Habits
Inspired by an article from www.wisdomweaverblog.com
Weight loss is a journey with many ups and downs. For many people, eating habits and food addiction are difficult hurdles to overcome as they are trying to create a healthier lifestyle. Habits and addictions are formed because they fulfill our need for a reward under stressful conditions. We develop habits because they give us pleasure and (seemingly) improve our life, even if that improvement is momentary. Habits and addictions can be difficult to break for three reasons:
1) Due to the brain's response to dopamine, habits become imbedded.
2) The flawed thought processes that keep habits intact usually aren't addressed.
3) Setbacks are the primary reason people fall off track and don't get back on.
Habits start out as a response to stressors; they have a payoff. If someone is an emotional eater, food might bring temporary comfort to quell feelings of sadness, boredom, loneliness, or anger. When habits develop, a physical connection occurs to create a neurological reward in the form of dopamine. Dopamine can alter mood, attention, memory, and learning processes. The "reward centre” of the brain is stimulated, and we then regulate behaviour because it induces pleasurable effects. The more we engage in habits, the more we start to associate our environment, time of day, etc. with the pleasurable reward so that eventually even just THINKING about the habit will start to create feelings of pleasure.
STRESS is the root of habits and addictions. When the brain is stressed, it favours solutions to immediate problems rather than long term goals (i.e. having sugary snacks at night after a long day at work despite having eaten healthy foods all day). Stress reduction is KEY for breaking habits. It can feel impossible to just "turn off” the stress in our lives. However, we can work towards managing it or finding ways to decrease its effects on our body and mind. We must evaluate our stressors and identify the things we can control. The main things that help us manage stress BETTER are exercise and sleep. Improving blood sugar levels (i.e. by decreasing sugar/starch consumption and increasing protein/good fat) also makes a difference.
If you can pinpoint a habit that is preventing you from achieving the healthy life you want, try reframing how you think and act when it's about to happen. If you have a habit of eating cereal before bed, verbally challenge it. Say out loud, "Am I truly, physically hungry?” If the answer is yes, say: "Cereal will spike my blood sugar and trigger my body to store fat. I want to eat something that won't spike my blood sugar. I will choose a small amount of protein to eat instead.” Verbalizing your new beliefs will reset the link your brain has formed, similar to the way a placebo works. If we change the expectation of our habits, we change the outcome.
PLAN for relapses. Remind yourself that setbacks WILL happen as you change your lifestyle. If you know this ahead of time, and PLAN for it, you will ultimately be successful in changing your habits long-term. Many people feel that they've "blown it” if they indulge in food they hadn't wanted to. This then leads to a weekend or weeks where they've reverted back to the habits they were trying to get away from. The key here is to always, ALWAYS get back to healthy eating at the very next snack or meal. Let go of guilt and don't beat yourself up. Decide RIGHT AWAY that you will have a protein-rich breakfast the next morning to boost your metabolism, and move forward. Don't dwell on the one meal. Instead, focus on all the positive changes you've made and how great you've felt along the way. Pay attention to what triggered the setback to happen. Was it stress? A social situation? A trip? Learn from these triggers so that you can plan your response to them in the future in a healthier way.
Changing habits is not easy, especially since we are battling physiological responses that are engrained in us. Awareness of these habits is essential to changing them. Pay close attention to the habits that are holding you back from a healthier life. Work on ways to be preventative (i.e. eat protein and good fat through the day while limiting starch/sugar to manage blood sugars so you aren't as hungry) and work on ways to decrease stress (i.e. walk 10 minutes at lunchtime). You can and WILL achieve your goals. Keep pushing forward and NEVER give up!
Dr. Doug