We all know that you have to shift your mindset for any weight loss strategy to work. If you’re one of great willpower and have conquered the correct inner resolve and intention to succeed in your weight loss and exercise goals, you’re probably struggling to maintain it. Motivation is what got you started, but it is habits that keep it going. The trick is forming permanent sustainable lifestyle habits that are automatic, as well as thinking in terms of better health, longer life, and disease prevention. Adopting the skill of habit building is essential to the longevity of your new, healthy lifestyle. Forming a new habit can be explained in a three- step loop. Trigger, habit-routine, reward.
After I [trigger], I will [habit]. The key is to use a so-called anchor as your trigger. An anchor is a solidified routine behavior, like brushing your teeth, or flushing the toilet. The routine is the new habit/goal you are trying to adopt. A lot of my clients are struggling with goals that are way bigger than their current capabilities. A small habit is a nice alternative. You’re making a guarantee to yourself to make one tiny step, knowing that enough of those tiny steps will eventually lead to your bigger goal.
Recently, I had a client that was at a healthy weight but wished to incorporate holistic lifestyle changes. After reading about meditation and its ability to relieve stress, she decided to meditate for 20 minutes a day. After a few days, she fell off the wagon. I introduced her to the habit loop and helped her incorporate the steps. Each morning when she wakes up,, she completes her morning routine and then turns on the coffeemaker. All of her morning rituals were habitual and automatic. We decided that each day that she turns on the coffeemaker [trigger/anchor] she should practice meditation [routine/habit].
In order to stick with it, the routine must be done daily and must be easy. I suggested she cut the 20 minutes in half, and then cut that in half, and once again cut the five minutes in half. I asked her if she can commit to practicing her meditation for two and a half minutes right after she turns on her coffeemaker. Totally doable. And she did. Over the next 12 weeks she gradually built up to the 20 minutes a day. Over time, her morning habits that were done completely automatically, like brushing her teeth, getting dressed…included meditation. She reported that meditating gave her a sense of calm and relieved her anxiety [reward].
Habits are essential to our daily living. Imagine how hard it would be if we had to relearn how to brush our teeth each morning. Ever get into your car and arrive at work not quite remembering how you got there? Wouldn’t it be hard if we had to relearn the route to work every day? These things have been repeated enough times to have become habits, which is great because it frees up our mind for more important things to think about.
Unfortunately, most of us are running on autopilot for a lot of negative, unhealthy habits as well. Breaking bad habits is equally as important as forming good ones. When it comes to our appetites, most of us are on autopilot. We rely on external cues, rather than inner cues, to decide if we are hungry or not.
If we glance at our watch and it’s 1 p.m. [trigger] we suddenly think “I’m hungry, it’s time for lunch” and we make our way to the cafeteria at work [routine/habit] or the fridge at home [routine/habit].
Do we even consider the fact that we may not actually be hungry? Probably not. Even if we do ask ourselves if we are hungry, the mind has been conditioned to believe you are hungry because after all, it’s 1 p.m.
While we are in middle of a meal do we self-evaluate periodically if we are already satisfied, or do we assume we must still be hungry because after all, there is still food on our plate. We have conditioned our minds to think “I will be full when I clean my plate.”
We must incorporate strategies to make changes to these distorted thoughts. Think! Listen to your body…. Ask yourself questions…Think how your belly feels…You’ll know you’re hungry when your stomach starts to growl. Why are we giving such power to the clock or the scale to dictate if we are hungry or not? Listen to your internal cues. If you are truly hungry you will know it because real hunger from the stomach (not the mind) comes on slowly. Real hunger is when you are open to a variety of foods, it’s not quick and it’s not specifically something sweet, or salty.
My advice- if you think you’re hungry, have an apple. If you don’t want an apple, you’re not hungry enough. It’s emotional. Food is not therapy, It’s your primary fuel.
By Hennie Eisen
