Countering Activities for Breaking Unbreakable Bad Habits
Anna Smith, NASM, CPT
Our current eating and exercise habits give us the body and health we have. Say you want to change them and have some success. But, for whatever reason, there are a few habits you have that just seem to be unshakeable. The ones that hang around even after some positive change has occurred are the hardest habits to break. Loss of control (or a feeling of it) on the weekends and evenings are common areas people struggle with. Eating or blowing off workouts in response to emotions is the most common habit I see people have trouble breaking.
The first problem they have is accepting (admitting) that emotions drive their choices. Emotions rule us. No matter how stoic and logical you may think you are, most of your choices are driven by emotion. Think of the marketing execs out there. It is no secret that people make purchases based on their emotions and their job is to stir emotions and apply pressure to make the sale. The same mechanism is at work in us. And when we act in a way that is out of line with our goals, and we regret it but seem to keep repeating it, then it is highly likely that there is an emotional drive that needs addressing if the problem is ever going to be fixed.
If you pay attention to what you feel when you eat, or blow off a workout and write it down, you will notice a pattern. First, you will notice that without having to track it, you were largely unaware of what was on your mind and how you felt about it. That alone is a cool experiment. Then you will notice certain emotions pop up when your eating is in line with your goals and when it is not. Certain patterns will emerge when you choose to work out and when you choose not to. Those emotions that pop up when you are not on your plan are your triggers. An easy way to identify triggers is diligently recording your emotions during your meals and workouts (planned and unplanned) for at least 4-5 days. A small spiral notebook, the kind a pen will slide through so you are never without a pen, works well.
Now your mission is to come up with positive countering activities that you will do in response to these triggers, and review them often. You will now recognize that familiar feeling of checking out in preparation for an out of control eating event, or blown off workout. By the way, this eating “event” may be an all out binge but for more people it is also when you are going to pop a few handfuls of M & M’s in your mouth or finish the last 5 bites on your plate even though you are full.
Countering activities that have been shown to replace this kind of thing fall into one of three categories: relaxation, exercise (wouldn’t ya know it!?) or an active diversion. Think of something you can routinely do in response to the emotions you identify as your triggers. Once you decide on them, you’ve already given your brain a choice. If you review them (like in your daily motivation time) then you are reinforcing them. Then practice! The new countering activity becomes a new habit that replaces the old habit (eating or blowing off a workout).
Anna Smith, NASM, CPT
Our current eating and exercise habits give us the body and health we have. Say you want to change them and have some success. But, for whatever reason, there are a few habits you have that just seem to be unshakeable. The ones that hang around even after some positive change has occurred are the hardest habits to break. Loss of control (or a feeling of it) on the weekends and evenings are common areas people struggle with. Eating or blowing off workouts in response to emotions is the most common habit I see people have trouble breaking.
The first problem they have is accepting (admitting) that emotions drive their choices. Emotions rule us. No matter how stoic and logical you may think you are, most of your choices are driven by emotion. Think of the marketing execs out there. It is no secret that people make purchases based on their emotions and their job is to stir emotions and apply pressure to make the sale. The same mechanism is at work in us. And when we act in a way that is out of line with our goals, and we regret it but seem to keep repeating it, then it is highly likely that there is an emotional drive that needs addressing if the problem is ever going to be fixed.
If you pay attention to what you feel when you eat, or blow off a workout and write it down, you will notice a pattern. First, you will notice that without having to track it, you were largely unaware of what was on your mind and how you felt about it. That alone is a cool experiment. Then you will notice certain emotions pop up when your eating is in line with your goals and when it is not. Certain patterns will emerge when you choose to work out and when you choose not to. Those emotions that pop up when you are not on your plan are your triggers. An easy way to identify triggers is diligently recording your emotions during your meals and workouts (planned and unplanned) for at least 4-5 days. A small spiral notebook, the kind a pen will slide through so you are never without a pen, works well.
Now your mission is to come up with positive countering activities that you will do in response to these triggers, and review them often. You will now recognize that familiar feeling of checking out in preparation for an out of control eating event, or blown off workout. By the way, this eating “event” may be an all out binge but for more people it is also when you are going to pop a few handfuls of M & M’s in your mouth or finish the last 5 bites on your plate even though you are full.
Countering activities that have been shown to replace this kind of thing fall into one of three categories: relaxation, exercise (wouldn’t ya know it!?) or an active diversion. Think of something you can routinely do in response to the emotions you identify as your triggers. Once you decide on them, you’ve already given your brain a choice. If you review them (like in your daily motivation time) then you are reinforcing them. Then practice! The new countering activity becomes a new habit that replaces the old habit (eating or blowing off a workout).
