Immediate Gratification List

[Nicole]

I just finished reading "The Live Food Factor" by Susan Schenk. One of the self-correction strategies to help you prevent overeating or eating cooked food is to make an Immediate Gratification List.

You write down 10 things each, for 10 days, that you love to do. These things should be

1. simple
2. not expensive,
3. not have to do with food
4. give *immediate* gratification, "bring peace, joy, pleasure, and even excitement" pg.531

So, by the tenth day you have accumulated a list of 100 things you love to do. So when you feel the urge to binge or eat cooked food, you can reach for your list of replacement activities and do one of those instead.

I've done 3 lists so far. I'm running low on ideas though! What better place to ask for some new ideas that RawFu?

What are some things you love to do?



Here are some from my lists:

1. Email friends and family
2. Read a book
3. Organize the pantry (I actually do like doing this!)
4. Wishful-Thinking-Shop (usually adding books to my wish list on Amazon)
5. Go for a walk
6. Read raw food blogs or websites to inspire me
7. Sticky-tab raw food cookbook recipes (I know it's kind of food-related, but it doesn't cause me to
eat. Looooove sticky tabs. Requires all my attention to
sticky tab well;-)
8. Play Wii games
9. Write in my journal
10. Go to the gym or do a workout DVD

[Ce]

I call my list simple pleasures, my rule is they must be free and I write 3 in my journal daily. Here are few from my list
• Sit out side in silent for 5 minutes and listen to what I am missing, really fun to do early in the morning and late at night.
• Study the stars
• Paint or sometimes even color
• Make a card
• Look at old pictures, scrapbook.
• Write a short story about a place I have been.
• Look up information and plan a trip to a place I’d like to visit, this usually starts as a dream or a history class but has turned into real travel plans a lot of the time.
• Study famous works of art via the internet.
• Read real life accounts from events from the past. I have gained so much inspiration from stories of the great depression and from concentration camp survivors.
• Play a board game with my kids.
• Write a letter to someone who isn’t expecting it.
• Work on my embroidery
• Mend clothing
• Pick out outfits for my husband to wear to work and press them to perfection.
• Go out and pick a bag of litter, my kids and I call this a random act of kindness; we have a full list of these.
• Download an interesting Pod cast and take the time to listen to it.
• Sit in the sun and really feel it on my skin.

[Nita!]

Nice Ideas! thanks for sharing! Starts to be cold here in the south and cooked food ( specially bread) seem to be so warm. I know is an illusion... and this kind of exercise... hope to keep the force! Have a nice day!

[rebeccaj]

I love these! Ce's list is incredibly inspiring! wow!

here are some things that come to mind - some I have done, some not:

1. go for a bike ride
2. go hiking (also good to incorporate with a mini-road trip)
3. go watch a little league game or a soccer game in the park
4. go swimming and sunbathing
5. clean and organize my house, closets, bookshelves
6. go on "neighborhood crawls" - my city has lots of cute little streets with shopping and curios and such, so it's fun to park at one end and explore
7. visit a museum or galleries
8. go to the art supply or craft store (I know, it doesn't quite fit into the "not expensive" mode, but it's so much fun!)
9. go to a big bookstore and look at everything, listen to music
10. go to free concerts in the park

[Elizabeth]

These are great. I just rediscovered a new one for myself: take pictures of flowers and plants. There is a therapeutic quality to catching plants in ways I hadn't seen before.

[Nicole]

Thanks so much for taking the time to add your lists! So many great ideas.

I forgot about so many things I like to do: collage, sit in the sun, take a luxurious bath...


Ce, making a card sounds fun! I wish I were more artistic, though:-) I'll try it in spite of my lack of talent!

Elizabeth, ditto on taking pictures. I really want to go to a nearby fruit market and take macro-type pictures of all the tropical fruit.

Thanks again, everyone!

[Allison]

I wrote down a bunch of potential immediate gratification ideas, cut them out individually, then put them in a little bowl in my kitchen. then...when I'm roaming the kitchen, bored, looking for something to eat...I can grab a little slip of paper and do the activity listed there instead!

[Nicole]

Very fun idea! Although, I can imagine my boyfriend writing something "inappropriate" about his immediate gratification and sneaking it in there. Actually, laughing over those things might count as immediate gratification for me!

Allison said:

I wrote down a bunch of potential immediate gratification ideas, cut them out individually, then put them in a little bowl in my kitchen. then...when I'm roaming the kitchen, bored, looking for something to eat...I can grab a little slip of paper and do the activity listed there instead!