Breaking your habits - JP Fitness Forums

Sign · 01-10-2007, 04:12 PM

I know this is how things were for me and I am guessing that it is the same for many other people.

I knew I had to lose weight, I told myself constantly that I had to, that I couldn't keep going on my current path. Yet it never seemed to happen. I would always end up following the same path, the same habits, at the time I would never think that I shouldn't be doing it, it was just habit. I would hit the McD's drive-thru, or eat a full pack of crackers with soup without really considering whether I should do that or not. Then, later in the the night I would see myself in the mirror and again tell myself that I need to make a change. To stop eating the garbage. Yet, the next day I would do the exact same things, again without thinking. This would go on for months.

Even now, even when I am eating clean it is still a challenge to avoid those familiar, comfortable habits and try to forge new, clean habits. So what are some of the tricks you use to break yourself out of your habits?

For me, I write in my blog daily about everything and keep a track of foods in CalorieKing. I have a little reminder beside my computer on a Post-It reminding me to eat every couple hours because when I get into something on the computer I can lose several hours at a time. On our fridge my girlfriend has pictures from our trip to Mexico for a friends wedding. They aren't up there for this purpose but I use them to remind myself of how I look and how much I never want to look like that again.

So what are some of the little things you do to keep you on track?

Lost Dog · 01-10-2007, 05:13 PM

Three straight years of CalorieKing (It was a game to hit the calorie/macro targets on the head)
I cook my week's worth of food on Sunday (I won't buy if I'll have to throw away food I've already made)
Pack my cooler full of today's food (The drive through beckons when one is hungry and foodless)
Unless it's a healthy place, I eat before I go to lunch with my coworkers (and just have a diet soda)
Never be without a healthy snack, just in case (vending machines are evil)

Jean-Paul · 01-10-2007, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

Three straight years of CalorieKing (It was a game to hit the calorie/macro targets on the head)
I cook my week's worth of food on Sunday (I won't buy if I'll have to throw away food I've already made)
Pack my cooler full of today's food (The drive through beckons when one is hungry and foodless)
Unless it's a healthy place, I eat before I go to lunch with my coworkers (and just have a diet soda)
Never be without a healthy snack, just in case (vending machines are evil)

Excellent list Roland! Now I see why you're so ripped!

RacerBill · 01-10-2007, 06:30 PM

I can't add that much.

If you don't want to eat it, don't keep it in your kitchen. Admittedly, that's virtually impossible if you don't have the cooperation of everyone in the house. But there are a lot of folks who keep treats on hand "just in case" or if the nieces/nephews visit, etc. It won't kill the kids to eat carrots when they visit (they'll just act like it will...)

With a gift of food (like a cake or box of candy), enjoy a bite, then throw the rest in the trash and refuse to feel guilty about it. It might preserve the relationship if the giver isn't watching you do that.

For me, it was helpful to just go day by day. I'd think to myself that JUST FOR TODAY I'll eat well and avoid sugar. Once I got through the day, I didn't want to break the streak, so I'd see how many days I could go before a breakdown.

Learn to identify those times when you're just bored and want to munch on something, and make conscious choices. For too many years I just grazed without thinking. If I feel like nibbling I can get some carrots, an apple, or just chew some sugar-free gum.

rgv · 01-10-2007, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RacerBill

If you don't want to eat it, don't keep it in your kitchen. Admittedly, that's virtually impossible if you don't have the cooperation of everyone in the house. But there are a lot of folks who keep treats on hand "just in case" or if the nieces/nephews visit, etc. It won't kill the kids to eat carrots when they visit (they'll just act like it will...)

By far the best thing that helped me. Didn't lose a pound till I moved into my own place and wasnt eating campus food or being hounded by my mother to finish leftovers. Sure i take crap from the boys when theres no chips/popcorn in the pantry for football, but they seem completely ok with me making them omelets the next morning.

go figure!?

Aoife · 01-10-2007, 10:59 PM

Streaks and conditions.
I like being on a streak, and the longer the streak the less likely I am to break it... cuz I'm a little ocd like that.
I only allow myself a treat if I've worked out. The treat (usually mini-candy pieces) is post workout so the sugar isn't bad, and if I have one of each (which is the limit, and there are only three kinds in the variety pack) it's still less than 100 calories.

One of my habits is cleaning my plate (darn stoopid parents) so to beat it I have to A) set aside on the plate what I'm gonna take home and B) remember how cruddy I feel physically after eating too much.

A meal more than 600 calories is guaranteed to give me some kind of GI distress. Once I realized that, portion control became much easier. It's no longer a "do I want to eat this now and not lose the 3 ounces of fat on my body it represents" which is harder to fight than "do I want to eat this and feel like crap the rest of the night?" More immediate punishment, rather than lack of reward... Definitely a clearer choice.

GG300 · 01-11-2007, 11:59 AM

A constant flow of green tea and water really helps keep my appetite down. That coupled with eating 6 small meals a day seems to work the trick. As LD said making sure that you have quick and healthy food available to you keeps you away from the unscheduled detours from your healthy eating plan as well.

Sign · 01-12-2007, 09:46 PM

Today I almost cracked and fell into an old habit. It wasn't intentional and I didn't even realize I was doing it until I stopped and thought about it for a minute. Friday nights I used to order dominoes and hang out and I almost started calling but I managed to catch myself. Its a battle but I am finding the temptations of my old ways to be getting less and less and its getting easier and easier overall to catch them and resist them.

Ogedei · 01-13-2007, 05:24 AM

Not knowing your doing it is probably a bad thing.

