The End of Food Temptation

You start each morning with the promise to be “good” today.

You’ll refuse the baked goods at the office. You’ll speed past that fast food place at lunch. You’ll turn a blind eye to the vending machine in the mid-afternoon. And you’ll pass on the ice cream after dinner.

But… you hadn’t counted on the fact that a box of your favorite donuts would be sitting in the break room. Or that co-workers would invite you to join them for fast food place at lunch. Or that Girl Scouts would come through the office after school with boxes of thin mints. Or that your special someone would come home with a pint of Coffee Heath Bar Crunch.

And as you get into bed each night you tell yourself that tomorrow will be different.

Tomorrow you will conquer temptation.

But tomorrow comes with its own set of special circumstances and temptation gets the best of you once again.

Why Does Temptation Always Win?

We live in society where food temptations are everywhere.

• Walk through a store and you’ll see the unhealthy food items displayed front and center.
• Turn on the TV and you’ll be assaulted with commercials for fattening foods.
• Open a magazine and you’ll notice glossy pin-ups of sugary snacks.
• Go down the street and you’ll have restaurant signs clamoring for your attention.

In addition to the abundance of tempting edibles, you also have deeply ingrained positive associations with indulging.

• You treat tempting food as a reward.
• You turn to tempting food for comfort.
• You rely on tempting food as stress relief.
• You allow tempting food to become a habit.

It’s Your Turn to Win

Temptation doesn’t need to have the upper hand on you anymore. It’s time to fight back using your most powerful asset: your brain.

Your mind is an amazing thing. Once it is made up about something it is nearly impossible to change it.

A Matter of Perspective

Imagine for a moment that you’re peacefully floating down a river in an inner tube. The sun is out, the birds are chirping, and you are having a wonderful time. You feel great about the river because it is making you feel good.

Now imagine that you are in a plane flying over the river. Your eye is immediately drawn to an enormous rocky waterfall. You look up the river and just around the bend is a person floating in an inner tube, having a wonderful time, headed straight for the treacherous falls.

Do you think that after your plane ride you’d be happy to get an inner tube and float down the river? Of course you wouldn’t. You’ve seen that the river spells disaster.

You now have a negative association (watery death) with the river rather than your initial positive association (relaxing fun).

Overcoming temptation is all about building negative associations in place of existing positive ones. Use the 2 steps below to harness the power of your mind to become stronger than any temptation.

Step One: Create a Strong Negative Association with all the BAD STUFF

• If cookies and chips and burgers are put on a pedestal in your mind as your favorite things to eat, then you will always eat unhealthy and will continue to gain weight.
• What do you dislike about tempting food?
  • It makes you unhealthy.
  • It causes weight gain.
  • It drains your energy.
  • It kills your confidence.
  • It degrades your quality of life.
  • It hurts your love life.
• Every time that you encounter tempting food items focus on your list of negatives. It’s time to kick those cookies off the pedestal and to put something healthy in its place.

Step Two: Create a Strong Positive Association with all the GOOD STUFF

• Now that your mental pedestal has been cleared, put healthy food items on it. Juicy fresh fruit, crispy vegetables and savory lean meats are a great place to start.
• What do you love about healthy food?
  • It makes you healthy.
  • It causes weight loss.
  • It boosts your energy.
  • It builds your confidence.
  • It improves your quality of life.
  • It enhances your love life.
• Immerse yourself into the world of healthy food. Browse the aisles of a natural food store. Walk through a farmer’s market. Bring healthy snacks to work. Clear your kitchen of anything unhealthy.

Using the technique above, you will soon find that healthy food is your favorite food.

And temptation will become a thing of your past.

• 2 tablespoons low-fat yogurt (try key-lime or lemon)
• Juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, torn
• 1 cup cubed cantaloupe
• 4 medium strawberries, stemmed and quartered
• 1/4 cup raspberries
• 1/4 cup blueberries

Directions

Whisk the yogurt, lime juice, and mint together in a medium bowl. Add the fruit and toss to combine. Serve.

Ingredients

For the Meat:

• 3/4 pound lean ground beef (90 percent lean or higher)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more to taste
• 1/3 cup water

For the dressing:

• 4 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:

• 2 hearts romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1/2 cup grated Cheddar
• 2 ounces baked corn tortilla chips (about 32 chips)

Directions

Ingredients

• 12 ounces whole-wheat lasagna noodles (15 noodles)
• 8 ounces lean ground beef (90 percent lean or higher)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 8 ounces portobello mushrooms, diced (about 3 large mushroom caps)
• 4 cups good quality store-bought marinara sauce
• 1 (15 ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 3 ounces grated part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 2/3 cup)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cook the noodles al dente according to the directions on the package. Drain them well then lay out on waxed paper to prevent them from sticking to each other.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until no longer pink, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks, about 3 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate, discarding any fat remaining in the pan.

Add the oil to the same pan and heat over a medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until all the liquid has evaporated and they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Return the meat to the pan. Stir in 2 cups of the tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes.

In a medium bowl combine the ricotta cheese, spinach, egg, the salt, the pepper and nutmeg.

