How to make a healthy habit stick

Chatting to many of my challengers over the last few days, and it seems motivation is sometimes letting you down....

Feeling motivated is an emotional state, and like all emotional states, it rises and falls, kind of like the tide; so if you're relying on motivation to keep you on track you will sooner or later (usually sooner) feel a lack of motivation, and unless you have another way of staying on track, then you're going to fall off the wagon (and probably start beating yourself up over it).

So you might then try to rely on willpower... but this takes mental energy, and the more decisions or choices you are faced with over the course of your day, the more drained you are of mental energy.

So where does that leave us?

3 Massive Kitchen Mistakes Busy People Make That Make Weight Loss Nearly Impossible.

Let's face it, we all lead busy lives these days, and it can be tricky to eat healthily, especially when you come home tired after a long day and the thought of having to prepare and cook a meal makes you want to call for take out, or grab a frozen pizza on the way home. And if your work keeps you on the road a lot, your nutrition during the day probably wasn't the best either, as you're rushing to try and beat traffic and deadlines.

I get it, believe me i get: during the summer (when i focus more on doing performances than on training) I frequently drive around 1,000kms over a weekend, and one day this summer i covered more than 700kms in a single day! To be honest, even though I was fairly well prepared, I still ended up having more petrol station coffee and pastries than I should that day. Nobody's perfect; we just do the best we can with what we know, and learn from our mistakes so when we know better, we do better!

In general though, when you plan ahead, you have a better chance of making food choices that will support your weight loss, instead of causing you to gain more weight. With that in mind, here are 3 massive kitchen mistakes you could be making right now that will totally sabotage your chances of successful weight loss.

3. Fast Food Focus
When you're tired, you just want something quick. Store bought ready-to-eat meals in the freezer, and the toaster in a prominent place on the counter are 2 sure fire signs the focus of this kitchen is on quick satisfaction of hunger, rather than fueling the body it needs to meet the strains and demands you're putting it under. If you've got boxes of breakfast cereals on the counter as well, that's a hat-trick of habits that will hinder you in reducing your waistline.


2. Poor Pantry.
If you don't have quick access to good quality nutrients, then you're going to eat crap. Once you're hungry enough, you just want food, and the quality becomes less important. A well stocked pantry should have lots of basic ingredients, and very few jars or packets of sauces. A wide variety of herbs and seasonings is great, but every pantry should have at least the basics: a black pepper mill, sea salt or mineral salt, mixed herbs, turmeric, paprika and chilli powder or cayenne pepper. All of these will have effects (from flavour enhancers to fat burners) that will be helpful to you in your mission to get rid of unwanted fat. Some spices that are also useful to have are cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and whole cloves (effects ranging from stabilising blood sugar to anti-inflammatory).


1. No Meal Prep Plan.
You may not realise it, but you probably already kind of have a meal plan if you do a 'main' grocery shop. Thats where you get most of your supplies for the week in one or 2 shopping trips during the week (or month) and just 'top up' with things like dairy or bread as and when you need them. What you buy in the shop will be the basis for your meals during the week, so it you don't buy any green veggies, you're damned unlikely to be having a salad with dinner. We tend to be creatures of habit, and have the same things fairly regularly. That's great when you eat healthily, but not so good if you don't, or if the balance of healthy food is being tipped over the edge by too much junk.

Once you think a bit about your week ahead, meal planning gets a lot easier; you can plan the meals with the least preparation for the evenings you're most likely to be exhausted. Better yet, make enough extra in advance of that day so you only have to reheat it when you get in from work. Some meals will keep well in the freezer, especially soups, stews and curries, so it's always worth doing  a couple of extra portions of these to have in the freezer. Even simple steps like chopping a spare portion of veggies for the fridge make cooking the next healthy meal easier.

Meal planning isn't only about cooking though. The bigger the plate, the bigger the portion you'll put on it. Also plan where you're going to eat, and for the love of god, plan to eat with the telly turned off; the same goes for all your devices.. laptop, tablet, phone... they can all manage without you for 30 minutes.

How to know if you eat like a zombie

Do you eat like a zombie?

No, I'm not asking if you like braaainz!

I'm wondering if you eat mindlessly. At this stage you're possibly about to close this page and read something else, but stay with me for a minute and all will become clear.

To give you an idea of what I mean, I should give you an example. I'd like you to think about the last time you went to the cinema in plenty of time for the show. You collected your tickets, got the popcorn and drinks, and found your seat. Once you're settled you'll start to munch on the popcorn. You'll notice if it's too salty, or too soggy(I'm sure there's a special place in hell for

Exercise is Medicine: Make a Habit & Get Your MED.

