Consider a thought experiment.  If you had a trillion dollars you would have about 14 times as much as the richest person who ever lived.  Money would be no object  in a decision.  You could have the absolute best that is available in this world.  Every moment of every day.

As a rational trillionaire, you would be most concerned with staying as healthy as possible and living at the peak of happiness for life.

That would be great!  Wouldn’t it be the most amazing experience to live like a trillionaire – even for a moment?

Suppose that the trillionaire had a moment of discomfort.  He got thirsty.  Of course he would quickly quench that thirst.  But with what?

I suppose it could be with Dom Perignon.  But alcohol and thirst aren’t a great pair.  Coke?  Sure, but the empty calories and acid might give him pause.

No, the trillionaire would choose the one thing his body craves to conquer thirst- a glass of cool and pure water.   A thousand generations of ancestors fighting for survival in this world has honed his desire for the answer to his thirst.

The Independent Penguin is aware of the irony of this.  And he mindfully enjoys living like a trillionaire while sipping his water.

Are you familiar with Hedonic Adaptation?

Basically, it’s a mechanism that lets people adapt to new circumstances and get on with their lives.  Fantastic for a survival mechanism for the species.  Earthquake? Flood? Paradise? Record food supply?  Take a moment or two, soak it in, and return to your set level of happiness and carry on with life.

The tricky part is that it also means that the new car, new purse, and new T.V. won’t permanently increase happiness either.  People just get used to new things.  If someone is unaware of this, it can feel like life is just a treadmill of earning and spending but not getting anywhere.  Wiki even has an entry for the hedonic treadmill. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill

The great and amazing thing is that it works in reverse, too.  What if the television cable stopped working?  It would be irritating, but  people would get used to it pretty quickly.  They might start to appreciate the free TV signal that is available.  A little free time would open up that used to be dedicated to watching QVC (or whatever).  The monthly bills would decrease a little, either providing a growing emergency fund or reduced need to work over time.

One way to take advantage of this psychological quirk is to become a minimalist, and cut back until each item you have evokes gratitude.  Tammy Strobel did this and was profiled in this NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/business/08consume.html

Is this a path of deprivation?  It’s not.  The key is to have everything that you want and need. But not to have everything you can buy.   The extra stuff won’t increase your happiness.

To paraphrase one of my favorite bloggers, a debtor who feels deprived by not making a new purchase is similar to a dangerously unfit person who feels that a walk would deprive them of laying on the couch. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/22/what-is-hedonic-adaptation-and-how-can-it-turn-you-into-a-sukka/  Think about it.

This post has everything to do with right-sizing that visible patch of ice for the Independent Penguin.

As an experiment, during New Year’s resolutions in 2012 I decided to limit what I consumed as food and drink.  The driving force for this was strictly as a way to try to improve my health- I was convinced that my weight was at my natural set point and it was comfortable for me.  The last time I was at my ideal weight (by the standard tables) was twenty years ago and lost in the misty past.

I wanted to keep the rules short, simple, and easy to follow.  Most resolutions don’t even last a month, and I wanted to make one that was practical.  Here are the rules I made:

1) These are guidelines for days that don’t start with “S”.  On days that start with “S” (Saturday, Sunday, and Special occasions) they don’t apply.

2) Don’t drink any calories.  Water, tea, seltzer, and coffee are fine.  The exception is that beer is allowed.  Hey, it’s my  set of rules.  You make your own set.

3) Avoid all ground meat.  No, not a vegetarian at all – just a choice to put high quality cuts in my diet.

4) Eliminate choosing sugar or bread when a choice is available.  Would you like bread with your salad?  No, thank you. Sugar with your coffee?  No thanks.

5) Base meals around vegetables and legumes, using meat sparingly.

That’s it.   My goal (as mentioned above) was just to improve my health a little bit.  I was totally surprised to see the pounds keep falling off.  My activity level didn’t increase intentionally – although I did end up doing more walking as my energy level increased.  To my total surprise I ended up dropping 40 pounds and back at the weight I had twenty years ago.  All without ever feeling hungry or deprived.

I’ll share some of my super simple recipes in future posts.  But the important improvement was just trying to practice conscious consumption of food.