A Habit To Call My Own

Comfort food is something we crave when we are tired, sad, lonely, stressed or even happy. We all have our own favorite comfort food, for me it is Jack in the Box tacos. If you had this food as an adult for the first time, you would never eat it again, but still you are drawn to it. It is just not logical!

Here is the logic, the addition and craving you are feeling is emotional. You, like myself, can justify eating it because you think you will feel happy, content or calm. Deep down you know it will not make you feel better, but think it will subconsciously. After a while you actually start to believe it will make you feel better and because our minds believe this, you do feel better, but only for a short time.

As the taco is disappearing, a bite at a time, the guilt kicks in. You might have guessed this does not stop me from eating one taco, or even my second! I am sure you know this feeling, and it is very frustrating. I know I should not be eating the greasy and oddly textured taco, but I really feel like eating it. I have the same cravings, longing and urge to devour that taco, the same as you.

Annihilating the taco, is a habit and this habit was learned through different ways. For me, I remember being very young, seven or eight years old maybe. I was on the way to the beach in Southern California with my family. I remember my mom and aunt, talking about Jack in the Box tacos. They talked about how good and greasy they are. They would especially be perfect to buy and take to the beach to eat. We were all happy and having a good time. It was a warm, sunny day at the beach, and we were going to play and enjoy ourselves. We got the tacos and they were the most delicious tacos in the world. I remember some gritty sand getting onto some of my taco but it didn't matter, we were having a fantastic day. Important memories which are vivid typically are more influential than the everyday mundane memories.

Just the thought of getting a taco from Jack in the Box triggers good feelings and sends me into a taco craze! Sometimes the actual memory comes with it and sometimes it does not. It is important to understand how we relate feelings to different things in our lives, things like food, music or a voice.

I used to love Aerosmith. I would listen to their songs over and over again, and never get sick of them. All this changed in the 90's when I took my then girlfriend to an Aerosmith concert. Things did not get well and since then I don't care for their music, each song reminds me of her. This is just another example of how memories can influence simple things in our lives.

It's SoCal, the 70's, my family has a van with pin stripes, and the interior was tangerine orange with matching carpet. Yes it makes me laugh too! I was about six years old and encountered a large black widow spider in this van. My parents made me and my brothers' get out of the van quickly. For years I had an embarrassing fear of spiders. I was able to link it to this memory. I am now able to kill spiders, but if I see a big one I still get nervous, but nothing like it use to be.

When I hear my wife yelling my name, I know it is time for me to hide in the garage or look busy fast! Sometimes a stern voice makes me feel like I did something wrong or I am in trouble. Most people like me, feel like a child, especially when someone uses my first, middle and last name. This is just one more way we associate feelings or emotions, and hold on to those attachments.

Enough about me. The point of all this is to show you common sense examples of learned behaviors. Emotions associated with memories trigger very powerful, behind the scenes reactions and decisions in our minds.

1. Prev:Five Diet Scams To Avoid Like The Plague
2. Next:Natural Weight Loss - Healthy Weight Loss Advice