Tips for Breaking Habits

Getting back on track!

I am an avid Woman's World Magazine reader.  There are just some all around great tips, information and encouragement in the magazine. There was an article in the March 14th issue on breaking bad habits I thought was quite interesting and wanted to share with all of you.  Three topics were talked about; Eating, Smoking and Shopping. Here we will talk about our favorite thing EATING!!

30 Second  Trick:

Take a bite and leave it in your mouth for 30 seconds.  Elaine Magee (MPH, RD) has her students take a Hershey Kiss and let it sit in their mouth for 30 seconds. Her students swallow the chocolate sooner than 30 seconds as the taste of the chocolate becomes too intense.

Sip Flavored Green Tea
Often times hunger is mistaken for thirst.  Drinking something will help take the curve off the hunger. I do know when I drink Pink Lemonade (Wyler's Light) when I think I am hungry, it takes the hunger away for awhile. I have switched the Wyler's Pink Lemonade to simply water with lemon.  The Wyler's has aspartame in it which I am trying to avoid.  But the point is, try something to drink if you feel hungry.  And no Sugar Free Soda does not count!!!

Eat More Grapefruit
I love grapefruit, I just hate cutting it up!  According to this article if you have one half grapefruit before each meal, in one month you will lose 4 pounds. The reasoning behind it is that it lowers the insulin  levels, dodging sugar spikes that cause cravings.

I took an inventory of my own life and did some additional research and here are some of my bad habits:

Speed eater aka "Slow down you are not going to a fire!"  That is what my mom would tell us.  I have always heard that it takes 20 minutes for your brain to tell your stomach, Stop already!  I'm Full!!  By the time I get through eating I am so stuffed I feel sick.  What I have learned is when you eat fast, you take in access air that can lead to bloating.  Because we are also not chewing our food, the digestive tract has to work harder.  Some tips:  Don't eat finger foods!!  Put the food on a plate, eat with utensils and sip water between bites.

Eating out of a Bad Mood:  Food is my comfort food.  It listens to my tears, and fears, frustrations etc. Many of us will turn to carbohydrates.  In doing so carbs produce tryptophan (a type of amino acid) which the brain uses to manufacture serotonin.  The serotonin helps our mood improve only temporarily. To reverse the bad mood try going for a walk, seeing a movie, or talking to a friend.  If you opt for something to eat, try something whole grain with less sugar and more fiber.  I guess my tortilla chips and salsa do not count towards this does it?

Weekend Binging.  Is it possible to eat healthy all week and by binging on the weekend, undo everything from the week?  According to an article I found on CNN.com it is.  Their suggestion is to have a mini meal before you go out and volunteer to be the designated driver for the night to limit the alcohol intake. I have done this method before and this is what I found.  Monday-Friday I ate meat, fruits and vegetables. On Saturday I would have A TREAT, and then on Sunday would be a mixture of meat, fruits, vegetables and add some carbs.  So if I wanted spaghetti, or sandwich I would have it. I did lose weight.

Here is an article on CNN about breaking eating habits.

STORY TIME

Let me share with you my experience of doing this and what happened.  I joined a Women's Only gym in Nashville because 1) it was Women Only 2) I could do water aerobics.  Four days a week I did an hour of water aerobics. After every twelve visits (three weeks), they would weigh and measure you and record your progress. On my 13th visit, I was excited to get measured and weighed (imagine that!  ha ha)  As the assistant measured me and compared them to the original measurements she said, "This can't be right, let me try again."  So she did it again.  The numbers were so far off, she called the manager (who originally weighed and measured me) to take them again.  Amazingly she got the same results as the assistant who had just measured me.  Then they weighed me and were completely astonished.  "What have you been doing?" she asked me.  I became somewhat confused because I knew I had lost weight.  They then showed me my results.  I had lost 67 1/2 inches and 27 lbs in three weeks!!  I looked at them and said, "Is that good or bad?"  LOL  They said, "That is really good!  We have never seen anyone do that before!" I felt much better.  I revealed my secret diet to them.  M-F I ate meat, fruits and vegetables, and on the weekend I would allow myself ONE TREAT.  On Sunday I had a mixture of meats, fruits, vegetables, and a small amount of carbs.

My next measurement was not as high, and I don't remember the exact amounts.  I believe it was somewhere in the 30's for inches and about 15-20 lbs in weight loss.  Shortly after that I hurt my knee and could never get back into it the same way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My point is, I think you can have A TREAT on the weekend if you are disciplined enough. Even though I have done it before, I am not disciplined to do it right now  Maybe in the future I will be.

I do know I have to break bad habits and form good habits.  It is my struggle and something I will constantly struggle with.  Have you been able to identify other bad habits?  What do you do? I want to find ways to become more active, but it is so hard right now with my legs.  They do not want to cooperate with me!!

Just remember do what you can!!!  Taking baby steps will go much further than going full force and running out of steam!