Habits: Out With The Old, In With The New

How often have you told yourself, "I need to start eating these (fill in the blank) and stop eating those"? It requires a lot of deliberate decision-making to successfully establish or break a food habit. Sorry to single out eating behaviors, but many of us need to stop some negative ones and begin positive ones. How did those ingrained eating patterns, some of which were detrimental to us, emerge and persist like a cabinet full of bags of chips?

Some date back to their youth. Some of them we amass along the road. As we become older, it becomes harder to stop habits that don't serve us well and begin new ones. Habits frequently become so deeply ingrained that we

Your key to success may lie in your ability to adapt or create a habit. The majority of our daily routines are automatic, beneficial to us, and facilitate seamless living. Automatic is beneficial because if we had to think about everything we did, we would go crazy. The automatic system, which is uncontrolled, quick, and effortless, and the reflective system, which demands effort, awareness, and is slow, are the two main systems in psychology. While replying to a text message right away is automatic, waiting to do so requires more thought and deliberate planning.

The Composition of a Habit

In the Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explains MIT researchers discovered a three-step neurological pattern that is the core of every habit. Step 1 is cue which is the stimulus to tell the brain to go into automatic mode and prompts the behavior to unfold. Step 2 is routine and is the behavior itself and the action you take. Step 3 is reward. It helps your brain determine if the habit is worth repeating. Recognizing cues, routines, and rewards is a first step in changing a bad habit and or starting a new one.

If you like chocolate chip cookies and see a plate of them, your response may be automatic. See them (cue) on the plate, grab one (routine), bite into the cookie (reward), yum! Your brain determines this reward is worth repeating again. Eat more cookies. The next time you see chocolate chip cookies your brain is expecting the reward. You reinforce the habit.

Immediate rewards like cookies are easily established. To stop this habit, reverse the steps. Remove the cue, break the routine over time by not buying or baking the cookies in the first place. Oh, so easy to say. It takes reflective thinking.

Delayed rewards are harder to establish, like realizing the benefits of a physical activity habit you don’t have and would like to have. More planning, more steps, and more time are required to get started before it becomes automatic. At some point in the effort, you may realize you are gaining additional rewards like enjoying healthy food, losing weight, sleeping better, and managing stress. Physical activity becomes important for many reasons that help reinforce it.

You might want to read James Clear's Atomic Habits to gain an understanding of the complexity of habits. His ideas can be used to increase physical activity and embrace good eating practices. For instance

Inquire as to your "why" for altering your eating habits. improved health, weight loss, and blood sugar control? How determined are you to alter? What reward are you anticipating?

Do you want this or do you have to have it? The strength of your intention can be evaluated using a scale of 1 to 10 (strongest). Should never be stronger than want. Consider your talents and limitations if there seems to be a disconnect between what you want to achieve and what you actually believe you will do. You might wish to adjust a few little habits at first.

• “Keystone Habits”: Clear explains these habits are the larger ones you want to establish. Underneath a keystone habit is a series of smaller habits to change.
• Repetition is key to establishing routine and reward. The reverse applies to undoing a habit.
• Pick small habits that are easy to start, accomplish, and keep until they are automatic. Success leads to more success.
• Think “environmental design”. Make the habit easier to accomplish because you’ve set up a cue that leads to routine. To change food habits, think of a stepwise process. Start with 1. Plan meals, 2. Make grocery list, 3. Only by what is on the list.
• Surround yourself with people who will help reinforce the new routine. Engage your co-workers or family, including kids, in making new routines. Explain why. There will be less paddling upstream if everyone is on board.

Changing poor health habits takes resolve. Good habits lead to better health.

Recipe Tip: Grocery store roasted chickens are a quick way to get freshly cooked chicken.  The bones can be simmered in water to make broth.

ROASTED CHICKEN SOUP

1 roasted chicken or 4 cups cooked, cut in chunks

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, cut in 1/2-inch pieces

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 ribs celery, cut in chunks

4 large carrots, peeled, cut in chunks

4 Yukon Gold potatoes or 1 pound, unpeeled, cut in chunks (season with salt and pepper and some of the Mrs. Dash seasoning)

4 cups chopped cabbage

2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash Original Seasoning

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen peas or edamame (orTrader Joe’s “Soycotash” with edamame, corn, red pepper)

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Pull chicken pieces off the bones. Set chicken pieces aside. Add carcass and juices to a 7-quart or larger stock pot. Add 4 cups water to have a flavorful broth. Cover pot. Gently simmer for 2 hours. Strain broth from bones; set broth aside. Salt broth to taste.
2. In the stock pot heat olive oil. Sauté onion, garlic and celery until onion is translucent and tender.
3. Add broth, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and Mrs. Dash seasoning. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes until carrots and potatoes are tender, but still somewhat firm. Add chicken. Cover and gently simmer just to heat chicken. Stir in corn, peas or edamame, salt, and pepper. Heat to simmer. Serve hot.