The easiest way to stop consuming some kind of food is simply to never buy it. If you don’t have it at home, you are not tempted to eat it.
(You still need the willpower at the shop—but how much time do you spend at the shop, compared to the time spent at home?)
But sometimes you do not live alone, and even if you want to stop eating something, other people sharing the same kitchen may not share your preferences.
I found out that asking them to cover the food by a kitchen towel works surprisingly well for me. If I don’t see it, the temptation is gone. Even if I perfectly know what is under the towel. Heck, even if I look under the towel and then put it back.
Of course, what works for me may not work for you. But if feels important for me to figure out that I am most vulnerable to visual temptations.
Now I should spend some time thinking how else could I use this knowledge now. What are the visual temptations in my environment, that could be made much weaker simply by covering them (even if I still know what is there)? Heh, maybe I should put a curtain over the kitchen door. (Or rather, always bring a bottle of water with me, because drinking is my most frequent reason to enter the kitchen.) Remove various kinds of autocomplete from web browser...
tl;dr—The surprising part is not that “out of sight, out of mind” works, but that it works even if I merely cover the tempting thing with a towel, despite knowing perfectly well what is under that towel. The trigger for temptation is the sight, not the knowledge.
Trivial inconvenience in action:
The easiest way to stop consuming some kind of food is simply to never buy it. If you don’t have it at home, you are not tempted to eat it.
(You still need the willpower at the shop—but how much time do you spend at the shop, compared to the time spent at home?)
But sometimes you do not live alone, and even if you want to stop eating something, other people sharing the same kitchen may not share your preferences.
I found out that asking them to cover the food by a kitchen towel works surprisingly well for me. If I don’t see it, the temptation is gone. Even if I perfectly know what is under the towel. Heck, even if I look under the towel and then put it back.
Of course, what works for me may not work for you. But if feels important for me to figure out that I am most vulnerable to visual temptations.
Now I should spend some time thinking how else could I use this knowledge now. What are the visual temptations in my environment, that could be made much weaker simply by covering them (even if I still know what is there)? Heh, maybe I should put a curtain over the kitchen door. (Or rather, always bring a bottle of water with me, because drinking is my most frequent reason to enter the kitchen.) Remove various kinds of autocomplete from web browser...
tl;dr—The surprising part is not that “out of sight, out of mind” works, but that it works even if I merely cover the tempting thing with a towel, despite knowing perfectly well what is under that towel. The trigger for temptation is the sight, not the knowledge.