Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to steer clear of deprivation. When you're
Speaker 1: trying to take something out of your life, replace it
Speaker 1: with something else that's just a special. When this episode
Speaker 1: first airs, some listeners may have recently finished participating in
Speaker 1: Dry January, that is, they gave up alcohol for the
Speaker 1: month of January. Many people give something up for Lent
Speaker 1: each year. Or there may be things in your life
Speaker 1: that you're aiming to reduce or eliminate permanently as a
Speaker 1: new Year's resolution or as a long term goal. Perhaps
Speaker 1: you've given up soda or caffeine, or you're reducing how
Speaker 1: often you eat out or how much TV you watch.
Speaker 1: Lots of goals like these fail because deprivation is of fun.
Speaker 1: You used to have a cocktail with your partner before dinner,
Speaker 1: and now you don't. You used to sit outside to
Speaker 1: have a cup of coffee every morning, and now you've
Speaker 1: given up caffeine, and with it, it seems the fresh
Speaker 1: air and the sense of pause before a hectic day.
Speaker 1: You used to eat out most nights, and now you're
Speaker 1: at home looking in the fridge, feeling hungry and yet
Speaker 1: seeing nothing interesting for dinner. Moments like these feel like
Speaker 1: self deprivation, not self improvement, And maybe you can deprive
Speaker 1: yourself for a while, but it's generally not a recipe
Speaker 1: for lasting change. I'm not sure how wise it is
Speaker 1: to fight against ourselves for things like this. Sometimes getting
Speaker 1: too focused on what we're not doing can isolate us
Speaker 1: from other people or distract us from more important pursuits,
Speaker 1: things we want to and should be doing. So instead
Speaker 1: of mustering lots of self control not to do something,
Speaker 1: try replacing the behavior you want to reduce with something
Speaker 1: just as special but better for you. For instance, if
Speaker 1: you are cutting out alcohol, try some flavored Seltzer's or
Speaker 1: herbal teas and bring back the elementary school delight of
Speaker 1: a Shirley Temple or Roy Rogers. Get creative by mixing
Speaker 1: your own mock tails. You can also replace the ritual
Speaker 1: of cocktail hour with an altogether different activity, like taking
Speaker 1: a walk, doing yoga, or having a meaningful conversation with
Speaker 1: your partner. May be guided by questions designed to prompt
Speaker 1: deeper connection. The idea is that you're not depriving yourself
Speaker 1: of alcohol and its association with unwinding and connecting at
Speaker 1: the end of the day. Instead, you are replacing that
Speaker 1: pleasure with something else just as appealing. If you are
Speaker 1: cutting down on refined sugar, have interesting fruit after dinner,
Speaker 1: it's still sweet. A bowl of clementines or a plotter
Speaker 1: of fruits and cheeses can provide an elegant and satisfying
Speaker 1: end to a meal. Maybe eating out is what you're reducing,
Speaker 1: then make sure the meals you have at home are
Speaker 1: fun to prepare and tasty to eat. You could get
Speaker 1: a cook book at the library or sign up for
Speaker 1: a mule kit service to jump start your home cooking efforts.
Speaker 1: And please spend what you want at the grocery store.
Speaker 1: You could buy a lot of fancy groceries for the
Speaker 1: cost of a restaurant meal, and having the good stuff
Speaker 1: on hand will make you feel excited about what's in
Speaker 1: the fridge. Of course, some pleasures have been eliminated from
Speaker 1: our lives of late by circumstance, but even in the
Speaker 1: face of coronavirus restrictions, we can find some replacements. Can't
Speaker 1: go to the gym right now, try meeting up with
Speaker 1: your gym buddy for a run or by cried. Instead,
Speaker 1: can't go out to dinner with friends, call them more often,
Speaker 1: or host an outdoor get together at your house. Instead
Speaker 1: of depriving yourself for lamenting deprivations you didn't choose, try
Speaker 1: to find pleasure and enjoyment in new ways. Even if
Speaker 1: your old delight is off the table right now, you
Speaker 1: can aim to make your new experiences just as special.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at iHeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yeah,