Picture this. You’re walking through the mall after a long and tiring shopping trip and are almost at the exit when you catch sight of a Haagen-Dazs sign. "Mmmm..." you think to yourself, "an ice cream would be just the thing right now wouldn’t it?" On automatic pilot, you make your way over to the counter…

"But no!" you tell yourself. "You’re not having ice cream. It’s not good for you. You haven’t even had dinner yet. You can have a healthy snack at home instead. Besides, you don’t deserve ice cream. You’ve let yourself get fat and you need to lose weight. So walk away. Walk away now."

And so you turn and walk away – for about two seconds. Then the mental screaming kicks in: “But I want it! I need it! I have to have it! I want that ice cream and I want it NOW!”

No argument stops you from getting to the counter this time. And it’s a triple-scoop mocha-almond fudge sundae with all the toppings for you.

A bloated stomach and 1000 calories later, you start to wonder if there could have been a better way to handle the situation. Telling yourself the ice cream was bad for you didn’t work, but giving in to your unhealthy demands has left you in pretty bad shape – in more ways than one.