Have you ever heard the term “Sexier than a squirrel”?
If you’ve a dog, you may well have done.
I never had until we got our furry monster.
It’s a term dog trainers use to help train dogs, actually their owners I guess, to recall.
I remember when Dexter was a puppy, his recall was horrendous!
If he spotted something he liked the look of…whether that be other people, another dog, a bread roll* (!), a squirrel, you had no chance of getting him back.
*Incidentally, why DO people leave whole bread rolls in the woods??
Anyway, that’s where this term comes from.
The idea being that if you want your dog to come back to you, you have to make yourself sexier than a squirrel…or another dog, or person…or whatever it is that your dog is running off to see!
I remember at puppy school, our trainer reminded us that some dogs are treat (food) dogs and others are toy dogs.
That is, some dogs will do anything for a treat, others anything for a toy.
I have to say, Dex is a pretty good mix. He loves his treats but equally, can’t resist a toy when it comes to playing fetch.
You may be asking, “What the hell does any of this have to do with wellness Karen?”
Well…quite a lot actually.
On one of our coaching calls recently we were discussing the old lunch problem.
About how bloody easy it is to grab a sandwich for lunch.
Let’s face it, they’re tasty, quick, easy and take pretty much zero brain-power to throw together.
And when you’re feeding more than just you, anyone will eat them, generally speaking.
Now we, as humans, follow the path of least resistance.
ESPECIALLY when we’re tired, emotional, stressed and our will-power has exhausted.
Not because we’re lazy, per se, but because we like to conserve energy.
From a survival perspective, it makes perfect sense.
So if we’re wanting to eat something healthier than a sandwich at lunchtime, we have to make it sexier than a sandwich!
It wants to be quicker to make, more appealing, tastier, easier to make…and require virtually zero brain power.
If your healthy lunch is going to require a multitude of ingredients, take 30 mins to prepare, need a recipe to follow and not taste good once you’ve made it, the sandwich will win EVERY time.
Now what this “sexier than a sandwich” lunch looks like to you will depend.
Just like some dogs prefer treats over toys,
different lunches will have varying appeal to us, as individuals.
So you’ll have to experiment to find yours.
‘Leftover dinner’ lunches are a massive feature in our house…but they may not appeal to you.
Whatever you choose, we are always wanting to create as much friction as we can between us and the habits that serve us poorly.
And create as little resistance as possible between us and the habits we want to nurture.
So think about this next time you grab something that doesn’t serve you for lunch.
If it’s not making you feel good and helping you reach yours goals, think about how easy it was to grab.
And how you can make a better alternative sexier than your sandwich 🙂
