It's not easy to change eating habits or any habits for that matter. They are stuck in our self-conscious, but it's not like we can't unstick ourselves without a conscious effort, hard-work, and a good support team. The key is understanding why we must change and the negative and positive consequences of that change. There are many bad habits that I have that I want to change, so I tackle them one at a time. Nail biting, for instance, is just gross, but for some reason, I deal with anxiety and fear by biting my nails (or picking them). Eating food is obviously not a habit, but necessary for survival. The type of food, the time we eat, the reason for eating (other than survival) are all habits, good or bad.
While many quick-fix or fad diets out there promise easy results, I can attest that none of them work for the long haul, and most of them are not meant to nor should be as they can actually create adverse results in the long run. How do I know? I've tried virtually every one of them out there. The result? I ended up quitting after the weight loss was achieved and gained it all back, plus some. The real deal to losing weight is to learn what our bodies need for fuel, how calorie intake and output works, and understand our emotional and mental connection with food. I am not a dietician or a nutritionist, but the research is out there, and if you are willing to investigate in order to achieve a healthy weight and a healthy body, you can find out the same information.
Every change requires sacrifice.
Sacrifice is challenging but rewarding.
Maybe you can relate... My experience with food was like most Americans I know. I went out to eat once or twice a week (or more depending on my work schedule). Rewards for accomplishments (like promotions or winning a race) or celebrations always involved food, and mostly comfort food. Potlucks, salad bars, all-you-can-eat restaurants, large portion sizes, cleaning my plate, etc. never concerned me. In fact, I didn't even realize how many calories I consumed by not taking control of my eating. Every time I dieted, I felt deprived and hungry. My brain would short-circuit and I would be angry and soon give up trying to do the impossible (eliminate carbohydrates, only eat cabbage, etc). Sometimes I ate food when I was bored. Sometimes I ate food when I was sad. How did I get over this and become a successful eater? I became informed.
I highly recommend reading Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman. Seriously. Buy the book and read it. If you implement his suggestions for healthy living, you may just find your life/health changes for the better.
Try to avoid being addicted to food. I gave up a lot of things I used to love to eat because I learned that they were slowly killing my body. Processed food = processed people. I actually just discovered that there is a documentary called Processed People which I'd like to watch. As Dr. Fuhrman says in his book, Americans can have the most unique opportunity in history, the ability to have wealth and not disease. We can use our money to purchase whole foods that are good for our bodies and become disease free. (paraphrase is mine)
Think about it. We often try to save money and we buy cheap food. But that cheap food begins to slowly rot our bodies, and in the end, we will probably spend more money in the long run on medication and doctor bills than if we had used preventative measures. I didn't realize that most heart disease is completely preventable. If we just change our diets now, later on in life, we can continue to enjoy life without heart attacks, diabetes, and obesity.
Learn to enjoy whole foods! If you are like me, you are addicted to certain foods that are not good for you. How do you know if you're addicted? Try eliminating a certain food, like cheese, and see if you feel weird for a couple of days or are angry that you can't eat it. Most people are addicted to heavy, comfort foods. Some examples of comfort food include macaroni and cheese, pizza, meatloaf, cookies, green bean casserole, ice cream, etc. These foods may taste great and give you that satisfaction temporarily, but they should be avoided most of the time. Rarely eat comfort foods and try to overcome your addiction to them.
Once again, I HIGHLY encourage you to read Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman. He explains the research, the positive benefits to be gained by eating the right foods, and encouragement for achieving a healthy body weight and a disease free body.
Won't you change your bad eating behaviors? I'm trying to. Join me and use my blog documenting my success and failures as support for your own eating challenge!
How many times did your mom say, "Don't forget to take your vitamins!" I have fond memories of searching through the vitamin container looking for the pink Flinstone vitamin and saving the yucky purple ones for my sister. As an adult, I knew I should be taking a multi-vitamin and one purposefully made for women. I don't want to develop osteoporosis when I'm older, so I need lots of calcium, so the experts say. Oh, and don't forget to add Vitamin D to help absorb the calcium. I've been wanting to get pregnant for quite some time now (see my post on infertility), so I need vitamins that will set my body up to be the perfect place for a baby to grow. My multi-vitamin of choice for the last few years has been Women's One-a-Day multi-vitamin.
