Easier said than done!
Most 'unhealthy' eating
habits live in your unconscious mind and if you leave your unconscious mind in
control of these habits, they will resurface over and over again.
This is never more
important than when it comes to successfully reaching your preferred weight and
being able to maintain that weight thereafter. The problem is the general mindset
for weight loss is to go on a 'diet' which is generally a period of
deprivation, confusion and feeling like all the pleasure has been sucked out of
your daily food consumption. There are many reasons why the diet approach has
been failing for a very long time, one of these reasons being it does not
address any 'unhealthy' eating habits you may have lodged in your memory banks
just biding their time until you decide either you've had enough of the diet
battle and give up, or you successfully reach your target weight. It's at this
point, your habituated learned behaviour's gradually resurface as your mindset
returns to 'normal' eating.
Habits are an essential
part of our day-to-day living, without them we would struggle to remember all
the things we need to, this is why we form them, to reduce the amount of time
we have to think about things we do on a very regular basis, freeing up our
mind space for all the rest of life's important details and information.
The problem with our
unhealthy eating habits is that quite often they can be a big part of the
reason why we end up being a weight we are unhappy with, and so when the habits
return, they bring the original weight gain along with them, making us feel
like it is impossible to maintain this weight we so desire.
This is why it is now
commonly recommended to make lifestyle changes rather than consider dieting as
your option for weight loss. This is often easier said than done however, those
pesky habits are usually well ingrained from years of repetition, so what's the
answer?
Within my personalised
plans I recommend a 6 step process to addressing unhealthy eating habits
The first step is to
identify the habits that you would like to change, take some time with this and
make a list of anything you think you do on a regular basis that
could be contributing to weight gain. This could be things like snacking on
unhealthy foods, eating too quickly, mindless eating, boredom eating, stress
eating, eating portions that are too large etc. (even if you eat a reasonably
healthy diet, if your portions are too large it could still cause you to gain weight)
Once you have completed
your list, look through it carefully and select one habit that you feel will
make a big difference if you were to be able to change it, the one you do most
often perhaps or the one that seems the most 'unhealthy'.
Choose a way you could
alter this behaviour to something more favourable. So for example if the habit
you have chosen is snacking daily on unhealthy foods while at work, perhaps you
could alter this behaviour by preparing your weeks supply of healthy snacks that
you really enjoy, at a convenient time so you don't have to think about what to
eat or whether you have it in the cupboards or not when you're rushing out the
door in the morning, you are just ready to grab and go every day.
Set phone/clock alarms to
help remind you that you need to do this extra preparation until it becomes
your new natural habitual behaviour that you do almost without thinking.
Review your progress with
this habit replacement, if it's not working then something about the change you
have made needs adjusting to make it more convenient for you, or more
enjoyable, maybe the healthier foods you are choosing are not enjoyable enough,
making you miss your unhealthy snacks? Make your adjustment and reset any necessary
alarms or planning/preparation.
Repeat step 5 until you
realise you make this new choice almost without thinking, then it is time to
choose habit number 2.
Don't try to change more
than one habit at a time, research shows that we have an 80% success rate when
we try to change one habit, but this drops to 0% when we try to change two or
more at a time.
Once your new habit is
pretty well ingrained and you rarely even think about what you used to do, then
is the time to revisit your habit list and select another one.
Change your Mind, Change
your Body
Personalised weight loss
plans can help to ensure long-term successful weight loss that you find
comfortable, easy to adhere to and dare I say it, enjoyable even. Along with
all the latest food and nutrition, diet and fitness information the plans cover
changing habits, behaviour patterns and the way you think about food in
relation to eating healthy, feeling great and being able to lose weight in a
way that suits you and your lifestyle.
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