6 Steps to Breaking Bad Eating Habits

As you know, habits are difficult to break. This is because habits are formed by a complex combination of emotions, actions, biology, and relationships. Here are 6 simple steps to breaking your bad habits.

Step #1: Identify the Problem Behaviors
We think we are aware of our eating patterns, but we’re not. Research studies show that 30% of normal weight people significantly under-report what they eat and 60% of over-weight people under- report what they eat.
The best way to identify behaviors is to keep a daily record. Do this for 2 weeks and then begin to make changes. Record:
• Time/ Situation
• Feelings/ Mood
• What you ate and where you ate it
• Nutritional value
• How you felt afterwards
Step #2: Regulate your environment
The idea is to make it more difficult to carry out you habits. Here are some steps to take to gain control over your environment.
1. Eliminate junk foods from your house. If it is not there, it is much easier not to eat it, right?
2. Keep controlled portions on hand. You can do this by buying food and then dividing it up, freezing some in Tupperware, and placing some in plastic baggies.
3. Sit down. People overeat while standing because they eat on the go and don’t realize how much they eat. As a rule, it is better to sit, but if you overeat while sitting, try to break the cycle by standing sometimes.
4. Slow down. If you are a quick eater (not a good thing for losing weight!) try to play some slow music, take smaller bites, and turn down the lights.
5. Keep great portion-controlled healthy snacks on hand. The best snacks are ones that are in portions, such as individually wrapped string cheese, small bags of nuts, little bags of mini carrots, or fruit.
Step #3: Changing Emotional Eating
Any emotion can lead to unhealthy eating. End this by coming up with a list of alternative activities to do which will help you manage any negative emotions. The best activities are ones that are actually opposite to how you are feeling.
It may feel unnatural or counterintuitive, but it helps you to figure out what to do differently. For instance, if I feel sad and want to lie on the couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry's, I know that what I really need to do is the opposite of this: Get out, get active, and eat something that makes me feel good.
Step #4: Turn Excuses into Strategies
What excuses come up for you? I recently found that I say, "I don't have time to...go grocery shopping, go to the gym, to prepare a healthy dinner..." My common excuse is time.
Our excuses are often based in reality. I don't have much extra time. Question your excuses and use them to find solutions.
Let's take my first one: I don't have time to go grocery shopping. Instead I go out to eat several times per week. I go to a deli for lunch 4 days per week. This takes 25 minutes per day or over 1.5 hours a week just for lunch. It takes about an hour to go to the grocery store and buy some healthy organic frozen meals. The time is less and the nutritional value is much better when I prepare my own meals.
Step #5: Partially Gratify Urges
If your habit is to sit and snack for a long period of time, find something that is healthy and slow to eat, such as grapes, mini carrot sticks, non-fat or low-fat popcorn, or blueberries one by one. You gratify your urge to snack for fifteen minutes but do so with few calories.
You can also use this strategy for fulfilling cravings with healthier options. For instance, if you crave something salty, go for some lightly salted vegetables or pretzels. If you crave chocolate, have a few chocolate covered raisins or soybeans. Over time your urges for the higher fat and calorie items will diminish because you’ve broken the connection between the urge an eating those things.
Step #6: Hang Out With People with the Eating Habits You Want
If someone close to you eats healthily, you’re more likely to eat healthy. Being around healthy eaters will reduce temptations and sense of deprivation. Ask others for support—when someone gives you encouragement or praise for your healthy choices, it serves as positive reinforcement, making you more likely to choose smart options in the future.

Use these 6 steps consistently and over time your bad habits will be replaced with healthy ones!