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Have you wondered why you react the way you do when facing a yummy cheese cake or a sinful bar of swiss chocolate. The moment you see it, why do you feel helplessly reaching out for it. Don’t you wish you had control over yourself in these moments of weakness?

Well actually, everyone has the control switch. It’s just that most of us are not trained to use it.

Before we explain on how you can win the battle with the chocolate, lets take a small tour in psychology.

All us humans have 2 operating systems. The first one is called the “HOT SYSTEM” and the other one the “COLD SYSTEM”.

Imagine trekking in a jungle and finding yourself face-to-face with a large tiger. Immediately, you body prepares you for this confrontation. Blood flows away from your brain and stomach and into your muscles. Your adrenaline levels shoot up. It prepares you to sprint like Usain Bolt!

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This is your “HOT SYSTEM”. Since you don’t need complex functioning of the brain, there is very little blood flow to the brain. Your basic body functions from its “Reptilian Brain”. This is a primitive part of our brain that is fast and impulsive and very reliable.

Our “Reptilian Brain” functions from birth. Now do you know why babies behave the way they do. They do not understand time, patience, etc.

Our “COLD SYSTEM” starts to develop at the age of 4. This is also about the time when children learn about delayed gratification. Reading this blog and commenting on it is using your higher cognitive functions of your “COLD SYSTEM”.

Now imagine that you are in a meeting and another participant belittles one of your viewpoints. Immediately, the “HOT SYSTEM” becomes active. Blood flows away from your brain and into your muscle. You are all prepared to slug this specimen. But instead of physically abusing him, you verbally abuse him. This verbal diarrhea and temper burst is also from your “HOT SYSTEM”. Very little blood is flowing into your frontal part of the brain where your COOL SYSTEM operates. At this point, don’t expect to be rational!

The same “HOT SYSTEM” comes into play when you are faced with a cheese cake or yummy Swiss Chocolate. You are not rational anymore! Its your primitive survival instincts in control. “Eat it!” , a voice from somewhere inside tells you. “One piece of cake won’t harm you!”, it says again very convincingly.

It’s this same Reptilian Brain that immediately comes into action when you try to wake up early in the morning to do your exercise. “No don’t get up! You need the rest!” someone inside of you says. “You have to work the whole day and put food on the table! You deserve the rest”. Or “You might fall sick without adequate rest and all this exercise!”. For those who have experienced these situations, can attest that this voice is very, very real! The Reptilian brain only wants to survive and it chooses the path of least resistance to increase your chances of survival.

Can anything be done to reprogram our reptilian brains? Read the next article “Why We Succumb to Food Temptations – Part 2″