The trouble with paunch is that it appears so gradually, nearly imperceptibly, like dough rising. “No, I’m not gaining weight,” we convince ourselves. “I look the same as I did last week and the week before.”
But when we glimpse a picture of ourselves from a year ago or five years ago, we may see a person we don’t quite recognize.
“That was me?’ we exclaim. “Golly, what happened? I’ve porked out!”
Yup. Porked out. The five or ten pounds can hide beneath baggier clothes for a while. But the arguments to justify our progressively dilapidated appearance have already begun.
I’m told that our behavior works something like this: Cues trigger habits that result in rewards. That’s the habit chain.
We sit down to watch TV–that’s the cue. (Now the brain is on autopilot.) This launches the trigger—go to the refrigerator. Finally, the reward—the almond caramel fudge ice cream. Each time we perform this ritual, the cue-trigger-reward process is reinforced.
Our behavior will only be altered by identifying and removing or modifying the habit chain so that the sequence of events is broken.
Like the grasshopper who paid attention only to his own comfort instead of gathering food for the winter, we choose to maintain the convenience of our unhealthy habit chain.
Here’s the even more uncomfortable part. After the habit chain plays havoc with our lives, and things have gone from bad to worse, a different word describes our behavior.
It’s a scary word that refers to the unwillingness to take advice or correction.
That word is obstinate.