How to create healthy eating habits that stick
It's the new year, and I'm sure you have a resolution you have started.
Or at least a goal to lose weight, get fitter, give up smoking, start meditating or eating healthier. We spring into the new year with such determination, but how long does that usually last? A few weeks? A few months? Why are habits so hard to keep?
Some people just get bored, others get to mid-January and give up because its either its hassle or the motivation is lost (and because cookies taste so great.) Why is it so easy to repeat bad habits and so hard to form good habits?
I have compiled a few ways to help you keep your routines going for longer than a few weeks I hope that they help you achieve your goals.
The definition of madness is doing the same thing over again and expecting the same results!
Why are creating habits so challenging?
Changing our habits is challenging because we are changing our habits in the wrong way. We try the all or nothing approach. How about if we improve 1 percent at a time? Making smaller incremental changes over a longer period.
You're probably thinking that's not going to make much of a difference. However, if you make a 1 percent positive change over the space of a year, it can be so much more meaningful in the long run. Think about it over the year if you are making a 1 percent change you will end up 37 times better by the time, you're done instead of making no changes or failing within the first month. Isn't it better to create small sustainable changes rather than massive changes that you can't sustain?
We seem to dismiss small changes because they don't seem to matter much at the moment. Because the results don't show up immediately, we slip into our old habits and previous routines. Success is the production of daily habits; you should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than your recent results.
If you want to predict where you'll end up in life, all you have to do is see how your daily choices will compound in 20 or 30 years down the line, are you making it to the gym each week? Are you reading books and learning something new each month?
Are you spending less than you earn every month? Small battles like these are the ones that will define your future self. Mastery requires patience; all big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow.
What is your WHY, why do you want to improve your eating habits?? When we can think of it as building something that should last us a lifetime, itโs clear why changing our diet may take longer than expected.
Try to really come up with some concrete things that you want to be able to do like climbing the stairs or a mountain without getting out of breath, getting fitter so you can play with your children, healing your digestive issues or skin problem. It needs to be compelling enough that even on your bad days your WHY motivates you to keep going.
Forget about goals, focus on systems instead
Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results. For example, if you're going to eat healthily, the system would be to research healthy food recipes, get a shopping list together, carve some time to organise meal prep, and write a meal plan.
If your goal is to get fitter your system might be, buy some running shoes, join a gym, organise the time when you can get there, buy a water bottle and some gym clothes, pack your gym bag the day before you want to get to the gym.
If youโre having a problem changing your habits, the problem isn't you the problem is your system. Fall in love with the system and the process, many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits.
Proximity is key
One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behaviour is the norm. New habits seem achievable when you see others doing them every day.
If you are surrounded by fit people, you're more likely to consider working out to be an everyday habit. If you surround yourself with more positive people, you're less likely to feel bad about yourself. Set your expectation for what is normal surround yourself with people who have the habits you want to have yourself.
Intelligence is measured by those around you; If you surround yourself with idiots, you seal your own fate.
(Mary M. Illigassch)
Make a clear plan of action and execution.
People who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through. Too many people say "Iโm going to eat healthier" or "Iโm going to write more" we never say when and where these habits will happen. We leave it up to chance and hope that we will "just remember to do itโโ thereโs no concrete plan of action.
Many people don't lack motivation; they lack clarity. It's far more effective to say that I'm going to meditate at 7 am every day, at 6 pm I will exercise.
Another way of introducing a new habit is by habit stacking itโs a way to pair a new habit with a current one.
Write down a list of all the habits you currently do and see where you can stack a new habit on top. For example, in the morning, your routine might look like this, wake up โ brush teeth- make your bed - have a shower- make tea- eat breakfast- get ready for work. If you want to take your vitamins daily, you could stack this new habit with your current habit, maybe take them when you make your tea in the morning.
If you want to exercise more maybe after you come home from work, you will immediately take off your clothes and put on your gym gear.
Redesign your environment
If you want to make a habit a big part of your life, adjusting your environment can have a considerable impact. For example, if you want to take your vitamins everyday place your vitamins by the kettle so in the morning when you have your cuppa, your vitamins are right there.
If you want to drink more water then fill up your water bottles when you go into your kitchen every morning and place them around your home. If you want to eat healthier, don't buy unhealthy foods. Shop at the health food store and not at your regular place so you won't be tempted to buy unhealthy foods.
Keep fruit on the kitchen counter instead of the biscuit jar. If you're trying to quit smoking, don't hang around smokers, throw away your lighters and ashtrays. By sprinkling triggers throughout your surroundings, you increase the odds of thinking about your new habit throughout the day.
We become a product of the environment we live in. It's hard to stick to positive habits in a negative environment. The secret to self-control is to make your new habits visible and the cues of your bad habits invisible. Reduce your exposure to them, cut bad habits off at the source.
