How on earth do I quit eating junk food?

A friend of mine asked me this question this morning, so I decided to talk about this on my post this week.

The first answer to this question that springs to mind is simply that the Fast Food Industry DOESN'T WANT YOU TO!

However, I believe there is a different answer to that one...

There are strategies...  Mindfulness has a lot to do with it, good habits over bad and of course... willpower (in some cases).

Lots of people say, "I have no willpower!"  Well, that just isn't true.  When you want something badly enough you have all the will power in the world.

What to do when you want to make a major change in your life, be it giving up smoking, junk food or some other unhealthy habit:

Step 1:  Sit down with a piece of paper and a pen and preferably in silence when no one is going to interrupt you.  Ask yourself a series of questions.  The first and most important one is:

Have you ever given up a major habit before, such as smoking?

If you have then you have to believe that if you can give up smoking you can certainly give up junk
food.

Ask your self WHY you want to stop eating junk food?  Do you want to give up to improve your diet?  To lose weight?  To improve your health?  Do you want to be a good example for your children?

Here are some thoughts to consider.  Most people know by now that junk food isn't healthy.  So you would be wise to start looking at junk food for what it is.

Junk food isn't food.  Junk food is processed leftover food stuffs that weren't good enough for "proper" food.  This is churned up and mixed with huge amounts of salt and sugar to make it taste good and last longer on the supermarket shelf or in the restaurant store room.

For example; McDonald's fries have a staggering 14 ingredients!  Yes!  And let's not forget the pink slime scandal which they "say" has been removed from burgers.

There have been "tests" by people who have bought a Happy Meal from McDonald's and left it untouched on a shelf for a year to see what would happen... the results were astounding... the meal looked exactly the same as when bought - just dried out... no mould... no foul smell...

So just think what that must be doing to your body on a regular basis.  Junk food is so unhealthy it can even re-wire your brain, eating junk food on a regular basis can literally kill off your desire to eat a healthy diet.

This is what makes it so difficult to give up.  But all is not lost, you can train your brain to prefer a healthy diet.

You are not in control of your diet.  Food manufacturers are.  The huge food manufacturers are in it for the profits.  They will put anything in their food to get you hooked and keep you coming back for more.  Sugar and Salt are major players as they not only make food more palatable but they also extend it's shelf life in the supermarket.  Sugar and salt get you hooked on the taste and that registers in the brain and the next time you see your favorite packet of cookies in the supermarket your brain will send you a message saying:

Remember those?  Remember how good they were?

And bam!  Next thing you know your at the check out with the packet in your basket.

We are all bombarded on a daily basis with advertisements for processed foods and junk food.  This is why it's far easier to stay off the cigarettes once you quit... there's no advertising for cigarettes.

Step 2: Plan healthy meals.  Plan and cook healthy meals from scratch.  And, when you eat them, think about all the great things that meal is doing for your body and mind.  How the ingredients will help you to be healthy, how they will repair damaged areas, how they will give you energy and feed brain cells.... be CONSCIOUS of what you are putting into your mouth.

Sugar is addictive and produces the same response in the brain as cocaine... Salt, well I don't know about it being addictive but we sure get used to the taste and the amount of salt in foods... Just try cooking dinner one evening and not adding any salt, things will certainly be bland.  However, we aren't born liking salt, it gets introduced to us from about 6 months on and then it just grows and grows...  However, if you reduce the amount of salt in meals gradually, your taste buds will adjust to the new levels of salt and you will need less.

Step 3:  Think before you shop before you eat.  Be mindful of what you are doing.  Plan meals ahead, go to the supermarket with a shopping list and do not stray from that list.  When you sit down to eat, look at the food in front of you and ask yourself; do I WANT to eat this?  Is it GOOD for me?  Will it NOURISH me?  If you can't answer yes to these three questions, then don't eat it.

Step 4:  You can either decide to quit and never go near a fast food restaurant ever again, or you can

decide that that type of meal should be a "treat", something sporadic that is not the norm.  That way it may be easier to abstain knowing that you are allowed to "indulge" every now and again - say once a month.

I have given up several things in life.  I gave up cigarettes, I gave up soft drinks, I gave up sugar in tea and coffee and then aspartame in tea and coffee.  It is possible to give up anything you choose.  However, you have to be convinced that that is what you want to do and what your reasons for doing it are.

To me it is simple.  If your health is or will be compromised by your habits then you need to change them.  To keep your health or even to improve it then willpower is the least of your problems.

Now, YOU have to be convinced.  You will not succeed if you are doing it because your husband, wife, mother, father, boyfriend, girlfriend says that is what you should do.  Do it for YOU, so you will live a long and healthy life to enjoy with your loved ones.

Only YOU are in control of what and how much you eat.

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com

Shock yourself slim

There are many many activity trackers on the market; the Up Band, Withings, FitBit, etc.. But now there is one that will literally shock you into new habits!

The Pavlok wrist band uses a form of electric shock therapy to motivate you into the development of good habits.  It is branded as a "personal coach on your wrist" and can even be used to help stop mindless eating.

The band can be activated manually or automatically and the idea behind it is that the two milliampere shock will condition users to develop and stick to good habits by associating the bad habits with the uncomfortable yet effective shock.

Pavlok has been created by Maneesh Sethi who got his inspiration for the band from Pavlov's famous classical conditioning experiment where dogs were trained to expect food each time a bell rang.

"By adding a shock while you eat, you train your lizard brain to associate the act of eating (or the type of food) with the shock - and it can effectively limit the drive for mindless eating that you normally have," Sethi told The Dot.

EJ Dickinson, journalist for The Dot, tried out the wristband on Thanksgiving:

"It felt like someone was plucking out my arm hair with a pair of pincers," Dickinson wrote.

The device is meant to be painless, the shock just to give you a gentle reminder but Dickinson didn't agree.  However, he did say that, "It makes you ask yourself, wait, why am I hungry again?"  But he also admitted that the wristband was at least somewhat effective because "I was more than able to button each button on my pants."

According to the Pavlok website, the band helps to transform wearers and promotes change.  You can use it to change old habits or acquire new ones, it isn't just a way of stopping you eating.

"Choose your daily action, and Pavlok will hold you accountable, ensuring lasting success." the web states.

"It's not about the shock as much as it is about training your brain to do the things you say you're going to do," Sethi said, stating that negative reinforcement "really does make people pay attention."

On the web, information isn't very clear, but it says that the band also creates community and if you don't reach your goals you may even get shocked by a fellow user.  However, there is also a reward scheme for those who do reach their goals.

"Through our proprietary negative and positive reinforcement technique, Pavlok doesn't simply nudge someone to change their behavior - it pushes them to transform themselves and form the habit to maintain their transformation."

Maybe it is the key for people who are lacking enough willpower to reach their goals, it may seem a bit extreme but if it works... then why not?

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com