Being physically active is preventative medicine

Exercise is medicine.
I think at some level we all know this. We've all heard it in some shape or form, whether it was from the doctor or some new research thats making the news. But really we already know it, at some intellectual or cognitive level at least.
Do we put that knowledge into action?
Probably not! Sure, it's easy to tell ourselves that we're too tired, don't have time, don't know how, are too unfit to go to a gym, don't enjoy exercise, don't know the best exercise for (insert whatever ails you here), don't want to exercise on our own or whatever the reason excuse is. The truth is its just a matter of habits.
Warning, tangent ahead!!

We are built to be energy efficient, right down to the way we think.

I like to use the analogy of walking across an overgrown patch of waste ground: The first time is always the most challenging, because you're pushing through the weeds, picking your way through thorns and carefully doing your best not to come a cropper on obstacles unseen in the growth. When you get to the other side and look back theres a bit of a path left behind. If you take the same route again soon, its a bit easier because there's still a bit of a path; some of the weeds will have sprung back, and need to be pushed aside again or pruned back, but it's still a bit easier than the first time. With regular, repeated travel, you create a path which you can follow easily; the grass is tramped down, the thorns pushed back and the obstacles clearly visible.  However, if you don't go that way for a while, it'll be either partially or fully overgrown and you'll be starting again.
In neuroscience (the study of the brain) there's an expression for this..

Neurons that fire together, wire together.

Neurons are the nerve cells that make up our brains and internal communication systems.Every action, every thought depends on a message making it down a path. When a path is taken more frequently, the body improves that path by making it wider, so the message can reach its destination more quickly and efficiently.

The thicker bands have more neurons, allowing better transmission of whatever message they carry.

Over time, less used paths get overgrown, In the brain, the path less travelled thins, as energy is needed to maintain each and every pathway. The thicker the pathway, the more energy needed to maintain it. This ability of the brain to rewire itself in response to the demands placed on it is known as neuroplasticity.

The point of this basic introduction to neuroscience?

Same old habit or a  new direction?

When we are in the HABIT of saying "I can't" we thicken the connections on that path, making this the answer we default to. How many times have you caught yourself saying"I can't" to something you've never even attempted? How do you know since you've never attempted it??? The answer is you don't know, you're just defaulting to the most energy efficient answer. It's not necessarily the CORRECT answer, its just the easiest one for your brain to throw out there. Now that you're aware of this, you can take action to stop it from sabotaging your success. Anytime you catch yourself saying that horrible four letter word, pause and ask if that is the correct answer, or is it the just the easiest one to reach.

What's the next step?

Ban "can't" and replace with "can try"

Change your language. Eliminate that four letter word (can't) from your vocabulary. There are other good reasons to do this, but they'll keep for another day (if you really want to know more on this ask me about brain regions activated by language and neurotransmitter cascades in response to certain words). Get into the habit of saying "I can" and then giving it a go. You'll be surprised at what you can accomplish when you let go of this horrible four letter word! Obviously, a single day of saying "I can do it" will not overcome years of a habitual negative, but it'll start you along a new path. Of course, when you're forging a new path, there will be thorns and pricks that have to be pushed aside, there will be obstacles over which you may stumble, but pick yourself up and refocus on reaching the destination. Over time you'll become aware of what you stumble on most often and will eventually catch yourself before you trip up, and you'll take a slight detour around  it.

Back on topic.
So, exercise is medicine, and the main reason most people don't stick to an exercise plan is mostly a matter of changing habits. It's easier to stay motivated to keep working on making those changes if you are seeing results from the actions you're already taking. Exercise is medicine, and like any other kind of exercise, it has a minimum effective dose. If the medication says take 200mg then you take 200mg. Why? Because less than that may not be an effective dose.

For exercise, regardless of the desired physical training effect, the minimum effective dose is challenging yourself. 

The training session or workout is only a stimulus that can create in your body a chain of events that allow you to become fitter, slimmer, stronger etc. This is called adaptation. If the stimulus isn't enough of a challenge, then no adaptation or change is need for the body to be ready for that level of challenge the next time it faces it.

If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you.

Of course, in order to make the most of the stimulus, appropriate nutrition and rest (including sleep!!)  are needed. What foods and how much of them will depend on  your current situation and what it is you're aiming to achieve.

Eat well to lose weight, gain weight or stay slim

Eating well isn't a case of eating caviar and kobe beef everyday. How do you know if you eat well? Take out a sheet of paper, and answer the following 5 questions honestly. It won't give you an exact solution to your nutrition, but it'll allow you to identify which areas are the ones you should work on improving first for the greatest effect.

1.What do you eat?

