Beat the Bait: How to End Unhealthy Eating
You juggle everyone’s schedules, including your own. On a daily basis, you manage household logistics covering everything from family finances to kids’ football games. In many cases, you wear both the hats of family CEO and front line employee.
Unfortunately, if something is going to fall out of alignment or into disrepair in the process, it’s likely that it’s your personal needs that will take the hit. You’re probably often willing to take shortcuts with your own health, fitness, and nutrition — things that you probably guard against fiercely when it comes to your family.
Some of these shortcuts include…
I know, because I do this stuff too!
These are the lures that get us swiftly off track by using the temptations of “easy” and “having things now”. But why are we drawn to easy and now?
Let’s get real for a second…
Modern life is nonstop, and that often leads to stress. Then, we feel that we deserve some time to let loose and have fun. All this leads to…
Don’t get thrown off by the words afraid and fearful. Replace those works with anxious, nervous, stressed, or feeling weird if you’d like. All those emotions, at their most basic level, are forms of fear.
And human beings by nature, are driven by these two things…
Don’t jump to the conclusion that this makes you helpless and subject to the whim of your emotions.
On the contrary, it empowers you because now you know what makes you tick. This information puts you in the driver’s seat from this point forward. Knowing when your emotions are becoming your enemy is key to winning when it comes to food — or anything else!
Knowing that these feelings are driven by fear, and that you have a choice on how to handle it, gives you the power you need to stay clear of the lures that draw you into unwanted eating choices.
So now that we know why, let’s find out how to see the lures and avoid getting caught!
Let’s explore these lures. We’ll follow this basic flow for each one…
You are at risk for convenience eating when these words come out of your mouth…
The Bait
Lack of time.
There’s a reason we use the term “on the go”. Your to-do list is endless and you’re always zipping from here to there.
Sometimes you get so busy that you forget to eat… and when your stomach reminds you that you’re hungry, you want food and you want it now! Guess that’s where the term “hangry” comes from!
That feeling can seem all-consuming. If you let it get to this point, it’s extremely hard to turn down things like break room vending machines, drive through windows, and airport junk food.
The Switch
While eating on the go can get you out of that “hangry” stage, there are consequences that come with this quick fix.
According to Health.com, convenience foods actually make you hungrier! Ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup and trans fats can cause insulin spikes that not only make you hungrier, but also prevent your body’s natural ability to suppress hunger from working properly. Also, large amounts of salt (which is typical in fast food) lead to dehydration, which often feels like hunger.
So this quick fix for hunger isn’t a fix at all. It’s actually a funnel that drops you deeper into feelings of hunger and makes you much more likely to overeat.
How to Get Off the Hook
The key to conquering convenience eating is to make healthy eating choices more convenient than the alternatives.
How do you do this?
When I was a kid in elementary school, I hated school lunches, so I packed my own lunch at home. And when lunchtime came around, I had the food that I wanted.
You can do the same thing to stay out of the junk food black hole!
Choose your snack options ahead of time, and make sure you have the snacks you need to eliminate your hunger so it won’t turn it into a raving “hangry” giant!
If you have access to a fridge, you can bring perishable items. If not, there are a ton of healthy non-perishable snacks to choose from.
Important >>> Make sure that you pick healthy snacks that you enjoy eating. If you, don’t you’ll still end up at your favorite drive through or in that box of donuts in the break room.
Social eating is a really hard one to conquer. You want to enjoy and relax with friends, whether it be at a party, over lunch, or at an after-work happy hour. You can fool yourself into thinking that those party snacks are no big deal because they are small and cute… no harm done, right?
Not so much after you’ve eaten a few from each appetizer tray!
The Bait
I recently read an article on Shape.com that brought to light things that I’ve done in social eating settings — things that have led me to eat more than I really needed to.
Let’s say I’m eating out with friends or invited to a party, and I’m thinking about having that second cupcake. Someone there looks at me and says…
“It’s ok hun, go ahead and have it. You deserve it!”
In my head, I’m totally agreeing! I worked out today, or yesterday… so yeah, I actually deserve two cupcakes! LOL!
Now don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying you should never eat more than one cupcake, or that you should end your friendship with the person who said have another one. They probably mean well and just want you to enjoy yourself.
But do take the time to think about what you are about to do and why you are doing it. Think about if having that second cupcake is really in line with what you want, or if you’re overdoing it.
