I Spy With My Little Eye: Winning and Losing with Visual Cues

Monkey see monkey eat. The bad boys behind the Big Mac, the fiends behind the Frosty, and the wise guys responsible for the Whopper have been studying the human condition for decades. It didn’t take them long to figure out that we are, for all intents and purposes, pretty weak. Brightly colored storefronts and signage, cheap prices, huge portions, and fast service attribute to the lines at America’s favorite drive-through restaurants come lunch time each day…but that is just the bait. The catch is the strategically placed locations deliberately sprinkled along your route to or from work/the gym/church/home/the grocery store every single day.

And the fat doesn’t stop there. Even when you head to the grocery store to buy your healthy proteins, whole grains, fruits, and veggies, you are bound to pass every sugary/salty/greasy/processed junk food—packaged neatly in enticing boxes and bags designed to catch your eye and deter you from your original healthy mission—tactically placed on every aisle.

And while it is easy to say, “Stay strong—just ignore it,” the visual cues marketing mavens have been refining since the early 50’s that dominate the fast food and junk food industries are truly too tempting to ignore.

So let’s not ignore them. Let’s address them and figure out ways to conquer them!

A friend of mine brought this issue to my attention as an addendum, really, to my recent post, “Is your job making you FAT? Part three: The Commuter’s Quandary.” She recently moved to a neighborhood with a route to her job along which ZERO fast food locations exist, and she made a very keen observation:

On the drive to and from my old apartment at lunchtime, I used to seriously struggle (and LOSE!) with feeling like "I just really want McDonald's/Wendy's/Chik-Fil-A/Backyard Burger, and not that awesome leftover whatsit/Kashi pizza/sandwich thing at home." Even if whatever was at home was AWESOME and delicious and something I really did want to eat…

I really think the visual cues I passed EVERY TIME I left my house always reminded me of that delicious chemical compound so strongly associated with that red/yellow, look-at-me sign. I'm sure people's susceptibility to this varies; however, I would imagine that commuters suffer most because their driving routes are strategically stacked with drive-through garbage. Simply being exposed to it so routinely actually triggers the desire to make that stop.

AND SHE WAS RIGHT!

This from Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation:

The strategic locations of fast-food buildings have given rise to high amounts of traffic in particular areas, raising profits. McDonald’s, for instance, began setting up businesses off highways because these were locations where many potential customers might travel…

…Restaurants in these key locations bank on customers impulsively stopping by and ordering food. It may have been the locations that led them there, but it is the quick, friendly service and quality food that make them come back.

So thank you, dear friend, for the first solution to evading the fast food fix: change up your route to avoid passing visual cues that tempt you.

My friend finds driving straight home from work SO much easier now without all of those deliciously evil distractions between point A and B. I’ve been using my alternate route for a few months now, and let me tell you—the Chik-Fil-A breakfast burrito no longer gets a fleeting morning thought.

Here are a couple of other tricks I’ve devised to avoid the seemingly unavoidable junk food/fast food traps:

1. Utilize your local specialty stores to avoid dangerously delicious displays at Wal-Mart/Target/Kroger, etc. For instance, go to your Farmer’s Market to buy as much as possible; I guarantee they don’t stock the crap that sidetracks your sensible shopping. Hit up the pharmacy for personal sundries, the pet store for cat food, Lowes for household needs, and the list goes on. I typically don’t practice AVOIDANCE as a solution to my problems, but there are some excellent exceptions. This being one of them.
2. Make a list BEFORE you go to the grocery store, and NEVER shop hungry. I find the best time to go the grocery store is after a really hard work out. I’m so tired, and the powerful, natural hunger suppressants coursing through my veins make it super easy to get in and get out without a cartful of junk.
3. Plan out your day the night before. Typically as my hubby and I are winding down and watching a little television before we go to bed, I hop on my laptop and put in my Points for the next day. I think about what I want for breakfast and lunch and ask him what sounds good for dinner. When I have a plan for success and took the trouble to think about it ahead of time, I am less likely to stray from the proven formula: healthy + home cooked – fast food = little butt. I also go ahead and put in my Activity Points. I feel more obligated to fulfill my plans to exercise the next day if I record the effort ahead of time. You feel REALLY crummy when you have to delete Activity Points because you didn’t get off your butt to work out.

Don’t forget to strategically place your own POSITIVE visual cues!!!!

1. Instead of a candy dish, place a bowl of fresh, ready-to-eat fruit on your desk at work or coffee table at home (think apples, bananas, grapes).
2. Keep a Nalgene water bottle on your desk. It will at least remind you to drink your eight glasses of water a day.
3. Pack your gym bag in the morning and leave it in plain sight from your desk at work.
4. Leave your running shoes out in plain sight at home—even if your OCD or neat freak living companion is screaming to put them away neatly in the closet.
5. Put a few key ingredients to the healthy dish you are making that night out on the kitchen counter in the morning as a reminder of the yummy, delicious goodness to come.
6. Hang up a flyer for your next race, your gym’s schedule, or your own weekly workout schedule on the refrigerator. You’ll think twice the next time you go to open that door for a needless snack.

So avoid the traps and set up your own successful snares to lure yourself into your personal nutrition and fitness goals!!!