As a Certified Personal Trainer and Sports Nutritionist, I naturally get a lot of questions based on nutrition and exercise.
I’ve had countless people ask me questions like, “Emmerson, how can I go about changing my bad eating habits in order to achieve the body I want?”
Remember that good nutrition along with an exercise regimen and adequate rest are the pillars to achieving your health and fitness goals. So, if you want to know some effective ways to kick bad eating habits to the curb, keep reading.
Changing eating habits can be difficult. After all the way you eat is a habit and it is what you have conditioned your body to do and expect. Changing the way you eat requires an initial period of discomfort and continual consciousness to develop a new habit. With your health at stake though, implementing strategies to slowly develop new habits may well be the difference between a life of good health or illness.
Initially, it is important to assess why you want to change and how dedicated you are. In essence, it is unlikely that success will occur if you aren’t truly dedicated to wanting to change your lifestyle.
It is a good rule of thumb to only attempt to change one habit at a time, as research indicates that if you attempt one habit, your success rate is roughly around 80%. However, once a second, third or a number of changes are implemented to take place at once, the success rate drops to under 20%.
Therefore, even though it will take longer to implement changes, you are more likely to succeed if you take it slowly. Also, most studies suggest it takes 21 days to change a habit, so focus on staying committed and mindful for at least 3 weeks for the changes to be effective and long lasting.
Picking your worst habit that is affecting your health or hindering your results can be a great place to start. Examples of these habits may be drinking soft drinks daily, always having desserts, consuming excess alcohol, or buying too much take-out food. The key is to focus on one habit and find alternative options or strategies to avoid it.
Some strategies that can be utilized to help with changing habits include:
Plan meals and snacks – Try to pre plan your meals and snacks at a time when you are focused on your goals, that way you will not get stuck and have to buy unhealthy options or be exposed to situations that will sway you from your goal.
Don’t shop when hungry and shop from a list – If you shop when you are starving, chances are you are not going to make the wisest choices. Generally speaking, once that food is in your house it will most likely be consumed at some point. A better option is to write a list of foods needed for the week and shop from it on a day you are feeling satisfied, well rested and focused on your goals. Completely avoid the aisle that contains foods (if you can call them that) that aren’t on your list as this may lead to impulsive buying. In general, try to ensure most of your foods come from the perimeter of the supermarket – that is where you generally find fruit, fresh produce, meat and dairy.
Clear your pantry of unhealthy foods – It is generally considered that if you have food in your house, there is a reasonable chance it will be eaten at some point. Therefore, for complete success it is ideal to remove these from your household. If this is not an option move them out of sight, or to an inconvenient location in which it takes more effort to get to them. This gives you an opportunity to evaluate if you really want these items.
Be mindful and enjoy food – When you are eating, sit down, turn off any distractions and put your full attention into what you are eating and enjoy every mouthful, taking time to digest it. Check again next week for more effective ways to kick bad eating habits to the curb.
