I once got lost in a bag of potato chips.

Richard Walters of The 16 Minute Body Sculpting Kit (08/14/2008)

Did you ever begin a stimulating physical activity and then discover you somehow can’t extricate yourself? You pick up a bag of potato chips, and start eating two, three, four, five. Before you know it you’re at the bottom of the bag. You didn’t really want any more, but you couldn’t stop. You passed the point of diminishing returns and now you feel sick. We human beings are pleasure-seekers. The more pleasure, the more power.

What I have hopefully figured out is how to transform raw physical sensation into the deeper pleasures of love, meaning, creativity, and such. I have found, for myself, that I have not lost the physical pleasures. By restraining myself, I feel that I have actually enhanced my experience of physical pleasure and appreciate it more.

I have found, for myself, that when used wisely with restraint physical pleasure is a stepping stone to higher pleasures. I can run through the woods in all kinds of weather, and appreciate the beauty of nature. When I get energy from my body, it seems to help open up my soul. So before you discount the process of achieving a sculpted body as requiring too much restraint, give yourself a chance to grapple with it. I think you will feel glad that you did, as you experience a new gourmet way of living.

By the way, my wife just gave me Tilapia (fish), with potato and yam stew, and acorn squash for dinner. Yummy! Boy do I feel satisfied. Most of us don’t like to lose anything. It’s human nature. We like to gain something. Therefore, when we are tempted with junk food, aside from the strong desire we feel for it, if we can’t have it we feel as though we have lost something. We feel deprived. We feel as though we have given something up. “I only live once, and I’m going to enjoy myself.”

What would happen if instead of feeling like we lost something, we felt like we gained a lot more than we are giving up? Let’s use the analogy of money. Most of us don’t like to lose money. But let’s say that you were certain that if you were to give up one dollar, that you would, for sure, gain five dollars, you would be happy to give up the dollar, right? You would probably even feel a surge of pleasure in having given up the dollar to gain five.

So the key to harnessing the powerful pleasure of restraint, at least for myself, is to focus on the positive - what I will gain: a buff body, health, and so forth.