5 Star Choices

Piece of Cake
Rate with Stars 1 - 5
1) How delicious it looks
2) How delicious it tastes

If you gave the cake 10 stars -- 5 for looks and 5 for how delicious you imagine it will tastes -- you'd eat the cake, right?

5 star choices is about asking more questions to get a better rating of the actual number of stars.

Example
I have a goal of wanting to live a long happy healthy enjoyable wonderful life full of good experiences.

Decision to eat a piece of cake should not be a choice between 2 things
1) Eat the cake
2) Don't eat the cake

Should not be a choice between these other 2 things
1) Desire to eat the cake
2) Desire to be thin

If all I am doing is choosing between two things, in almost every scenario I can think of -- I eat the cake. If it looks delicious, and it is delicious and I like eating delicious things, of course I would eat the cake. I'd be silly not to.

Deciding to eat the cake if it has 10 stars, 5 for looks and 5 for taste is a no-brainer.

If I add a third point value
Rate the cake on it's ability to help me reach my weight loss goal --
If I give it a 1, it is still 11 out of 15 possible points, and I eat the cake.

If I add yet another criteria -- a fourth point value
Rate the cake on it's ability to satisfy my hunger --
If I give it a 1, it is still 12 out of 20 possible points, and I eat the cake.

If I add yet another criteria -- a fifth point value
Rate the cake on it's ability to help me live a long and healthy life --
If I give it a 1, out of 25 possible points -- I now have a total of 13 out of 25

If I add yet another criteria -- a sixth point value
Am I hungry? If I'm not hungry then I am looking at 14 out of 30 points and there are finally more reasons to skip the cake then to eat it.

In the heat of the moment, someone offers you a piece of cake and it makes your mouth water, and the smell of the cake is sugary, buttery, chocolately --whatever your favorite treat//pleasure seeking identifiers. The higher it rates on the looks & perceived deliciousness scale the more likely you are to "indulge".

If I told you, "It isn't really an indulgence to eat something with empty calories." I am suggesting that your ability to rate the cake a perfect 10 is not real.

It is really by applying all 6 of the 5 star questions that you have a chance to really rank whether you want to indulge or not.

If you want to lose weight -- then there are certain foods that aren't going to help you do that. Sugar, Flour (if it's not whole grain whole wheat) are two of the top least helpful foods on the list. If I gave foods 5 stars on their ability to help you lose weight you'd see lot of pictures of vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains. If I added a section of 4 star foods you'd see more starchy vegetables added and less sweet fruits. Then 3 star foods would include all other vegetables and fruits and 2 star choices would be non-processed foods found in nature and 1 star would be every thing else. It could be a really huge book containing countless variations of foods either as individual ingredients or as meals -- but you probably already have the ability to rank foods based on the information I provided above.

The problem is if you are choosing "Eat the Cake/Don't Eat the Cake" and it has 10 out of 15 points it takes a lot of willpower to be able to pass up the cake. If you are evaluating the cake as 14 out of 30 then you may feel in control and happy with your choice. Maybe you need it to be 15 out of 35, 16 out of 40, 17 out of 45, 18 out of 50 to finally get to the point where your decision not to eat the cake feels so good to you that you'd prefer to skip it. If you need to add four more criteria to make it a much more compelling no-brainer kind of choice then add four more questions.

If I add yet another criteria -- a seventh point value
Is cake my favorite treat? If I prefer something else to this indulgence then I am looking at 15 out of 35 points and there are even more reasons to skip the cake then to eat it.

If I add yet another criteria -- an eighth point value
Am I interested in exercising 1 minute for every calorie? If I'm not interested in torturing myself like a hampster on a wheel to burn this off, then I am looking at 16 out of 40 points and there are even more reasons to skip the cake then to eat it.

If I add yet another criteria -- a ninth point value
Would I like to carry this on my body all year? If I'm not wanting to see this "treat" on my belly, bum, thighs, chin, or arms then I am looking at 17 out of 45 points and there are even more reasons to skip the cake then to eat it.

If I add yet another criteria -- a tenth point value
What question would you ask yourself to push it over the edge? If you answer this with 1 out of 5 stars then you are looking at 18 out of 50 points and there are more than enough reasons to skip the cake then to eat it.

Each of these questions gives you POWER
Each of these questions can increase your HAPPINESS
You are able to be the expert on when you want to lose weight.
When you do want to lose weight -- then use this tool as one more tool in your tool kit for being able to easily and enjoyably lose weight.

It only takes a moment to assign 1 number
Think about it.

Is the cake a 1 or 50 on the scale?

Well, you know it is generally going to be an 18 out of 50 best case scenario. That means you are able to say it gets 5 for looks and 5 for taste. That means, if you look at it and want a reason to say no you have 32 reasons to say no, and only 18 to say yes. If that gives you space to really grow and treat your body better to be able to cross the finish line to your goal -- that is awesome. It's ok to eat the cake. It's ok to decide you'd rather not lose weight. But if you are miserable where you are and you are struggling; I want you to be able to have a happier healthier easier path. I want you to live a long healthy happy life. I want you to help make the world a happier more loving kind place to live in. I believe that means we make better choices than always mindlessly saying yes to the cake. We make better choices than punishing ourselves and saying I can't have the cake. What if we don't even want the cake? What if we'd rather have something else? Maybe a walk on the beach with my son, where I can easily run along the surf with him is a million times more "delicious" to me than a bite of left over birthday cake someone has left sitting out in the lunch room. Maybe celebrating another year is about treating ourselves really well, being loving, and not eating a bunch of empty calories loaded with things that aren't going to help us extend our lives and well being.

What if just being able to say No sometimes because that is what we have learned to prefer gives us the POWER to be able to choose and create our HAPPIEST life?

Bon Appetit!
Jennifer