This is the obvious one. Do you eat a lot of deep fried food, fast food or take out? Do you get your 5-a-day of fresh fruit and veg? Do you eat 'treats' such as biscuits, cakes, milk chocolate, sweets/candy several days of the week. Do you eat a lot of ready meals, microwave dinners, or instant (just add hot water) foods? Do you choose lean or fatty meats? Do you trim the fat/skin off, or leave it on? Do you eat a lot of refined carbohydrates, such as bread, pasta or white rice? Do you drink plenty of water? The key thing here is to identify the foods you eat several times per week.

2.When do you eat?

Do you eat breakfast? Do you regularly skip meals? Do you frequently allow 6 hours or more to go by without eating, and then eat until you feel stuffed?
We've all heard that you should never eat after 'X' in the evening. The time seems to change every few months, depending on what fad diet is popular. A good guideline is to never eat a large meal within 2 hours of going to bed; make it fit your own lifestyle. 

3.How do you eat?

This isn't a case of knife & fork or chopsticks! Eating infront of TV leads to more calories being consumed due to delaying the onset of satiety. the brain body connection is important in experiencing the colour, shape texture and flavour. Without experiencing the meal, it's unlikely we will be satisfied by it. 
Example - in the cinema, you can taste the popcorn until the movie captures your attention. After that, the next time your brain is engaged by the popcorn is when your hand reaches the bottom of the container. 

4.Why do you eat

Serotonin levels are linked to blood sugar levels, in that when blood sugar rises, so does serotonin. High GI foods that give the quick sugar spike will boost mood in the very short term, but lead to a double dip when both blood sugar and mood drop, causing us to reach for more. 
Example - any sugary sweet/candy. Toasted white bread, when was the last time you had a single slice? 

5.Who do you eat with? 

There's a significant amount of research that tells us that birds of a feather flock together; we will tend towards the norm for our peer group. If our friends are mostly overweight, chances are we will be too. 
There's a school of thought that we are the average of our 5 closest friends, in terms body composition and physical health. Next time you're out with friends, thats something to think about..

Is That It?

There's more to eating well than just these 5 questions of course, as the different demands of our lives will place different demands on our nutrition (I hate the word diet).  Those looking to increase weight will have different requirements from those trying to lose it. I'll go into more detail on those in other posts, and link back to them from here.

How to quit smoking - Mal Kelly's top tips

At some point, most if not all smokers will try to quit. And fail. Believe it or not, this is a good thing. Having failed to quit, probably several times, is all part of quitting.  Quitting is not an event, that occurs at a specific point in time. It is an ongoing process, which takes time, information and support.

Lets break smoking down into its 4 parts..

1. craving

2. action

3. lighting up

4. building a habit

So, the craving for a cigarette is felt. What triggered the desire? What's the setting? Who else is there? What time is it? What are you drinking? What are you thinking?

Cravings felt first thing on waking in the morning are usually addiction/withdrawal based impulses. These usually disappear within a few days, but can sometimes take a few weeks.

Key to successfully kicking the habit is raising awareness of triggers. 

For many smokers, a cigarette is associated with taking a break at work or having a cup of tea or coffee. Every time a cigarette is had along with the beverage, the association is reinforced. Numerous smokers report lighting up as a reaction to stress. If this sounds like you, keep an eye out for my upcoming posts on breathing to control stress and anxiety.

Action.

This is the point where a smoker reaches for tobacco. This is something that used to be a conscious decision, but over time has been repeated so often the cigarette is in the smokers hand without a conscious decision. This habit needs to be broken.

Lighting up.

The first 2 or 3 'pulls' on the cigarette addresses the addiction, but the addict keeps smoking out of habit. 

Building a habit.

Experts believe it takes on average 40 days in a row of maintaining a behaviour to establish it as a habit. The same is true of breaking a habit. A habit, with smoking, you've built up by repeating an action, probably hundreds perhaps thousands of times per day. Putting your hand to your mouth. How many times per cigarette? How many cigarettes per day? For how many years? 


If you allow it, your body will autopilot from smoking to eating. Make it easy to autopilot to something else. Get a waterbottle with a sports cap, so you can take a quick swig without taking the top off. Keep it within arms reach at all times.


Find something else to do with your hands so they don't autopilot. 
One option is to figure out how much you'd spend on cigarettes this week, and spend it on a necklace/chain instead. Instead of hand to mouth, you've got hand to bling. 

Guys, experiment with growing some facial hair. It doesn't have to be a full Grizzly Adams, even a few hairs on the chin would do the trick. 

Think of how much cigarette money you can save in a month to put to something else, or in a year!!

Even being aware of the habit and spotting it when it happens will help you get past smoking.
You CAN do it!


Fore more help:
Try the exercise on my post Dealing with cravings
Eating certain foods can help you get off and stay off cigarettes.