Developing healthy eating habits and losing weight can seem so hard. But why?
After all, you know what you should be doing…right? But something gets in your way.
What gets in the way are the habits and behaviors you have around food and eating.
You are wired for these behaviors which is why you get SO frustrated. Intellectually, you know what to do, but what you don’t know how to do is change your self-sabotaging thoughts and behaviors that repeat themselves.
That’s what I help my clients do: Break their old patterns and change the behaviors that prevents them from losing weight and causes them to repeatedly regain the weight.
Until you change your brain and break your old patterns, lasting weight loss will always feel like a challenge.
To help you get started, here are 7 habit and behavior changes you can start to implement right now to begin to change that old wiring.
Healthy Eating Habits and Behaviors
#1: When you “feel like” you want to eat, ask yourself “ AM I HUNGRY”?
If you are not, try to figure out what you are really feeling that is making you want to eat. What story are you telling yourself about food and eating though you aren’t even hungry?
#2: When you want to eat because of how you feel and not because you are physically hungry, use the acronym H.A.L.T.
This will help y decide if you are Hungry, Anxious or Angry, Lonely or Tired. Find another way to soothe those feelings rather than use food. You are wired to feed those feelings so now you need to wire yourself for a new and better behavior.
#3: Always remind yourself what you really want.
In the moment, you think you want the pastry, but what you really want is to lose weight and feel better about yourself. Dropping a few pounds and feeling good about you will last longer AND taste better than the pastry. Trust me!
#4: Be sure you are prepared and pre-planned for all of your meals and snacks.
Always have a healthy snack in your bag so you do not get too hungry and make bad choices. Have food in your home to prepare healthy meals and take a few minutes to look at the restaurant menu before you go out to eat so you make the better choice before you get to the table.
#5: Eat 3 meals and 1-2 snacks per day.
Do not let more than 4-6 hours go by without a meal or snack. Combine protein and a small amount of complex carbs at each meal. Starving yourself will only make you feel deprived and lead to bad choices and overeating. It will also raise your cortisol levels which will cause you to store fat. Choose foods that are nourishing and satisfying both physically and emotionally.
#6: Each morning when you start your day, make a mental plan about staying mindful about your choices and what you really want for yourself.
Every time you eat, you choose what goes in your mouth. Practice asking yourself, “Why would I choose to eat something that makes me feel bad longer than it makes me feel good”?
#7: Practice, Practice, Practice.
Behavior and habit change does not happen overnight. Every day you need to change your old self-sabotaging thoughts to thoughts that serve you. Then you need to practice each new behavior produced by your new thoughts because your actions ALWAYS follow your thoughts.
If you tend to eat your feelings, instead of turning to food, find something else to soothe the emotion. It will seem like a lot of work in the beginning but don’t give up on you. It will become easier overtime and these new habits will be just what you do.
If you need help staying consistent and need accountability while you make these changes into a lasting lifestyle and finally lose weight, schedule your free discovery call with me here.
