Day One Hundred and Forty Two!!!!!

Some common ways to interfere with habits/ addictions.


1.  Changing behaviour.  The goal is to change your behaviour away from what it normally is that you do. In order to do this change, you will be making yourself extremely uncomfortable, until it is that you get to your new comfort. In order to change your behaviour, you will have to set up a new behaviour. So for example, if the problem is eating in front of the TV, then you will actually have to set up something new to do instead of watching the TV, like for example, going out with a friend or playing an instrument. This makes the old habit way more difficult to do. 


2. Next, is removing the offending food. Once you identify the food that is causing you trouble, then removing it from your kitchen means that it is no longer available to you. So removing those high carb snacks from your cupboard will mean that they are no longer an option. 


3. Next ,is creating redirections. Redirecting yourself away from the snack cupboard, means to direct yourself towards something else, my suggestion would be low carb/no carb foods. 


4. Self monitoring. When self monitoring, this means paying attention to your daily schedule; this includes your mood, what you are eating and when you are eating it. This way you can start to reflect back on what your weak spots are, what your motivations are, and can help you start to create awareness.


5. Next, is to pay attention to holidays. Holidays are important triggers for food intake. Family get togethers also have expectations in regards to food intake, so it is really important to be able to emotionally prepare for these events; to either make sure that you have a plan of action in regards to self monitoring what you are going to eat and/or you have a plan of action for the day after to go back to your regular routine.  


6. Next, is spacing food intake out. It is good to remember that a craving, hunger pang, longing, yearning, or compulsion, for a certain food or need just to eat, only lasts for at the most for fifteen minutes. So, it is good to remember that when your hunger pang sets in that you can redirect yourself, roll with it, and the next thing you know it will be gone and then you can move on without having to ‘feed it’.


7. Your environment plays a huge roll in how you feel and what you are going to do about how you feel. If your environment is negative and you are surrounded by ‘frienamies’ who pretend to be your friends but truly you just want you to be like them, then the truth is, you are not going to be able to do well. So, it is important to be able to confront this environmental effect so that you are able to remain in control of what it is that you truly want. 


8. And yes, this might actually mean that you need to change your environment, change your friends, and/ or learn how to become assertive in order to state what you want. This can be scary because generally speaking, people just want to “fit in”. Being different means that you have to be ready to be able to defend your difference and stand up for yourself.


9. Think of your intolerances and an allergy. My suggestion is to think of your food intolerances as an allergy, if you had an allergy to specific foods you would have to state so. You would have to be hyper-vigilant to what your foods contain. You would have to force yourself into rejecting those foods that you are allergic to because they could kill you. And you wouldn’t be ashamed of doing so.


10. Think of what you want. When you direct yourself to what your goals are, you are future focused and as such are directed to what you want your life to be like. Keep focussed on the goal.