Hey Dad, Let's Talk 2| The “100th Steak Concept.” |
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Now imagine you had to eat steak every night for one hundred days. I’m sure the first couple of steaks will taste mighty good, but by the time the 100th steak rolls around, you might as well be eating cardboard. The novelty wears off. The tastes diminishes and dulls. And you no longer receive anywhere near the same level of satisfaction in eating that steak as you did the first night. ... What am I getting at? Ever heard the saying “less is more”? It truly is. What’s your favorite comfort food? Is it chocolate? Is it potato chips? Is it prime-rib or lobster? I’d like to suggest that cutting back on your favorite junk food and/or expensive food will actually bring you more pleasure than indulging in it every single week (or day, for that matter)! Why? Well, think back to the 100th steak example. If you eat a whole bag of potato chips every week, you just get used to them. Sure, they taste good, but not exceptionally good. You take ‘em for granted. They're old hat. But . . . if you only ate one bag of chips a month, I’m tellin’ ya, you’re going to thoroughly enjoy that bag of chips! It will be as though their flavor has enhanced tenfold. And the same applies to any indulgent food - ice cream, chocolate, donuts, french fries, etc. You know your vice. The thing is, these indulgent foods typically tend to be the most expensive to buy (processed foods and choice meat cuts are very costly), and even if your particular favorites aren’t overly expensive, junk foods don't contain any viable nutrition; quite the contrary. You can save money on your grocery bill and/or eat less junk food without feeling deprived: simply learn the 100th Steak Concept and cut back on how often you buy and eat these types of food. And when you do occasionally buy these things, perhaps once or twice a month, they'll suddenly become a treat - leaving you feeling much more satisfied in the long run. Let me use chips as an example. Do you like to eat chips several times a week and in the attempt to save money, purchase the cheapest, no name brands of chips available? I’d like to suggest that instead of eating bland, tasteless chips week after week (no name chips tend to skimp on seasonings and texture), buy your favorite name brand chips instead, but only once or twice a month at most. It won’t cost you any extra money, but you’ll enjoy the taste/experience much more than you did with the cheap brands. The same could apply for ice cream or pastries or _______ fill in the blank. My point is, rather than spending a fortune on the daily guzzling of nutritionless, fattening foods, cut back on these items and allow them to be treats instead. It’s more fulfilling and in many cases, far less costly. Not only will you feel more pleasure in eating them (because you’ve gone without for two or three weeks), you’ll also be doing your body a huge favor (cutting back on your junk food consumption by as much as half!). As author Charles Long says, "The rich man dines on the one hundredth steak and never knows the joy of the first one."
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(c) 2009 - Bekah Ferguson Permissions: By all means, you are welcome to reproduce and distribute my articles in excerpts or complete format as long as you don't change any of the wording. If you do reproduce any part of my articles, please include the following information: by Bekah Ferguson, Ontario, Canada. www.bekahferguson.com Licensed under Creative Commons.
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Ever noticed how that first juicy steak, after a long time without, tasted mouth-watering good and you enjoyed every last bite?