Hot Fashion - Junk Food Without the Calories?

• Survival Circuits

My daughter Haley took me shopping in So Ho, at a new spot, Top Shop. Haley bought shoes. I was waiting, then found three black tee shirts next door at another store. It was really fun, and I could feel a spurt of dopamine and that tingly feeling in my body. It seems that shopping was akin to food binge without the calories.

A few years ago I wrote a book on a 3-day plan for using the method, and across the board in the 100 or so people who tested that plan, they decreased their cravings. They lost weight.

The premise behind the book was to maximize the neurotransmitter rush from natural sources, so that food becomes just food, not a fix. In EBT, we emphasize getting an abundance of the rewards of meaning: sanctuary, intimacy, spirituality and more. What about a small bit of artificial pleasure such as a small shopping spree.

Consider your chemical response to shopping. Do you get the same burst of chemical pleasure when you shop but don't buy, when you spend more than you can afford, when you get precisely what you want, or when you buy it, then turn around and take it back. How can we use shopping responsibly, not as a quick fix, but as one of life's pleasures without slipping into addictive purchasing or attachment to things that breeds more and more appetites for possessions?