Have You Ever Wondered?

Why is it that we know what we SHOULD eat, know that we SHOULDN’T be eating this pork pie or chocolate whilst dieting or eating healthily and just can't make it happen?  We have all been there haven’t we?  Read on!

We know we want to be losing weight, we know this would impact on our physical body in a good way, put less strain on our bones, lower our chances of developing type 2 diabetes, make us feel good, help us live longer, make us less susceptible to certain illnesses etc., etc., but somehow, we just can't make it happen or maintain it.

So, why is it we can't stay engaged with our eating regime - be it a diet or cutting out chocolate, etc?  It's the million dollar question isn't it?  We do it for a while then lose interest, have excuses saying "I can't afford it; I don't have the time; It was boring; I couldn't keep it up…" and so on and so forth.  Would you like to know that it's not so much lack of will power?  It's to do with your brain and your thought processes.

Decide today to change your eating habits.  Not by using the latest fad diet because, if they work, why do so many of us gain weight afterwards when we resume “normal“eating?  This is about living a life where the changes can be executed easily with a little understanding. This is not a quick fix.

Here is where you start.  Let's look at factors that affect our food choices and question ourselves.

Factor 1.  When you are hungry you will make bad food choices.

Isn’t that right?  

You know it's easy to grab convenience foods and biscuits etc.

First, don't buy them in!  Have healthy snacks ready instead for moments like this.  Prepare in advance with healthy nibbles.  There is always time to unwrap a healthy bar or eat prepared sticks ‘n dips.

ALSO, THINK “will this satisfy me and will it be tasty enough?”  

Protein is the most satisfying nutrient whilst carbs gives you the most energy.  So, might chicken bits and a spicy dip hit the spot?  If it's not tasty enough, you need to improve the taste with a spicy yogurt dip or use herbs to help the taste.  I love cauliflower soup but it's so bland without turmeric, coriander, cumin and chilies.  

In a recent food test, taste came above nutrition when making a selection; if it's tasty you are more likely to want it again. 

I digress!  Are you still fancying chocolate or that savory snack?  It's a last resort but have a bite of chocolate or cut off a small piece of savory roll.  Don’t deny yourself completely or your body will crave for it more.  Do not send out for that pizza whatever you do!

Factor 2, The cost of food.

This is always a factor.  Shop at the low cost shops or fruit markets to get more for your money.  Buy fresh and healthy food, not processed meals, and remove the temptation in your life.  You will be surprised how cheap it is to do a vegetable stew or vegetable chili - and this is a great way of using up vegetables in the fridge.

(Don't keep potatoes in the fridge but in a dark cool place; it changes the sugars.)

If you don’t have time, then cook in bulk and freeze.  It's great when you don’t want to cook and you just have to defrost some great tasting chili.  Use the portion buster for your rice size if having it with chili because judging the portions of rice and pasta is where a lot of folk make mistakes.  Anyway, why wouldn’t you want more of the better tasting chili or curry?

Factor 3, Do you have the skills to prepare healthy foods?

Not all of us can cook or enjoy cooking.  Now is the time to learn how to cook - or to cook better.

Make good use of the time you would be snacking in front of the TV.  We have some long winter months ahead of us, so use this time to teach yourself.  The charity shops are full of cook books; buy one and help a charity too.  That alone will give you a “feel good factor“.  Start with a simple recipe and make sure in advance you have everything in.

One recipe I have only uses 2 potatoes, 2 onions, 2 tomatoes, 1 stock cube and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.  (Parmesan has more taste than most cheeses, so you use less).  This is one for most cultures too.  See the portion buster web site for this and more recipes.  If you are counting calories, I can work each recipe out for you.

Factor 4, Healthy eating is not always a social thing to do.

These are the times we need to change what we would normally do. 

If I am offered a meal out, I always order a salad to start with so I will start to be feeling fuller more quickly.

Maybe share a main meal or ask for a smaller portion.  If you normally eat more than one course eat a starter, then a dessert. But if you do opt for the dessert, share it.

A report said that the higher social classes eat better. Maybe they have more money or are more knowledgeable?  Maybe they entertain more?  Maybe maybe maybe....

Well, I am certainly not rich and I now eat pretty well. - I have to say, better than I ever have done - and I am losing weight.  I still have the odd treat, but that is what they are now, an odd treat.  

