How to Stop Slipping Back Into Old Eating Habits
It is so easy to slip back into old eating habits when we don’t build safeguards into our daily routine. Our habits are the safeguards that keep us focused on a healthy lifestyle, which involves our mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.
It certainly takes a shift in our perspective to commit to self-care in this way. Typically, we thought of self-care as eating whatever we wanted that made us feel good. The food was the reward for, “fill in the blank,” – for a stressful day, for a good day, or a bad day, and on and on it goes.
But in reality, depending on food to fulfill our emotional needs is unhealthy.
Food Cravings
When we have food cravings, how are we going to handle that? Well, our daily habits go a long way to help prevent us from easily giving in to our cravings. We also have several options to fight our food cravings when they pop up.
We have the option to go for a walk, call a friend, pray, or think about what may be the trigger that caused the craving. Stress is a big food trigger for many people. Knowing what triggered our cravings is half the battle because it gives us the opportunity to change our situation. Thankfully, cravings will pass.
Can’t Ever Eat It Again?
Sometimes, we may dwell on the fact that we have given up certain foods that cause us to eat addictively, like candy, pasta, cakes, cookies, pies, pizza, etc. We may even think, “Will I ever eat birthday cake on my birthday again?” When we have those thoughts, we have to remind ourselves that those foods did not serve us well. It kept us trapped in eating addictively.
We don’t want to turn back and give our control over to the very foods that kept us bound to excessive weight and obsessively thinking about our next bite. Our focus must be on eating healthy, one day at a time.
Holiday Eating
Holidays can be hard because they hold so many memories that are associated with food. Sometimes, we are pushed, by our relatives, to eat their food because they made it “especially for you.” “Aunt Sally” always made our favorite dessert and our mother made our other favorite dish that she only cooks during the holidays. See how we can easily slip back into our old eating patterns if we are not careful? Old childhood dishes are not an excuse for abandoning our healthy eating lifestyle. In those instances, we must be determined and motivated to take care of our mind, body, and spirit.
We may have to develop strategies around those times because relatives can be so sensitive about things like that. So, we can say something like: “I’m eating healthy and I have to watch my sugar intake, so I’ll pass.” Or we can say, “Thank you so much for thinking of me, I can’t eat it now, but I’ll take some home.” When you get home, you can decide what you want to do with it. But you’re NOT eating it!
Travel Plan Routine
Developing a travel plan routine is so important to staying on track. We make travel plans and book activities, so we must make plans for what we are going to eat. Go on the hotel website and see what kind of amenities are offered. If they offer breakfast, does it include foods that you can eat? Do they have a refrigerator in the rooms?
Check out the surrounding grocery stores by the hotel. If there is a refrigerator in your room, you can store some food items there. Doing this can also save you money.
Also, check out the surrounding restaurants near the hotel. Pull up their menus and see if there are foods on it that will fit into your food plan.
Just because we are traveling, doesn’t mean we have to be subjected to whatever is out there. Take responsibility to be prepared as much as you can.
Routines are absolutely Vital!
What becomes a habit, will often get us through random food thoughts, cravings, relatives, and even our travels.
If you slip back into your old eating pattern, just stop and recommit again.
I really hope this was helpful. Please let me know by sharing your comments.
Cynthia
