This week and next, I’m discussing the concept of “cognitive dissonance.”  Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling that comes from believing two conflicting ideas at the same time.  Whenever a reasonable person engages in risky behavior, whether slight (a second slice of cake) or serious (texting while driving) he or she experiences some cognitive dissonance.  Humor is a common way to decrease the tension caused by cognitive dissonance, so beware if you find yourself chuckling when you tell your friends what you did last night.

What are other examples of cognitive dissonance?  Smoking is one.  Smokers reconcile their desire for a cigarette with their desire to live long, healthy lives. This conflict makes them feel uncomfortable.  The knowledge that “I am increasing my risk of lung cancer” does not support the belief that “I am a smart and reasonable person who makes good decisions.”  So how do smokers decrease their cognitive dissonance?  I have seen any number of strategies.

A smoker might rationalize that lung cancer, heart disease, and emphysema develop only in people who smoke more than they do.  They might trick themselves into believing that smoking actually protects them from illness.  Or they might decide, once and for all, to quit.  All these strategies reduce cognitive dissonance, but the last obviously works best.  

Aesop’s fable, The Fox and the Grapes, provides another example of cognitive dissonance.  A fox sees some delicious-looking grapes hanging high on a branch but cannot reach them.  The fox wants something that he cannot have, and he soon decides that the grapes are probably sour and not worth the effort.  In this way, he convinces himself that 1) there is something wrong with the grapes, and 2) there is something wrong with anyone else who might want them.  

Therapists sometimes use cognitive dissonance to help clients see how their own behaviors are causing them discomfort or harm.  It’s not always easy to see that on your own, but it’s often impossible to ignore once someone helps you see it for yourself.  When you understand your actual choices, it’s easier to make them in a way that supports your goals.  

Cognitive dissonance can cause a person to feel surprised, guilty, angry, or embarrassed. People experiencing this discomfort usually try to reduce it by changing their beliefs or adding new ones to reduce the conflict between the two conflicting ideas.  

Next week I will discuss how we have come to accept a large amount of cognitive dissonance in what we eat and how it makes us feel.  Americans live with so much food-related cognitive dissonance that it has become an invisible part of the background.  But that doesn’t mean it’s normal, or healthy.  Far from it.

Early this past week, a woman to whom I had just been introduced told me that she doesn’t do well with soy-based food.  It upsets her stomach, she said.  What kinds of items do you mean?, I asked.  Well, anything made of soy, she thought out loud, like soy chili, soy bacon, “texturized vegetable protein” made from soy, soy milk, and so on.  What about edamame?, I asked.  Or tofu?  Those are fine, she said.  I can eat those without any problem.  I don’t think you have a problem with soy, I replied.  I think you have a problem with food processing.  Processed soy.  It’s not the same as food.  

Michael Pollan says that it’s not food if your (or somebody’s) great-great-grandparents didn’t eat it.  So those processed soy products that are upsetting her stomach aren’t food.  

Think about the expression, “Trust your gut.”  If something seems not to agree with you, trust your gut, and don’t eat it.  Unless you want to feel sick.  End of story.  

On the home front, my parents came to visit this weekend, and they brought with them, from their NJ farm, half a dozen golden-laced Wyandotte chicks.  Those chicks are CUTE!  Right now they are cuddling up together for a little snooze.  We are looking forward to the increased egg production that these beautiful girls will help to provide.

Mom and I did some weeding in the garden today, and the big hens helped out by scratching around the weeds, scooping up bugs and worms, and just generally being good company.   Today is such a beautiful day.

I received this letter from a reader couple of weeks ago:

“With the weather warming I am digging out summer clothes and finding that some things are a bit “snug.” My diet is healthy and I run several times a week, but I would love to shed a few pounds around my waist. If my diet is already good, what would you suggest to take a few pounds off?”  –RRM

Let’s look at this from a seasonal point of view.  Winter, unlike the warm-weather growing season, is not a time of caloric abundance.  Centuries and millennia ago, food was markedly more scarce in the winter.  Nature made up for this annual caloric shortfall with the final ripening, at the end of the growing season, of carbohydrate-rich produce such as squash, pumpkins, beans, and potatoes.  Notice that as the growing season draws to a close each fall we enjoy acorn squash, pumpkin pie, zucchini bread, and stews made sweet with root vegetables.  All of these are foods designed by nature to provide one more chance to increase the likelihood of our surviving through the winter.  These kinds of crops served as an insurance policy of sorts to fend off starvation over the winter.  

Then, when spring finally arrived, we began to restore our nutritional reserves with the first crops to appear: small greens shoots — like asparagus, and then leaves.  Low in calories but rich in nutrients.