It can be done; my food bill is no more expensive than it was before.  I have just changed the things I eat and the quantity and quality of things.  That is all.  If I plan ahead and have an idea what my meals will be over the next week I will know what to shop for.  Be precise as much as possible.  Don’t over order.  Don’t stock up.  These days, the supermarket is open almost all hours.  We can always get the odd food we missed.  Send someone else to the local shop for the missing item, or take just enough money and walk there. Every little movement helps.

Factor 4, Emotional shopping.

Don't write your shopping list or go shopping when stressed or upset or you will make bad food choices.  This is “emotional shopping”.  Moods, stress or tiredness will affect what you eat and when.  If you are stressed you will have less concern for your health as it goes on the back burner and  you're eating habits could easily change.  It's like a runaway train sometimes.  I know; I have gone food shopping as something to do when stressed, bored or in a bad mood.  WRONG!  Spend that money on a dress that is a size too small or on a new handbag.  You can always take it back later when the stress or mood has gone if you can't really afford it.  You can't take back the food.  Look at it this way, the guilt will also be missing.

Let’s imagine you have had a bad day at work. On your way home, you want a “feel good factor”, so you go shopping and buy that dress or the bag.  Then, next day, you take it back saying it's not the right colour or it doesn't fit, etc.  You could also save it for a Christmas box or birthday, so no guilt attached. 

Now, let's do the same with food.  Sounds like Groundhog Day doesn't it.....  Bad day at the office.  Go food shopping on the way home.  You can't take it back when the stressed feelings have gone, so you have to eat it - or throw it away!  (No way Pedro. ) So you feel guilt at eating your way through a cake or sweets.  Plus, it has hit your pocket too!  Then the feelings of “why bother” may come into play, so you stop healthy eating or dieting.  It’s a downhill spiral. You have experienced a relapse because it was food you chose to shop for when feeling low. 

Lifestyle changes come in many forms and this is a good example.  Buying a dress instead of food is a lifestyle change - especially if you bought that dress too small now, and next month it fits you.

Factor 5, Get yourself some knowledge.

I joined a course to make me more knowledgeable in the field of nutrition.  I now know more about the food I eat and how it works in my body.  I can work out my BMI, my BMR, and how many calories I need if I sit all day long or am sick, or if I am physically active.  I am aware of my body’s needs and what foods will give it the fuel it requires to be most effective.  I wanted the knowledge so I can continue helping others with the Portion Buster gauge and myself.

Most of us are creatures of habit and old habits die hard.  Same foods, same shops, same shopping list, same shopping day, etc., but this is a new start and your new lifestyle so this is the time to shake it up don't you think?  Look for new recipes.  Do it differently.  Improve and challenge yourself.  

I always say this "we are not overweight because we got it right but because we got it wrong"  

I love prawn cocktail sauce on my salad.  It's full of mayonnaise and salad cream as we know, so I looked around and found a recipe that is similar, but healthy.  I still have the sauce, but it's made with yogurt and is even less than half the calories.

Challenge yourself!  All these tweaks help you have a healthier life with more energy.  More energy means more active.  More active means more weight loss.  Get it?

So here we go 

Think about this, old habits are more embedded in you than the new ones.  Rituals are almost set in stone.  So it's going to be hard to change because routines and old ways are much easier to follow than new ones. 

But, don't lose sight of that dress in a size less or that new shape, keep positive and strong and the feelings after will be your reward.

The desire to change must be greater than keeping the habit in place.  It’s to do with your brain which stores things in a comfortable way that is easy for you to access.  When you do something often enough in a specific way your mind stores it to make life easier.  An example of an unconscious habit is having a biscuit with your midmorning coffee.  Your mind allows you to do this without much thought.  It's like learning to ride a bicycle; after a while you don’t have to think about cycling -  it just happens.  You have to be very aware of your habits in order to change them.  It's crucial.

NOW ASK YOURSELF HOW YOU WOULD GO ABOUT BREAKING A BAD HABIT

Do you know it takes 21 days to break a bad habit?  Yes, at least 21 days!

You need to have to have a strong motivation to change.  The strongest motivation is a self desire to change -  not “doing it for my husband” or anything like that, it's more like I WANT to fit into a bikini next year and I WANT to feel good. I WANT to be slimmer for that wedding; I WANT to feel healthier.