Everytime I slip and eat something bad I am keenly aware of it.

Roland's list is good, but everytime he posts it makes me consider diet pop as an option. Addicted bastard!

Lost Dog · 01-13-2007, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ogedei

Not knowing your doing it is probably a bad thing.

Everytime I slip and eat something bad I am keenly aware of it.

Roland's list is good, but everytime he posts it makes me consider diet pop as an option. Addicted bastard!

Everytime you post, I consider oatmeal as an option. Addicted bastard!

Espi · 01-13-2007, 10:41 AM

The best thing you can do is to plan your meals in advance.

Plan your calories as well as the grams of P/C/F meals in advance.
Again, lots and lots of people eat the same foods every single day.. which is not necessary, but it's great to have standard set meals for breakfast - lunch - dinner as well as snacks.
And make your calorie intake depend on activity levels.

If you can avoid it, I wouldn't prepare foods well in advance. Actually that nearly always has been a way to make me overeat while preparing the foods and often prepare too much. Plus, the food will always taste best when freshly prepared and piping hot. E.g. boilt eggs that are still warm.

As for candy and other treats.. have 1 free meal a week in which you allow yourself whatever you like, but again.. plan the calories. Like, I lurv lurv icecream and prefer to eat the entire container of 400g. So, that's 1200 kcal.. and I make sure that it's always on a very heavy lifting day, so I can eat it without feeling guilty.
Candy can replace workout carbs , but that's a bit trickier to do. Buying mini-versions is probably safer than large bags. But if you can manage, you can make small bags in advance and weigh it out. Some people enjoy using candy during workouts as performance is about the same as with normal sports drinks. For me, candy's GI is a tad too high (GI=70) though much better than plain dextrose (GI = 100) and I prefer jam slushes (GI <70 because of fructose) as it's drinkable and has more nutrients (anti-oxidants) and gives less energy swings. Plus, there's very little risk that I'll be scarfing down an entire jar of jam in one sitting, while that might happen with candy.

Breaking habits.. it is not easy, but one does it step by step for some things and radically for other things. It's not always clear which approach is best.
Like that free meal I mentioned.. some people should not do that as it makes them re-addicted. Other people must always have a free meal as too much restriction makes them crave for forbidden foods much more than when they wouldn't have restricted themselves.

I guess you will know for yourself into which category you belong. I'm definitely into the latter. Unfortunately a lot of the foods I love, are the foods I don't tolerate well, like gluten and dairy. So, I try to not have icecream or pastry too often (like once a month will do), and instead indulge on potatoes (crisps, fries) or popcorn.

Espi · 01-13-2007, 10:46 AM

And quite funnily while a lot of people have had best results with smaller and more frequent meals , I've reverted back to old habits of eating only 2-3 meals/day as it's literally a matter of out of sight, out of mind for food.

It could very well be that this preference depends very much on whether you suffer from too low blood sugar levels (then more meals are better) or too high blood sugar (then less meals can even help in keeping blood sugar levels down).

RacerBill · 01-13-2007, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sign

Today I almost cracked and fell into an old habit. It wasn't intentional and I didn't even realize I was doing it until I stopped and thought about it for a minute. Friday nights I used to order dominoes and hang out and I almost started calling but I managed to catch myself. Its a battle but I am finding the temptations of my old ways to be getting less and less and its getting easier and easier overall to catch them and resist them.

You did exactly the right thing! You caught yourself and replaced unconscious action with conscientious thought and decision making. It takes a while for it to stick, but I think you're well on your way.

sidonia · 01-17-2007, 01:06 PM

I am new to this, but the best this I ever started to do was preparing meals on the weekends and packing myself large ziploc baggies labeled "monday, tuesday...". It prevents me from wanting anything else...and also from grabbing anything else at the office all day. It's a little grade school for me, I always feel like..."hey where's the little note from my mommy?"...but it's the most important thing I've done in terms of sticking to my clean eating. I'm weighing in next week so we'll see how it's worked!

Aoife · 01-18-2007, 08:45 AM

You should totally add little "notes from mommy" ... little affirmations, notes of love to yourself, etc. Thinking good thoughts about yourself as a person always makes taking care of yourself seem easier and more worthwhile... to know you're really worth it.

Lisa~ · 01-18-2007, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aoife

You should totally add little "notes from mommy" ... little affirmations, notes of love to yourself, etc. Thinking good thoughts about yourself as a person always makes taking care of yourself seem easier and more worthwhile... to know you're really worth it.

I love this idea. When I first changed the way I eat, I kept affirmations around all the time. I printed them out and stashed them in places where'd I'd find them and say them to myself. Like Mahler's Power of Word MMMM this week, repeating positive words that you believe can keep your mind in the right place for continued success.

Here are a few of the affirmations I used. I think you have to pick the ones that ring true for you individually and that might be different from mine, but I wanted to share.

Nothing tastes as good as being lean feels.

I am responsible for what goes into my mouth.

I love having a toned and fit body.

My body is my oldest and steadiest companion.

I look and feel fabulous.

I am accomplishing more than ever before.

Whatever comes my way today, I’ll handle it.

I am responsible for my life and always maintain the power I need to be positive and have joy.

I am surrounded and supported by many friends.

I embrace life fully.

I feel loved every moment.

I am healthy.

I am happy.

I take charge of my life.

I am in control of my health and wellness.

I have abundant energy, vitality and well-being.

I am healthy in all aspects of my being.

I am too precious to put contaminated food in my body.

I am filled with energy to do all the daily activities in my life.

I love and care for my body and it cares for me.