Breaking bad nutritional habits

February 15, 2010 by  
Filed under Blog

I had a discussion with a friend last night about the problems people run into when they are trying to lose weight. We agreed on the fact that a lot of the problem is psychological in nature, rather than simple will power as many thin people believe. My friend, who is in the medical profession, told me that a lot of her clients have a much easier time quitting smoking than doing what they need to do with their diet to lose the weight they want to lose!

I can definitely relate to this. Growing up, my family ALWAYS had dessert after dinner. There was never a question of what was coming after dinner! Usually ice cream, cookies, or cake. To this day, I often have a slight craving for sweets after I have a meal. However, I’ve learned to eat just a small piece of dark chocolate, or a cup of healthy hot cocoa sweetened with stevia powder, to satisfy my craving.

The problems come with the rituals. Here are some tips to break out of your bad habits or fat-producing rituals.

1. Do you often follow up your workouts with pizza & beer? Try only eating pizza on rare occasion, and opt for thin crust. Try bubbly water instead of beer.

2. Do you always eat popcorn when going to (or watching) movies? Bring some almonds or cashews next time, save the money, and your insulin from spiking, and fat from accumulating!

3. Eat more fruit, as it can act like dessert.

4. Use stevia powder instead of sugar or other sweeteners. Stevia is natural and has 0 carbs, 0 calories.

5. Don’t start the day with a sugar kick. This will set you up for cravings all day long, and make sure to keep your energy levels on the low side.

6. Don’t beat yourself up. If you currently drink 2 sodas a day, start by cutting down to 1, and have sparkling water for the other one. Set small, attainable goals and follow through with them for 2 weeks, then up the ante.

Since we all eat every day, several times a day for most of us, habits are not easy to break free from. Starting small and using the sentence completion exercises in the Healthy Mind Fit Body book are a great way to develop new, healthy habits and allow you to achieve your perfect body.

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Comments

4 Comments on "Breaking bad nutritional habits"

  1. Drew on Tue, 23rd Feb 2010 11:06 pm 

    I totally agree with changing nutrition being psychological in nature. If people listened to their self talk before, and after eating they’d be amazed at the things they actually talk themselves in and out of.

  2. Dr. Josh Axe on Fri, 20th Aug 2010 3:44 pm 

    Solid tips and advice

  3. Aurielle Whitmore on Mon, 11th Apr 2011 10:08 pm 

    This makes a lot of sense to me. I also grew up with dessert after dinner and it’s usually the one thing I look forward too! I now try to maybe only have a couple cookies or a smaller amount of ice cream. Now I’ve gotten to the point where sometimes I don’t even crave ice cream afterwards. : )

  4. Wes on Mon, 30th May 2011 7:38 pm 

    Thanks for the feedback, you’all. And Rel, you’re lucky that your metabolism can handle the extra carbs without gaining much fat. Of course, there are other health benefits to lowering your insulin secretion, which is why we tend to stay out of various cookie jars. :)

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