While on a road trip recently, I passed a hotel billboard that said this:

“Breakfast tastes better when it’s free.”

And it got me thinking…what IS it about free food that makes it so tempting?

Whether it’s suckers at the bank, Hershey’s Kisses on your co-worker’s desk, or a break room filled with donuts, there’s something about free food that’s tough to resist.

And how about if you pay for something that INCLUDES food?

Then you feel like you’ve gotta eat it to get your money’s worth…even if you’re not hungry and even if it’s crap food you know will make you sick and fat.

Seriously, when you pay $175 for a hotel room, it’s easy to rationalize eating that “free” breakfast (even though it’s not actually free…it’s built into the price).

I’ve seen people stuff themselves with heavily processed muffins, slip packaged croissants, donuts, and danishes into their purse, and chow down on food that’s been sitting out for hours.

Even when it’s stuff they would normally never eat or never buy, they grab it and eat it…

Including waffles, toast made from super processed bread, “butter” made with inflammatory soybean oil, and even sugar-soaked mainstream jelly.

None of that processed crap gives you any kind of fuel or nourishes you on any level.

What it WILL do is show up on your body as fat, take a ton of insulin to bring your blood sugar back down, and leave you with diarrhea, a headache, a stomachache, and lord knows what else…

All because “free food” is too good to pass up.

I feel the urge to eat free food too, sometimes, so I understand. Before Code Red, I’d grab any free food I could get, too.

All I ask is that the next time you feel compelled to say heck with it and eat the “free” food, be honest with yourself about whether you really need it.

You’ll save yourself a lot of suffering and wasted time losing weight you regain.