Swapping leverage for leaverage

Sometimes, being a bit inaccurate has its benefits.

I’ve been mispronouncing the word “leverage”.  There is only one letter “a”.   But I added another.  Leaverage.  Well, I don’t know if it’s a mispronunciation or if it’s just that my accent is different to most of the TV shows I watch.

Why is this inaccuracy significant?  Because the sound of the word created an idea.  I’ve deliberately used events to leaverage change that leaves bad habits behind.  Why not get the maximum advantage if something is going to happen anyway (provided no-one else looses out).

In my Year of Efficient Eating, the focus is on minimum daily requirements.  Today, it’s a refreshing change to use the word “maximum” instead.

Sugar has been uppermost in the mind for the last few months.  And a very messy food group it turned out to be.  There were too many types and categories of sugars, and they overwhelmed my usual problem solving technique.  Protein and fibre were very easy by comparison.

In response, I decided to just reduce the number of products I buy that have added sugar.  Of course, it is not as simple as it sounds.  This put me on a weight loss trail that is littered with the good intentions of thousands and thousands before me, reminding me that it so rarely works.

Sugar is addictive.  I get tired.  Sugar is a quick energy hit.

Will Power needed a helping hand.

So, rather than just focus on the minimum daily requirement of sugar, I’m employing two different strategies.

The first strategy is based on the “Don’t stop it Swap it”  health campaign.  For example, I swapped chocolate for apple pie with cream (or sometimes a banana caramel pie with cream).  It sounds ridiculous, but it saved money instantly because each day I was eating less pie than I had chocolate.  I could buy chocolate just about anywhere I went; I could only buy pie at one bakery near work.

Which brings us to the second strategy and back to leverage.  I was off work for a week and all my usual routines didn’t happen.  There wasn’t an apple or banana caramel pie within striking distance.  By the time I got back to work, my body no longer craved cream pie at 10:36am.  I deliberately did not reinstate the routine.

If I’d swapped the buy-it-anywhere chocolate for something equally available, it probably wouldn’t have work.  If you plan to try this, choose carefully.

It is amazing how tied to – or tied down by – a product one can get.

I’m feeling quite liberated.

References:

http://swapit.gov.au/
https://cherriezell.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/fibre
https://cherriezell.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/protein-got-to-eat-more-of-it