Be prepared
Most of our eating is mindless, meaning it is governed by habits, rituals (“eat turkey at Christmas”) and what is available. Mindless eating can prevent us from realising that we are being tempted. If you’re craving a carb-loaded, fatty meal when you’re hungover, you may order a burger because that’s what you’ve always done. But a falafel or a vegetarian pizza may also do the trick. Yet our power to overcome temptation depends on us first identifying that there is a conflict we need to address.
Try mindful eating
The opposite of mindless eating might be called “mindful” eating, or mindfulness applied to food. This means placing greater attention on food-related thoughts and cravings as they arise. In one study 19 overweight individuals attended 10 weekly meetings on healthy eating, followed up by either a seven-week course in mindfulness centred on food cravings, or no mindfulness training at all.
Broaden your outlook
Another trick from the psychology of self control is to adopt a wider mental frame. This is where you think about a decision, not in terms of a solitary event (eating meat in this meal), but as part of a larger set of events. For example, you may want to think about all the meals you will eat or all the animal lives you will save in your lifetime. Setting aside fish and seafood, that’s about 30 lives per year for the average American.
Picture the animals
People currently avoiding meat tend to have a richer understanding of the cognitive and emotional capabilities of farmed animals – for example, they understand that pigs, like humans and dogs, have sophisticated emotional lives. They also are quick to connect the meat on the plate with the once-living animal source. When they see meat – they see an animal.