Have you ever, like us, been to an Indian restaurant then felt full and satisfied before your meal even arrived at the table?
The reason for this seems to us be that the senses are already overwhelmed with the calming ambience, the beautiful smells of spices contained in the meals already being cooked and the marvellous sight of colourful meals being delivered to other tables.
We have called this "sensual exhaustion".
And, always on the look out for techniques to keep on on the right health and wellness track, we thought about ways to use this to our advantage.
We do not like the idea of depriving ourselves of things we like and guess most people are the same.
So we wondered how it would be if instead of indulging in something bad for us when the urge arose, we instead sought to merely imagine it.
And sure enough, the opportunity came around only recently when McDonald's added the Philly Burger to their menu!
After a few days of drooling over the advertising draped almost everywhere, we were playing 'playdoh' with Her Majesty the Baby considering ordering to service our perceived need.
We decided before ordering to build a playdoh version of what we proposed to order (Philly Burger & Chips), being careful to include and discuss all the ingredients as we went along.
The resulting work of art won't receive any awards, the act itself put us off in fact ordering the burgers.
We felt we had 'prepared' the burgers and by talking through the ingredients we reinforced what little nutritional value versus calorie count they carried.
Drawing the foods in question or listing their chemical content may have had the same impact!
As the feel and smell of playdoh' is hardly the most alluring, even these connected to our perception of the real life burger, discouraging our craving!
The power of the senses and are imagination is fascinating.
And it's valuable to remember they can be used not only to attract us to something we consider may be good or enjoyable to us, but also to sway us away from experiences which may not be in our best interests!