I am always fascinated with why we do what we do, specifically around food. The mental constructs and resulting behaviors that often happen automatically, without us even knowing that’s what we’re doing or why we are doing it.
 
In the book, ‘The As If Principle,' author Richard Wiseman outlines several research studies where people act first, and later translate the meaning behind that action and the emotions associated with it.
 
So for example, we might be short with a server at the restaurant. It’s our kneejerk response to something that’s going on, maybe with us, or at the restaurant, our environment, whatever. But it’s not a conscious decision. You don’t think, "I’m going to snap at this server when she comes around.” You just do it without even thinking because … you don’t really know why …
 
... until a few seconds later, when you realize you how rude you were, experience the emotions of how shitty that makes you feel, and then you explain your behavior: Well, I’m starving, this music is so loud I didn’t even notice I was agitated by it, that earlier thing from work is still bothering me, it’s freezing in here, I’m annoyed that I can’t figure out how the flow at this restaurant works, and WHY HAS NO ONE COME TO TAKE MY ORDER YET?! 
 
P.S. Rudeness to members of the service industry is inexcusable, IMO, but I digress ...
 
The key here is that often, we act first and then justify it or explain it later: “Oh, I must have done that because …”
 
How often do we do this with food? All the time, right? It’s like, before we know it, we are elbows-deep in a bag of chips and we don’t know how we got there.
 
Of course, mindfulness is a key practice of mine, and when honed over time, reduces the incidents of what I call “brain shut-down mode” eating, like above. And it also has to do with willpower being drained. It’s not a coincidence that the times you are most likely to go into brain shut-down is at the end of the day or the end of the week. Those are the times you are the most mentally exhausted. And it also has to do with the degree of deprivation you're experiencing, and the resulting behaviors.
 
Extreme restriction will always lead to an equal and opposite overindulgence. Whether that’s tonight, next week or after you finish your latest 21-day detox or 12-week competition prep diet. Restriction is not benign.
 
One place we see a lot of these behaviors pop up is vacation. You know what I’m talking about: #vacationmode! ;)
 
I’m fascinated with the psychology of eating on vacation. So many factors at play – there’s a sense of mental relief because we don’t have to be home, prepping our weekly Tupperwares. There’s a feeling of FOMO because we’re at some amazing destination that requires we take full advantage of all the food that we might never experience again. Especially if you are at some kind of all-inclusive, where god forbid you don’t “get your money’s worth.” (How insane is it really, when you think about it, that we will literally STUFF ourselves – something we actually don’t want or need or serves us in our goals – because the more we eat, the more justified we feel in the money we spent!).
 
I’m not judging it … okay, well I am ;) but only because I have done it a million times, too! Lol. We all do this kind of stuff! Do things that actually don’t make us feel good during or after simply out of some strange, automatic psychological justification like fairness, or FOMO, or scarcity, or mental reprieve.
 
And it’s that last one that I want to address: the perceived “mental reprieve” of eating on vacation.
 
See, I’ve been living in Australia for about a month now. And I have been chronicling all my adventures via my Instagram account. And a few people have asked me how to don’t get bloated when taking an extended vacation: