By Anna Smith - NASM Certified Trainer

5 Secrets to Creating Perfect Eating Habits

What are perfect eating habits?  In addition, is eating really a habit?  Perfect eating is dictated by your goals.  The goal of overall health and nutrition applies to everyone.  Then some have that extra goal of wanting to look a certain way.  I bet if you are reading this article, you fall into that category.  Eating in a way that is consistent with the goal you have is ‘perfect.’  Moreover, eating is indeed a habit.  If we ate strictly to counteract hunger, 60% of Americans would not be overweight or obese and we would all be walking around looking like a warrior in an African tribe.  It has been estimated that 75% of overeating stems from emotional eating.  This is eating for some other reason than hunger.  And it makes sense because while eating does not change the situation causing the emotions, it certainly numbs the emotion, passes the time, distracts you from the emotion, feels like a reward, etc.  You get the picture.

The point is we use food for a 100 different reasons besides hunger and fuel.  This is not to say that food is not also for enjoyment and pleasure.  But we are living in a world of over indulgence and using food as our only means of enjoyment, celebration, and reward.  In case you have not noticed, that is totally incompatible with living your life in a head-turning body.  This is also true if your goal is to improve your body.  Your current eating habits are not going to get you there.  Please understand that there is nothing in the world wrong with eating anything you want.  There are NO BAD FOODS!!  There are bad amounts and bad habits.  If you want what you want and you are not there yet, you have to decide if you are willing to do what it takes to get there.  I like the saying

“You can have anything you want; you just can’t have everything you want.” 

Bottom line, you can certainly eat whatever you want!  Just do not complain that you are not happy with your current state of health or that you do not look like LL Cool J or Demi Moore in Striptease!  This is your goal.  So decide.  Whine and make excuses or get down to business.  It is ALL up to you and in your control.  Ultimately, that is what makes it so hard.  The question is how you stop this behavior.  If you have not already, begin the whole process by researching how and what you need to eat to meet your goals.  The information is on the internet, or you can hire a personal trainer or check out a book at your local library. 

1. Keep a log.  The large majority (around 90%) of us fails to keep an eating log or much less, an emotional eating log and swear up and down this is not a problem for us.  That makes 90% of us that are in denial.  IT is difficult to address what you do not know or do not wish to face.  It is like trying to hit a moving piñata with a blindfold on!  The chances of success are slim and the energy wasted is enormous.  In the short run, the only way to address this issue is to write down every morsel that goes in your mouth, WHEN it goes in.  “If you BITE IT, WRITE IT.”  Also write your emotions in your log before you and after you eat, as well as how hungry you were before you ate, and then after.  This may seem annoying and you will be tempted to do this half way.  Half way is writing it down a few hours later or only doing it sometimes, doing only the food log part and not the emotions or hunger level part and not doing it when you leave town or are away from the house.  Wanting freedom from this is ignoring the problem.  Which is fine, nobody is holding a gun to your head.  However, if you want to make meaningful changes, then you have to decide if you want it bad enough to take the necessary steps.  If you do, then this is step one.  A small spiral notebook with pages about the size of note cards is a great tool because it travels well and a pen will secure to the spiral rings.

2. Review your log every 5 to 7 days and become aware of the times of day and emotions triggering your incompatible eating.  Notice I did not say, “Bad eating.”  There is no bad eating.  There are just habits incompatible with your goal.  If you have done the necessary work outlined above, this part is rewarding.  You will start to discover the issues you face and will be over half way to addressing what just a few days prior you did not even know you were fighting!  The blindfold is off.  Now you are using a lot less energy and have a much higher chance of success.

3. Create the replacement list.  Make a list of things you can do that will ADDRESS the emotions you used food to deal with.  In a short time, you will begin to recognize trigger emotions and times of day, and when you do, go straight to your list and practice change!  As that time of day creeps up, have a plan in place to prevent the old pattern.  For example, a common habit that is incompatible with most people’s goals is that afternoon drop in energy that leads to a chocolate or starchy snack.  You are going to discover you are actually hungry at this time (probably) so the answer here is to have a snack that is compatible with your goals ready to eat.  Make it appealing and convenient.  Boredom snacking in the afternoon when you are not hungry can often be replaced with a cup of hot tea while you go read your goals and think about why you want to change.  Alternatively, a 2-minute journaling session about why this is important to you.  Find what works for you.

4. Create a no-fail eating plan every day.  Planning your food a day in advance ensures that when that emotion or a challenging time of day hits, you are not tempted by incompatible foods as you try to combat old habits.  Plan your meals and ensure you have your trigger times well covered and plenty of food and/ or options all day long so that you no longer have to resist all those choices.  When you do this, the old emotions and trigger times of day will still happen, the difference is you made the choice about your food intake yesterday when your emotions did not have a grip on you.

5. Choose one habit that is keeping you from your goal.  Common saboteurs are the evening sweet tooth and full weekends ‘off the wagon.’  Using your food log, identify what drives these choices and choose your replacement behavior.  Then set a fun goal of 30 days straight where you engage in your replacement behavior, not your old habit, and just practice.  It is easy.  You will not get all 30 days on your first shot, but commit not to give up!  Reward yourself each time you go farther than the last time.  Happily, while you are absorbed in this game, your body will be changing, that is a promise.  Studies show it takes 27 days to create or stop a habit.  Eating that is incompatible with your personal goals is just HABIT.  Nothing more.  And changing habits is UNCOMFORTABLE.  Not impossible. Try sleeping on the other (“wrong”) side of the bed or sitting at a different spot at the dinner table.  It is so uncomfortable you can hardly stand it!  Do it for 27 days and you will never think another thing about it!  Changing your eating habits is exactly the same.  Do something on your replacement list instead of eating in response to your trigger emotions for 27 days straight and you will have created a new habit!

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This process is detailed, tedious and time consuming, but it is not forever.  It is a tool you will eventually no longer need as you break the old habits.  You can reenact it when you feel yourself creating new bad habits or falling into old ones, and then once you get a handle on things, you need it less and less. 

Good luck and best wishes to you in achieving your goals!

About the author:

Lift for Life.com, Natural Bodybuilding at its Finest!