How to BREAK Bad Food Habits

How to BREAK Bad Eating Habits

Over 40% of behavior is attributed to automatic, unconscious habits. These behaviors include both good and bad habits. I get many questions from clients, particularly about bad habits. 

1. How to prevent those bad, unhealthy habits from forming?

2. How to break my current bad habits like not exercising or eating from fast-food restaurants too often during the week?

These automatic behaviors make it difficult to prevent and stop these bad habits from arising. Essentially what is happening is you have created a habit loop. 

Here is an example of a habit loop. When a person feels tired, they might look to grab some coffee. The process of grabbing the coffee is the routine that leads to the reward of them feeling alert and happy. Important to note that the trigger could be physical or emotional. 

Examples of Triggers

1. Someone brings doughnuts to work; you get a ping of excitement that triggers you to want to consume as many doughnuts as possible. (Physical trigger). 
2. You feel lonely, isolated, or just down in the dumps. These negative emotions trigger instant gratification through the routine of food or any other bad habit leading to the reward. (Emotional Trigger). 

How to break the habit loop?

1. You have to know your triggers. This step is crucial to breaking your bad habits. You have to know what is triggering you to initiate these routines. 
2. Writing or journaling your triggers through the week will help you break down when and what is pulling you in the direction of bad habits. 

Then What?

1. Once you know your trigger, you can change the routine. Often it is not possible to change the cue or trigger that initiates lousy behavior, but it is possible to replace the routine with something more helpful. 
2. When you get triggered to eat sweets, candy, and fast food, you have to PLAN a different routine. 
3. It would help if you planned the alternative routines because it is not automatic yet. Healthy habits will become more automatic over time. 
4. Get in the HABIT. SUBSTITUTE UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR ROUTINES FOR HEALTHY ONES. 

Here are some examples of making and creating better habits

1. When you have a trigger for sugar, have some healthy fruits on deck to eat. 
2. When you have a trigger for fast food, have some healthy foods already prepared to eat. 
3. When you are feeling low in mood, make a plan to either call a friend, listen to music, go outside, or do something that you love to feel secure and balanced again. 

I hope this helps. Happy Training!