Fast forward to the 21st century.  We enjoy eating in abundance straight through the winter, and arrive at spring with our winter insulation intact.  The solution?  This is the best time of year to eat in season.  Spring is a great time of the year to eat seasonal, local produce.  Greens, parsley, asparagus and rhubarb are coming up.  There’s thyme, and rosemary and sage, too, to sprinkle on salads.  Eat plenty of greens all year round, but especially in spring.  Don’t forget about green smoothies.

A couple more ideas:  If you’re looking to improve the way your pants fit, it’s best to get some form of exercise every day.  It doesn’t have to be running; you can walk some days, or do yoga, or just stretch.  And, finally, do a careful evaluation of your diet for hidden sources of processed sugar.  Do your very best to limit added sweeteners.  If you can’t find any, then take the next step and switch out your diet soda for club soda or unsweetened iced tea.  Let me know how that works.

Today I have just a bit of wisdom to share.  I picked it up from a number of different people, a number of different places, a number of different circumstances, but they all said the same thing, and I share it with you here today:

If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re not hungry.  Macintosh, red delicious, yellow delicious, granny smith, braeburn or gala.  And if you’re not thirsty enough to drink water, you’re not thirsty.  

Meditate on that.  

Today I stepped into the garden for the first time in many months. I did some weeding while the chickens helped out by fertilizing the soil and grabbing stray bugs and worms.  I enjoyed moving around in the sunshine so much that an hour flew by wordlessly.  

Doing what you enjoy is key to successfully increasing one’s activity.  Figure out what you enjoy, and you’ve lowered an important barrier to getting more exercise.

My husband is a fan of the ever-present, original Law & Order series.  A while ago, he set the DVR to record practically every episode.  He watches them while he works out on the elliptical, and then takes it one step further by watching the first five minutes of the next show at the end of each day.  It’s a teaser that gives him something to look forward to for the next day’s workout.

If it were me, I’d be watching Jeopardy reruns.

Then there’s my friend Liz, a professor of English Literature with a secret penchant for trashy romance novels.  She gets on her exercise bike, opens one of those novels, and time slips by as she reads.

You could keep walking shoes in your car, stop at the mall (or the park) on your way to work (or home), and walk for 30 minutes.  

You could buy an exercise (or yoga or Tai Chi) DVD, or download one to your laptop, and do it a few times a week with your kids.

Or you could garden with your chickens.

Whatever brings a smile to your face.

Earlier this week, I stopped in at Fantasy Candies (on Mayfield Road) to pick up some cashew bark, say hi, and let them know how wonderful the concoctions, I mean confections, are.  I’m hooked on the Dark Chocolate-Chia Seed-Cinnamon bar, among other things.  Yesterday morning I ate leftover cashew bark for breakfast.  I also polished off the last bits of almond bark, and blueberry bark, which, I submit, is in the running for one of the greatest inventions on the planet!

I counsel patients that dark chocolate is not candy, but rather food.  It’s GOOD for you.  It’s not a treat, it’s a nutritious snack.  Or meal, in my case.  Admittedly, eating it for breakfast is not something I do often, actually I never did it before, but I knew it was on the counter, and that it wouldn’t be there for long if I didn’t claim my part of the bounty.  It was great — filling and satisfying.  In my opinion, that’s one way to tell that you made a good choice.  Actually, I would eat dark chocolate for breakfast again.  In a happy heartbeat.  

I’m not going to restate all the benefits here.  There are the flavonoids, the antioxidants, the healthy fats, the anti-depressants, the flavor!  Just check out their great website for a long list of information on the benefits of dark chocolate.  

To my delight, Joel Fink, “The Candy Man,” was right behind the counter, and I had the opportunity to talk with him and another gentleman for a good long while.  Joel is working on some wonderful new ideas and products, and I can’t wait to see them available for purchase behind the counter and on the website.  What a great guy!  He has tons of different kinds of bark behind the counter, and I’m planning to work my way through them, one by one.  Maybe two by two, we’ll see.  Depends how serious the competition at home gets.

Dark chocolate is a great idea for people with a serious sweet tooth, for people who are unusually sensitive to grains, sweets, and fruits (thereby limiting your 3 p.m. snack options), for people who are doing their best to avoid stripped (refined) carbohydrates.  The added dried fruits and nuts are beneficial, too.   

If you’re diabetic and you aren’t sure about this, check your blood sugar 90 minutes after your snack.  If it’s at baseline, you’re fine.  If it’s a little too high, eat a little less and figure out how much is the right amount.  The research points to a total daily recommended amount of 1-2 ounces.  I suggested to Joel that he start making 1 oz. individual servings.  For my patients.  For my friends.  For me.

It’s a great time of year to think about buying chocolate candy.