Spread 1 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Place a layer of lasagna noodles on top, touching but not overlapping. Spread half of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles. Add another layer of noodles. Top with half the beef-mushroom mixture. Repeat with another layer of noodles, then remaining cheese mixture, more noodles, then remaining beef mixture and finally 1 more layer of noodles. Top the final layer of noodles with the remaining sauce, then sprinkle with the grated cheeses. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more.

Nutritional analysis per serving

Calories 530; Total Fat 16 g; (Sat Fat 7 g, Mono Fat 5 g, Poly Fat 0.75 g) ; Protein 35 g; Carb 62 g; Fiber 9 g; Cholesterol 90 mg; Sodium 1150 mg

Excellent source of: Protein, Fiber, Vitamin A, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Zinc

Good source of: Folate, Copper, Magnesium

Ingredients

• 1 cup Texmati brown rice
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1/4 cup Champagne or rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon good olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound ripe tomatoes, large-diced
• 1 cup packed basil leaves (1 large bunch), chopped

Directions

Bring 2 1/4 cups water to a boil and add the rice and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Return to a boil, cover, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the rice is tender and all the water is absorbed. Transfer the rice to a bowl.

Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, remaining teaspoon of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Pour over the rice. Add the tomatoes and basil. Mix well and check the seasonings. Serve at room temperature.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons wheat germ
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch fine salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup peanut or walnut oil
• Maple syrup

Directions

Preheat a waffle iron to medium-high.

Whisk the flour with the oats, sugar, wheat germ, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, then add the milk, butter, and oil.

Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon, to make a batter. Take care not to over work the batter, it’s fine if there are a few lumps.

Pour 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter per waffle (it depends on the size of your waffle iron) and cook until the outside of the waffle is crisp and inside is cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. (The time varies depending on the size and spread of a waffle iron). Serve warm with maple syrup. Repeat with remaining batter.

Ingredients

• 12 ounces whole-wheat lasagna noodles (15 noodles)
• 8 ounces lean ground beef (90 percent lean or higher)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 8 ounces portobello mushrooms, diced (about 3 large mushroom caps)
• 4 cups good quality store-bought marinara sauce
• 1 (15 ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 3 ounces grated part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 2/3 cup)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cook the noodles al dente according to the directions on the package. Drain them well then lay out on waxed paper to prevent them from sticking to each other.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until no longer pink, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks, about 3 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate, discarding any fat remaining in the pan.

Add the oil to the same pan and heat over a medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until all the liquid has evaporated and they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Return the meat to the pan. Stir in 2 cups of the tomato sauce and simmer for 2 minutes.

In a medium bowl combine the ricotta cheese, spinach, egg, the salt, the pepper and nutmeg.

Spread 1 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Place a layer of lasagna noodles on top, touching but not overlapping. Spread half of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles. Add another layer of noodles. Top with half the beef-mushroom mixture. Repeat with another layer of noodles, then remaining cheese mixture, more noodles, then remaining beef mixture and finally 1 more layer of noodles. Top the final layer of noodles with the remaining sauce, then sprinkle with the grated cheeses. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more.

Nutritional analysis per serving

Calories 530; Total Fat 16 g; (Sat Fat 7 g, Mono Fat 5 g, Poly Fat 0.75 g) ; Protein 35 g; Carb 62 g; Fiber 9 g; Cholesterol 90 mg; Sodium 1150 mg

Excellent source of: Protein, Fiber, Vitamin A, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Zinc

Good source of: Folate, Copper, Magnesium

Ingredients

Makes 2 servings, about 3/4 cup each

1/2 cup rolled oats (quick or old-fashioned)

1/2 cup low-fat 1% milk

1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt

1/4 cup natural unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp almonds, coarsely chopped

1 tsp pumpkin seeds

1/4 tsp low-calorie sugar substitute

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir well, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Serve chilled.

Ingredients

Makes 2 servings

1 medium banana, sliced into chunks and frozen

1/4 cup fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries

1/4 cup fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries

1-1/2 cups low-fat (1%) milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Directions

In a blender, combine all ingredients except cinnamon. Blend 20 seconds or more until smooth. Pour into glasses and garnish with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

4 (about 3/4 lb total weight) boneless center cut organic pork loin chops, medium thickness

1/2 cup bottled reduced-fat balsamic vinaigrette

Nonstick olive oil flavor cooking spray

1/2 cup shallots, thinly sliced

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup dried cherries

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Place pork and vinaigrette in shallow baking dish and turn once to coat; marinate 10 to 15 minutes. Spray a medium skillet with nonstick cooking spray and place over medium heat. Lift pork, shake off excess marinade and transfer to skillet, reserving marinade in dish. Sauté pork chops until brown, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer chops to a plate. Add shallots to skillet and stir until softened, about 1 minute. Add chicken broth, cherries and reserved marinade. Bring to a low boil. Return chops to skillet and simmer until pork is cooked thoroughly, cherries are tender and the sauce has slightly reduced—about 3 minutes per side. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Serve chops on dinner plates, topped with cherry sauce.