Sometimes, the situation is more indirect and subliminal. As if on autopilot, you’ll begin to mimic what others are doing and eat what they eat.
Or sometimes, if you’re the introvert at the party, eating is just something to do to pass the time until you leave.
The Switch
Here’s the thing…
Social eating is often unconscious eating. And unconscious eating usually leads to eating more than is necessary.
In Brian Wansink’s book Mindless Eating, he says…
In 1989, American psychologist John de Castro researched how eating in different-sized groups affects food intake. In his report, he wrote…
33% is a big number… 96% is pretty staggering!
How to Get Off the Hook
Become mindful about what you are eating in social settings.
For example:
Snack hack — If you can’t shake the desire to eat that tempting treat in spite of the guilt, walk away, have some water, and go socialize away from the food.
You may find that at some point during the conversation, the urge leaves you or you forget about it all together. If you still can’t resist, cut whatever it is in half and only eat that piece. Maybe you can even split it with a friend who was feeling the same way about having that treat.
Humans, by nature, long to feel good. It’s the number one objective. Anything that puts you out of that state can set you into a scramble to get back to “good” again.
This relates to what I said about eating when “hangry”, but there are other emotions that can drive your appetite as well.
The Bait
In this situation, the bait is wanting to feel good.
Sometimes you eat to feel better if you are sad. Other times you eat as a reward for accomplishing something. I’ve been known to have a celebratory cupcake or two. And in college, I remember eating handfuls of peanut butter cups to get through study sessions for final exams. (sighs)
Emotions can also affect you when grocery shopping. An after-work shopping trip after a stressful day at work can lead to tossing things in the basket that aren’t necessarily good choices for you.
And emotions can also lead you to the coffee shop for a sugar-filled latte with a pastry on the side.
The ways we can satisfy our feel-good food cravings are endless! It’s like healthy choices hardly stand a chance!
The Switch
Using food as a path to feeling good typically leaves you going in circles. You may feel good while you’re eating those cupcakes and the frosting is still on your lips. But when it’s over, and you feel guilty about what you did…you’re right back at feeling lousy again.
Sugary treats are a HUGE temptation as a mood pick me up. They serve the feel-good now purpose in much the same way that drugs do.
According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, sugar addiction follows the four components of addiction.
Sugar binges reinforce all the other components. So basically, the more of it we eat, the more of it we want and the harder it is to stop because of the pain we feel when we attempt to quit.
Sugar creates the perfect storm for any feel-good seeking being, so we humans are a perfect match!
How to Get Off the Hook
So, now what do you do?
Well… you have to redefine what makes you feel good.
So this is the hard part. And I’m not gonna lie, it’s going to take some toughness on your part.
You’ve got to start looking at the long view in those moments, and you can start by asking yourself this question…
And if you say feeling good later is more important, then you have to be honest with yourself that if your actions don’t line up with that statement, then your statement isn’t really true.
But you CAN start to train your actions to coincide with your true desires instead of your temporary emotions. THAT is the hard part! So, here are a few tips to help you get started.
When you’re at the grocery store putting those bags of cookies and chips in the cart, ask yourself…
If you don’t like the answers to those questions, leave the stuff on the shelf. You can’t eat what you don’t have.
Quick note about the kids: Parents teach primarily by example; so, don’t think that you’re depriving them. You can give them the gift of a long healthy life now through your example of healthy eating.
When you’re feeling sad or mad and you get the moody munchies, ask yourself…
Consider your answers and make the choices that serve you best.
When you have something to celebrate and you want to do it with lots of “happy snacks,” ask yourself…
Remember, food guilt can easily ruin your celebration. Be mindful about focusing your quest for happiness on things that bring you joy without leaving you with a bad aftertaste and unwanted side effects.
So let’s be real…
This doesn’t mean that you can never have another convenient, social, or even celebratory meal.
It just means that you do so in a way that doesn’t sacrifice the progress you’re making and have worked hard for. It means you’ll do so in a way that allows you to continue to feel good about you and the meal when it’s done.
Now, I want you to take your new “Off the Hook” skills and put them to work! Here’s what you need to do:
Choose healthy food alternatives that actually taste good!
Otherwise, your healthy food choice won’t stand a chance against a box of glazed donuts. ⇐ Real Talk
Beat the Bait: How to End Unhealthy Eating
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