Go Zen for the New Year

Starling Fitness recently expanded on a post by Zen Habits about the 7 keys to turning bad habits into good habits. I would argue that diet is one of our most ingrained habits. These tips are useful for dealing with cravings that don't represent true hunger. We may get used to turning to food when we are bored, or angry, or upset. After all, we are creatures of tradition. We tend to establish a pattern, and stick with it.

The tips are:
For each habit, identify your triggers. 

Is it boredom? Loneliness? Does tv make you want to snack when you're not hungry? It will be helpful to write them down.

For every single trigger, identify a positive habit you’re going to do instead. 

For me, it's best to try to do something productive, such as blogging or working on my internship applications for this summer. But it could be anything, like calling a friend, writing a song or reading.

For at least one month, focus entirely on being as consistent with your triggers as possible. Perfect timing for a New Year's Resolution, perhaps? In this amount of time, your goals will be well on their way to becoming new habits.

Avoid tempting situations. Laura at Starling Fitness points to parties or buffet dinners. As the holidays wind down, maybe it will be spending too much time on the couch that will lead to overeating. Maybe it will be late dinners and drinks with friends. Suggest you try sushi instead of steaks and fries, or a wine bar over beer and appetizers.

Realize that your urges will be strong, but they will go away after a few minutes. 

It's important to realize that true hunger will not go away. Leo at Zen Habits suggests, "Find strategies for getting through the urges — deep breathing, self massage, eating frozen grapes, walking around, exercising, calling a friend who will support you."

Ask for help. It may feel like the hardest thing in the world to talk to your loved ones about food issues, but more than likely, they will be willing to support you if they know it's important to you.

Staying positive is key! You will, at times, feel like giving in to old habits. If you mess up, bounce back. You didn't undo days or weeks of effort with one slip-up.

Bonus: If you fail (and many of you will, at least once), don’t give up. Bad habits have been ingrained into your daily routine for years. It will take longer than a month to truly give them up. Best of luck!

Quick Tip

     The first week of class, look up the exercise class schedule at the gym. Choose a few that look interesting, and pencil them in on your schedule that very first week. Continue going to the one you like the best. It will be much easier to form healthy habits if you clear a place for them in your schedule from the beginning.

Thinking You're Unhealthy is Associated with Later Weight Gain

     I read an interesting study today. The Danish Nurse Cohort Study, which analyzed the weight changes and "self-reported health" of 13,684 women, found that those who reported poor health at the beginning of the study were the most likely to gain weight. It seems believing you are in poor health can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

     In 1993 and 1999, the nurses completed surveys about their lifestyle and health. To determine how healthy these women believed they were, the researchers asked "How would you rate your health in general?"

     While the researchers suspected that BMI and self-reported health would be related, they were surprised at the results. Women who were of normal weight, but reported poor health, were more likely to gain weight over the course of the study. Overweight women who lost weight did not report better health at a lower weight. Perceptions about our bodies are hard to shake.

     The researchers proposed that women with unhealthy lifestyles were likely to report poor health. Underlying illness is also a factor. But I suggest that the women's feelings about their body also played a part. 

      This study is of special interest to young people, because we're currently developing lifelong habits. If you're thin now, but engaging in other unhealthy behaviors, they will catch up with you later in life. And if you don't feel good about your body, and you don't recognize it's capacity, you likely won't take care of it.