The little voice inside our heads

We all know about the little voice inside of us that is our conscience. If you don’t know that, it’s time to whip out Pinocchio. What isn’t taught to us is that there is another little voice inside of us that is just as present (and just as annoying) as our conscience. But this little voice is our anti-healthy voice. Our fat voice. Our chocolate voice. Let’s call him Willy.

Willy is the one telling you to eat the cake. Have the extra slice of pizza. No you don’t look fat in those jeans so why not put butter on your popcorn. But guess what? Willy lies. You do look fat in those jeans. You need the extra pizza slice like you need a root canal.

When you aren’t trying to live a healthier life, Willy is the good time man. He lets you eat all the best food at parties, and he always encourages another drink at the bar. (side note; Willy doesn’t care about your waistline, but he also doesn’t care about your wallet so it’s very easy for him to encourage that dinner out or extra drink.)

Now when the part of your brain not inhabited by Willy gets strong enough to say “I’M DONE BEING LIKE THIS, I WANT BETTER” Willy gets quiet for awhile. Warning: he is not gone! He is the one telling you to hit the snooze instead of hitting the gym. He is the one that turns a simple cheat day or meal into a disaster. Willy is not your friend.

Now the most disturbing thing about Willy (for me anyway) is that he acquired a white noise machine. How he did this I’m still not sure. And unfortunately for me, I just learned this yesterday. Yesterday was an intentional rest day for my workout plan. It also happened to be the night I was schedule to go out for drinks with co-workers. I hadn’t gone grocery shopping in ages, and I didn’t have nearly enough time to pick through the meager supplies to pack a lunch. Or eat breakfast. So after going out for breakfast, I go out for lunch and that was the first time I noticed the white noise. I just wasn’t hearing the prompts saying “don’t get the bread bowl”, “put down the cookie”. On days like these I feel I’m in overdrive. Like Willy knows he only has a set number of hours to convince me to eat as much junk as possible. Because now it is the next day and I feel awful. I exercised my free will in a destructive manner.

Now because Willy is quiet (er) I know I will stay under my calories. I know I will workout after work, I’ll drink lots of water, and I’ll do it all over again Saturday and Sunday. So that Monday when I weigh in, I should be okay. But the problem with Willy is more than just what he does on the days he rears his ugly head. It’s how I feel for days after. Like I should give up, sleep in, and eat chips. But I won’t. Today will be better. And today is all we should ever worry about.

So now, tell me what your little voice says??