Nutrition is the Key to Health Podcast

When starting a diet or exercise program, old habits can die hard. I can only speak for myself, but I find that my old habits get in the way of my success. They are probably the biggest nemesis for me not reaching my goals.

Whether driving through Starbucks, your favorite fast food, or staying in your routine of eating _______________ (fill in the blank) before bed, old habits die hard. I call it “habit creep“.

Breaking the routine

When we are most vulnerable and needing that sugar, caffeine or processed food fix, they are there to secretly cheer us on. Habits make those cravings unsurmountable. I think the secret is trying to do something new in your schedule. You must break the routine, to break the habit. For me, it is diary, particularly cheese.

For each of us, this trigger or craving is different. We all lead different lives with various responsibilities. However, if you normally push away from your meal, and sit on the couch and watch television, try doing something new.

If this is where you eat ice cream, maybe you can do laundry, spend time with the kids, or go for a walk. The secret is break the cycle that you know and have come entrenched in. That is all it is, a cycle of doing the same thing over and over. We can set our clocks by it.

Things to do as you learn to break the bad habits

When the cravings start, you can do a number of things. I guess it might depend on the habit. If you are trying to stop smoking, I am not too sure sitting down and journaling would stay off the cravings. I think you might have to exercise to get beyond that one. I have been told that chewing gum or straws help.

It could be a hobby that you choose to partake in such as journaling, writing, gardening, woodworking, getting ahead of emails for work, walking, biking, playing cards, light cleaning, or reading a book. Maybe you could go for a run or work out. You get the drift.

You must do anything but allow yourself that indulgent pleasure of extra calories, unwanted fats, processed foods, nicotine or drugs. You just need to take yourself out of the geographical location that makes you want that ice cream, drink, cookies or nicotine. Whatever your vice might be, change your location and mix things up.

If you do nothing else, do this one thing

I will tell you if you don’t do anything else on this journey (eg. lose weight, increase exercise, eat healthier), you need to stop smoking! Smoking is a leading killer and affects so many people’s health. All the top killing diseases are attributed to smoking, eg…heart disease, cancer and stroke.

Also, those of you that chew tobacco or vape, you are not any better off, so don’t think you get a pass. First, we do not know the long-term affects of vaping. Second, for those that chew tobacco products, ask anyone that has throat cancer and is on hospice, if they could do it all over again, would they? I bet the answer would be, “yes”.

Habits die hard, but they are not impossible to beat!

Alicia