I Want will work and can be sustained.  It has to be all about you!  It can be vanity or health; it doesn’t matter.  For me, it was proving that the Portion Buster does work and what better way than to practice what I preach.  That is a commitment and a motivation.

In order to change the practicalities of our current bad habits, we need to look at change. If you are a person to turn on the TV and sit with a tin of goodies at night, then that will have to change.  You cannot expect to have the same habits and get healthy.  If you can't stop and do something different, like a hobby, then swop the bad food for healthy foods and work on the changes in sections.  Earn the reward of a snack, walk first or dance to a record.  Prepare foods for tomorrow.  Anything to make change happen.

Make small changes, your brain does not distinguish between good and bad habits, you do.

Start with the worse bad habit you have and change that first, but take it one step at a time. Dissect it.

To change a bad habit, try not to get too ahead of yourself.  Be realistic; this will require discipline.  Don’t try to change everything at once either.  One way to do this is to see change with satisfaction.  If for you the change of a habit is painful, then you might have to find a stronger reward for the change.  The motivation to change needs to be stronger than the habit.  Let me say that again,  THE MOTIVATION TO CHANGE NEEDS TO BE STRONGER THAN THE HABIT. 

Finding a way to make the process more enjoyable will make it easier.  Now, it's said that everything must be eaten at a table (not on a sofa), even a handful of nuts.  Maybe this is another lifestyle change for you.  It's harder but you will relate the table to eating and nowhere else so when you are sat with your feet up you are less likely to eat because it's not at the table.

Give yourself time before having a snack as you may be reacting to an emotional response, make sure it's because you are hungry and not because you are stressed, bored, depressed or even happy.  WAIT 15 mins before allowing yourself a snack and have a drink of water while this time elapses as you may be responding to thirst and not hunger.

Allow yourself 21 days to break a habit - most of us will need longer but its one step at a time - and small changes are more likely to remain in place.  "Small and permanent changes are better than big changes that are temporary"   Fad diets come into this area of thought.  Yes, you can do the diet and lose lots of weight, but how many times is it permanent?  Not any for me.  This is not easy to do; it will require lots of effort on your part but don’t lose sight of the rewards.  If you do not succeed then look at the motivation behind it.  Identify your barriers to get success.  Don’t think about the negative side of things; turn it around into a positive thought.  Deal with the here and now.  I am a controlling person (it's complicated) but I have difficulty controlling my eating.  Are you like this?

Your personal barriers are the biggest opposition to change; you will not succeed until you know what is holding you back.  Barriers can have negative attachments.  For example, “I only lost 2 lbs last week”.  It’s the scenario of “is your glass half empty or half full?”  Think more positively like about what you achieved instead of what you didn’t achieve.

I like to list what is important to me on a board.  All the small changes are listed so I can see them all the time.  Tick off the small changes you achieve like, eating 3 fruits or eating 5 vegetables, a 10 min run or even 3 minutes dance to a favorite record.  You can then see your results.

Are these really barriers or just excuses?  They are felt to be genuine by that person at that time.   How you think effects how you feel and behave.  Everyone has control over their own actions and you DO NOT need to respond to a stimulus in an habitual way.  You choose your response.   Some barriers might be costly or take time. It might be fear of failure, lack of knowledge, lack of preparation and sometimes just simply bad habits.  If its lack of motivation you need to look for a better one, up the stakes on motivation.  Make an action plan when you do have a good enough motivation. 

Look at what you want to change.  What's preventing you from changing?  The positives and negatives.  If you identify what your negative behaviour is - maybe its eating sugary items at night - then it needs to be changed for a non-eating habit.  Chat to a friend on the phone, go for a walk, read a book or simply soak in a bath.  Better still, go to bed.  A lot of people don’t get enough sleep.  The less sleep you have, the more chance you are likely to crave sugary foods.  The main thing to take away from this is to have a list ready of actions to replace your bad habits. 

Goal setting: you can set mini goals that work towards your main goal.  Both are equally important.  This is a powerful way to motivate us.  It gives you a clear indication of how you will achieve your end result and by goal setting it actually increases your chance of success.  They reduce time wasting and failure.  It could be used in your shopping list.  Let's say you have a cupboard full of non healthy food and you cannot afford to throw it away.  Your main goal might be to have mainly healthy food by 2 months time, so your mini goal would be to eat healthy foods for 2 nights per week and use up the other foods on the other evenings.  Increase this week by week until you achieve your goal.  

