enlighten others. 

Daily Triggers

In the article “The Science of Habit” (Healthline.com), it says, “Habits are actions that are triggered by cues, such as a time of day, an activity, or a location. They culminate in a feel-good reward that, through repetition, firmly links the cue and the reward in the brain.” This habit loop can lead to unhealthy behaviors. The article gives the example of being stressed at work and taking a 15-minute break to smoke a cigarette. Then any time your body experiences stress, it becomes a trigger to reach for that cigarette.

For me, the trigger is boredom. When I get bored at work or even at home, I walk into the break room or the kitchen and reach for food. At home, I’ve been able to break this habit by removing unhealthy snacks entirely. Now, I am forced to prepare food, which sometimes I do, but other times I choose a different distraction—like meditation, yoga, or taking the dog for a walk.

Breaking the Habit Loop

But at work, I can’t throw away the cookies in the break room—there would be a revolt. And even if I did throw them away, tomorrow it will be donuts, and the next day bagels. There are weekly temptations in the break room, so I need to find ways to distract myself throughout the day. To break this habit loop, I will not rely on willpower (it’s let me down too much), instead I’m challenging myself to remove the temptation by substituting the routine. Instead of mindlessly walking to the breakroom, I will write, take a brief walk, text my kids, or do research to learn something new.

I will say no to the cookie. Will you join me?