Habit tracking
Habit tracking is an excellent way to keep your habits on track. The most basic method is to get a calendar and cross off each day you stick with your routine. Download this free printable habit tracker. Recording your last action creates a trigger that can initiate your next one habit tracking builds a series of visual cues when you look at the calendar and see all the ticks you'll be reminded to act again.
Research has shown that people who track their progress on goals like losing weight quitting smoking are more likely to improve than those who don't.
One study of more than 1600 people found that those who kept a daily food log lost twice as much weight as those who did not. The mere act of tracking behaviour can spark the urge to change it habit tracking also keeps you honest.
Most of us have a distorted view of our own behaviour we think we act better than we do measurement offers one way to overcome our blindness to our own behaviour and notice what's really going on each day when the evidence is right in front of you you're less likely to lie to yourself.
Download my free food journal here. Getting an accountability partner Is another way to keep on track knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful motivator have a weekly check-in with a friend or a colleague.
Tips for healthy eating
It might be helpful to start by writing a list of all the small changes you'd like to make to your diet and eating patterns. Number or list your changes in the order of when you're going to tackle each of them. It's best to just choose one to two changes to make at a time.
Trying to overhaul your diet all at once can be difficult and hard to sustain long-term.
Schedule or write in your calendar which changes you'll be making each week or few weeks. Keep track of how successful or unsuccessful you are after each change.
Start introducing new healthy foods into your diet every week and clear out your kitchen of any foods that are not nutrient dense.
Avoid anything artificial. Processed foods contain a lot of junk. Real foods are antioxidant-rich and fibre rich. When you go back to whole foods, many things take care of themselves.
You wonโt need supplementation usually, you wonโt need to count calories or fight with your hunger. Real food satiates you at a cellular level, I only eat twice a day with no snacks and have zero cravings. (I used to drink 15 tsp of sugar in my tea alone once upon a time, until I cleaned up my diet)
Try to base your diet around these healthy food groups:
Vegetables: These should play a fundamental role in most meals. They are low in calories yet full of important micronutrients and fiber.
Fruits: provides micronutrients and antioxidants that can help improve health
Meat and fish: protein sources.
Nuts and seeds: fat and protein sources.
Eggs: protein, beneficial fats, and micronutrients
Healthy starches: For those who arenโt on a low-carb diet, whole food starchy foods like potatoes, quinoa, and Ezekiel bread are healthy and nutritious
Beans and legumes: fiber, protein, and micronutrients
Beverages: Water should be the majority of your fluid intake
Healthy Fats: like avocados, coconut oil, butter/ghee
Herbs and spices: high in nutrients and beneficial plant compounds
Fermented foods; eat foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, kefir keeps the gut healthy
Want to quit sugar? Start weaning yourself off sugar, instead of 2.5 sugars in your tea start with 2.25 tsp of sugar and gradually decrease this over the next few weeks.
Plan your meals - Planning and preparing your meals helps you organise your meals so that you donโt end up reaching for the biscuit tin or buying unhealthy snacks on the run. Take the time to do some research. Write a meal plan for the week this is the one that I use. Take a look at my pinterest account for healthy meal ideas, or pop over to the recipes section on my website.
Education is key. Find some credible sources. Stay critical and keep your BS radar on โ because cutting out one macronutrient, forcefully restricting calories, eating chemical-laden food that comes from a lab or a diet that consists of a ton of different powders and supplements arenโt good options.
Take a look at some great breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack recipes that I created just for you.
Self sabotage
We also need to talk about self-sabotage, old comfort eating habits, eating out and social situations. If it's Jennys birthday in the office, we may succumb and ruin our best-laid plans.
Let me first address Jennys birthday or any celebrations that involves eating, including eating out.
Eating is supposed to be a celebration of life and to bring us joy. It's food that brings us all together, so eat the flaming cake. Just follow an 80/20 approach and do not restrict your favourite foods because this makes us binge and overeat.
Do not attempt to be 100% all of the time unless you want to become an athlete or a bodybuilder. Food is life so enjoy life to its fullest. Read this article. It explains why we self-sabotage. Self-sabotage isn't as mysterious or complicated as it sounds: It simply means chronically doing something that undermines your own goals or values.
If you have old comfort eating habits, then chances are you have some unmet emotional needs which need to be addressed because no amount of willpower will help if you reach for the ice cream every time you are triggered and use food to stuff down your feelings.
I see many clients who self sabotage and suffer from emotional eating. I use a powerful tool called EFT ( emotional freedom technique) to banish limiting beliefs and negative emotions that may cause you to fail at your healthy eating attempts. As well as creating healthy recipes using natural ingredients.
I also help clients using eating psychology to get to the root cause of why you eat the way you do and help address some of your psychological drivers that hinder your healthy eating goals. You cannot have good health and stick to healthy eating habits if you haven't worked on your mindset and triggers fact!
If you would like to contact me for coaching or an EFT session you can get in touch here.
References - Atomic habits by James Clear
Further reading - Allen Carrโs The easy way to quit smoking
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