Over the coming week, we’ll be building our defenses against the world’s worst foods. And given the dizzying array of endorphin-releasing treats offered by today’s vast instant pleasure industry, these defense had better be super strong. 

It all starts with a simple realization: Every time we purchase these unhealthy treats, we’re exchanging the time and effort we put in at work together with our vitality and life expectancy for a couple of minutes of instant pleasure. 

Just let that sink in for a couple of seconds…

Yep, whichever way you look at it, this is a horrible deal. Yet, it’s made billions of times per day across the world. Today’s post discusses the simple and obvious solution.

Refuse to purchase empty calories

Empty calorie carbs and fats taste great, but they load the body with a whole lot of calories with no nutrients. As discussed earlier, this is like running an engine on low-grade fuel and never servicing it. 

The simplest solution is to refuse to enter into the terrible deal described above. And this takes nothing more than a couple of seconds of discipline when you’re at the shops. 

Recall the crux moments we discussed earlier. If you give in and purchase some empty calories, you’re locking in unhealthy eating habits for the near-term future. But if you can resist this urge for just a few seconds until you’re out of that environment, the craving will often vanish before you know it. 

Not all bad

But what about the times when you’re in a fun social situation where you’re offered some empty calories for free? In this case, you don’t lose any money and build some relationships, sweetening this sour empty calorie deal. 

Sure, the deal is still not great, but it’s at least tolerable. This is what I like to call the 2-out-of-3 rule. It means that any food you eat should be at least 2 out of the following 3 things: healthy, tasty and free. 

Of course, if you’re in the deceptively dangerous position of getting empty calories for free all the time, this is not a good idea. But for most people, adhering to this simple rule will strike a good balance between health and social ease. 

Indeed, if you nurture your body with lots of nutrient-rich foods for 20 of the 21 meals in the week, it can handle one or two fun and unhealthy excursions. 

So, in conclusion, there’s no need to be a health prune and refuse some tasty snacks at a social event. But there’s even less need to spend your hard-earned money on your own self-destruction. 

As is often the case though, there are one or two exceptions. We’ll get to those tomorrow.