Understanding Your Eating Habits: Part 2

Creating a Supportive Environment

This is part 2 of a 2 part blog series about understanding your eating habits. If you haven’t read Part 1, scroll down to the bottom of the page to check it out , and then come back here for part 2!

Clean it out: Now you have some information and you can see that you have patterns and many of them involve your home. What is supposed to be our sanctuary is often a minefield of temptation. You have to clean out the crap that you know will tempt you. Food talks to you, I swear! It calls you from the living room and if you don’t answer it just gets louder and louder.  When we are at home there are so many patterns we get into around food, whether it is to deal with stress or to relax that are not the healthiest. If you don’t keep chips in your house the likelihood is that you won’t at 8 pm drive to the store and get them. If you do, then that is a craving that wouldn’t be denied, and I say give in and move on. An example in my own life is cereal. Cereal was a massive source of comfort for me my whole life. I could never just eat one bowl, if there was milk left in the bowl, I would have to put more in. When I started focusing on losing weight, I made the decision to no longer keep cereal in my house. I am just powerless against it. That means my kids don’t get cereal and guess what, they are fine. I have even come to have “cereal week” twice a year where we allow the kids to pick a kind they likel and I even have a bowl myself. It doesn’t hold the same power anymore, but that is because I don’t keep it around, if I brought it back on a regular basis it would become a problem for me. Get real with the things that you know you would have to white knuckle with everyday and get them out.

Plan, Plan, Plan

Especially in the beginning you have to plan, you have to grocery shop, you have to prep. Discipline does not just appear one day it is a skill that is developed through action. Start developing that skill now. Most Sundays I roast vegetables, a lot of them. These become lifesavers during the week, when I have little time for lunch between clients, I am able to throw those in the microwave and have a delicious, healthy, filling lunch that will get me through the rest of the afternoon. This requires planning on my part, it doesn’t require tremendous effort just some planning and helps to keep me successful throughout the week.

Find Balance, But Not Excuse

This will be controversial, but I am not a fan of eating plans that eliminate entire food groups. Whole foods (yes even carbs, gasp!) that are not processed provide our bodies with important energy and nutrients that we need to function at our peak. You must find a way to eat that is sustainable for life. Please read that sentence again. This is for LIFE! Not until you hit your goal weight, fit in the dress, go to the reunion, etc. Why would you work so hard only to give it all up at the end and go back to a way of life that made your body and often times your mind feel like crap. That is why I believe giving up entire food groups is a recipe for failure because it isn’t realistic that for the rest of your life you won’t eat some bread.  What I do want to make clear though is that sacrifice is part of this journey, for life. Yep, read that sentence again. You will have to eat less, you will have to learn what it feels like to be hungry, you will have to go to parties where you won’t get to eat every damn thing you see. No, you are not giving up coconut cream pie for the rest of your life (thank God) but you can’t have it all the time anymore because it isn’t good for your body. You will have to learn how to eat less of what isn’t healthy for you and more of what is.  

Keep Writing, Be Flexible, Be Mindful

If you haven’t gotten the hint yet mindfulness if the central key to success when it comes to cultivating a healthy lifestyle. You must be aware of who you are, how you eat, how you live, what you do, what triggers you, what works for you, what makes you feel strong mentally and physically and the only way to do that is to be present in your life. That is why I believe so strongly in continuing to write down what you eat. This can be simply for information, to track your macros, to count calories or points, or simply how much and what you are eating. The specifics are for you to decide based on the information you have gathered about yourself. That is where flexibility comes into play. Your needs, body, and life situations will change which means that changes may need to be made in how you eat. While I enjoyed my evening Butterfinger for some time, it eventually got in the way of my success and I found other healthy ways to satisfy my sweet tooth. If you are mindful and aware of what is going on then when you hit a plateau that would normally frustrate and possibly derail you, you will be able to look at how you are eating and find ways to adjust and areas that you can improve upon that will help you move forward.

Remember This Is a Journey

I have said it a million times here. There is no destination here except a healthy life. You won’t be able to change all of your habits at once, nor should you expect that of yourself as it is a recipe for disaster. One day at a time you take steps that get you closer to the image of what a healthy life means to you. As you travel down this road celebrate every single victory, no matter how small. Recognizing forward motion is so crucial to maintaining that momentum. This is life people and there will be peaks and valleys. There will be times when you feel like you are doing everything right and you are not seeing success and times that you feel like you are struggling, but somehow keep moving in the right direction. You have to make the decision right now that regardless of what life may throw at you, you are committed to this journey, that you will be committed to the process, forgiving of yourself when you need to be and encouraging when you are doing what you know works. I promise you the work is worth it. It’s not about weight loss, rather it is about living in a body that feels good, that functions in the way that it should and allows you to live life not having to battle it. It is about freedom. Do you want to take your health journey to the next level? Join my 12 week healthy habits challenge!