Your goal needs to be clear and precise. Make each goal a challenge, so if you can make all your meal changes happen in 1 month, not 2, you will experience a sense of achievement.  Commit to your goals and write feedback on the goals you have reached on your board.  Find out what stopped you if you fail.  Relapse is part of the process.  Make sure you have challenged yourself enough and not too much.  Don’t set yourself up to fail nor make it too easy on yourself.

Remember, set SMART goals.  That is, they should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and in a reasonable Time frame.   After achieving every goal, give yourself a reward, like a massage, manicure, trip out, new dress, cinema, etc.

So let's focus on thoughts that are affecting our behavior. 

Our thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and our actions are all connected; often they work together trapping you into a negative downhill spiral.

Let's take an example.  Your thoughts might have been, “I am fat, unhealthy and feel worthless”.  Emotionally, you may feel inadequate and anxious.  The behavior might be that you isolate yourself with no contact with others.   You might feel tired and depressed which in turn might lead to overeating - or even put you off your food - then you return to “its because I am fat and unhealthy” etc.  These thought processes are instant.  Can you see the circle?

What it doesn’t do is tell you what makes you do what you do in the first place, like overeat.  It also doesn’t consider all your surrounding factors; it only deals with the here and now.  When you go through anything in your life you do experience a variety of changes.

Support and motivation! Long term this will help you achieve your goals.

There are 5 stages to change.  Identifying where you are is vital and you can start at any stage. There is precontemplation,  contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance.

You can relapse at any stage (this is where you have been on track but then it all falls apart).

The first step is to ask yourself how you feel about changing your habits.  Happy to engage?  Then I will begin.

Precontemplation; is where you avoid the subject (in denial).  It's always someone else's fault, "they put the biscuits out","it's raining so I cannot run" or "it was on offer so I bought it",  They did it !  Refusing to acknowledge the problem.  You rationalise the problem by justifying your actions.  Sometimes you are unaware of the problem. You just resist change.

Contemplation; is the stage where you think about it.  Reflective thought. You research and become well informed, consider change, engage in thoughtful observation, study purpose or intention. You take responsibility.  Become aware of what is stopping you changing.

Preparation: a state of readiness to be able to deal with something.  You may have already decided on an action.  You might already be taking the necessary steps.

Action; you have done something or acted on your problem, actively taking the steps to change.  Controlling stress is key.  Make sure all your life is balanced, prioritise all sections of your life such as family, finances, work life, leisure time.  At this stage you can reward yourself and use the support on offer; ask for help.

Maintenance; review your list regularly and avoid situations and people who will compromise your actions.  Stay moving within the area you are at.  Keep things interesting.  Walk in different places.  Reward yourself.  Do ask yourself “how would life be better if I made changes”?  If your goal is a more physical life - like exercise - then ask yourself how would your levels of fitness improve?  How would your life improve?  What other benefits do you stand to gain.  Look at the pluses and minuses of losing weight.  As an example, you would feel fitter, look better, have more confidence, more energy and be happier but the cons are that it takes effort, requires commitment, you might have to keep a food diary, you need to think about your shopping list and what food to change and you will need support.  OK, “gyms are too expensive” you say.  Well, walking costs nothing and walking with groups gives you support too. Change the way you see things.

Make a list now of your barriers.  To change your lifestyle you have to change your thinking. Think deeper and outside the box.  Deal with your own barriers.   So, if you are saying,” I cannot afford this food”, then say to yourself  "actually, if I measure what I need for this next week in terms of meals and make my shopping list accommodate this I am actually spending less on red meat but spending more on fresh goods". Don’t stop at "I can't afford it".  Look deeper.

Remember, If you throw food away you are buying too much and new barriers will always come into play, so this is another good reason to evaluate your situation all the time.

Keep a journal of your progress.  Identify your setbacks and re evaluate them.  Identify your feelings and update yourself.  Remember old habits die hard.

Just to touch on teenagers here, as I know some of you have bought the Portion buster for your teenagers.  If you tell a teenager "if you continue to eat fast foods you might get type 2 diabetes" they are unlikely to change that habit, but if you say" fast food gives you acne" you will generate more of a change. Please remember teenagers need all their calcium as they are still growing.

Be kind to yourself folks and good luck

Norma