Success Stories: Norma Got Smart(er) and Beat the Munchies!

Norma had developed a bad habit of munching on pretzels every night after dinner.  No sooner did she get up from the table than she started on her quarter pound of pretzels.  She wasn't hungry for them, just hooked on the munchies! To kick the habit, I suggested that we add a "no snack" line to her workout reporting chart. It's interesting to me that as soon as she became accountable, she was able to gain control of her behavior.  She stopped munching two weeks ago (with the exception of one night when she had a "small snack.")

Norma's results, in her own words: "I mentioned yesterday that I tried on my dress pants without the pantyhose, and they were comfortable. This morning I put them on with pantyhose and they were actually loose. If this keeps up, I will soon go from a size 8 to a 6, which I've never been in my entire life. I think I was born at least a size 10 :-)"

Being in control and managing your weight are behaviors we all can benefit from.  And there's also a hidden benefit to the brain.  Delayed gratification builds the pre-frontal cortex, which stops you from repeated patterns of behavior.  When I shared this with Norma, she said, "Thought I felt a little smarter this week!  Although the evening hunger pangs are difficult to ignore, it really does feel like quite an accomplishment when I don't give in to them.  I'm going to try to use this new power in other areas of my life."