How to Break a Bad Habit

What are some common excuses you use to keep making the same mistakes or doing the same bad habits, and not getting the results you really want? 

• When eating out, there are a lot of tempting appetizers, entrees', and desserts (BIG ONE!)
• You eat with extended family or friends who don't really care about what they eat
• You're too tired to cook or fix a nutritious meal for yourself or your family
• You give up too easily on eating the right foods
• You're stressed to the max so you tend to unconsciously overeat
• Someone brings you a plate of delicious looking cookies, brownies, or fudge and you can't resist
• It's someone's birthday celebration and they are only serving cake and ice cream so you indulge
• You're too busy to exercise
• You go on vacation and find it hard to get back on track
• You feel guilty about the pounds you gain so you jump ship
• And so forth!

WHAT ARE THE RESULTS YOU REALLY WANT?

HEALTH!

VITALITY!

FITNESS!

LIVE LONGER!

LIVE HAPPIER!

TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR, AND ACTUALLY SEE THE IMAGE OF A SLENDER PERSON -- NOT A MIRAGE!

A BRIGHT MIND!

Quotes from the Experts:

The truth is you don't break a bad habit, you replace it with a good one." 

~ Dennis Watley

"When you do the wrong thing, knowing it is wrong, you do so because you haven't developed the habit of effectively controlling or neutralizing strong inner urges that tempt you, or because you have established the wrong habits and don't know how to eliminate them effectively." 

~ W. Clement Stone

"Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, and a lot more rewarding." 

~ Harvey Mackay

Being miserable is a habit; being happy is a habit; and the choice is yours." 

~ Tom Hopkins

How to Combat the Nasty Sweet Tooth

1. Many times cravings are an indication that you are not eating your meals in the right combination or in the right proportions+ (This, of course, is an individual matter)
2. Cut up some fresh fruit and put a teaspoon of a natural sweetener on them. Naturally Prepared® Stevia Like No Other® (All Natural Table Top Sweeetner Enhanced with PreBiotics)  This product can be obtained through Healthy Life Institute by calling Gerry at 801-893-1190 for pricing and shipping information.
3. Spread almond or peanut butter (Made without hydrogenated oils) on organic apple slices (wash thoroughly before slicing to get rid of any bacteria)
4. Spread almond or peanut butter on a stalk of celery
5. Eat 1/4th cup of raw, unprocessed, unsalted, whole nuts such as almonds or pecans
6. Between meals mix up a serving of Naturally Prepared® 30 Second Meal in 8 ounces of water and use a shaker bottle to mix water and powder together.  It comes in chocolate or vanilla.  Again, call Gerry at Healthy Life Institute for more information on this product or for ordering)
7. Drink filtered water anytime you feel hunger pangs because this may be more about dehydration than actually being hungry.  (1/2 ounce of water per pound of body weight ~ no substitutions)
8. Sleep 5 - 7 hours each night for your body to rejuvenate itself.
9. Get adequate exercise such as a walk, bicycle ride, swimming, climbing stairs, etc.  (Over-exerting yourself with hour long or more aerobics exercise or equivalent makes a person think they are so hungry ~ makes them eat more than is necessary.)  That is what the fat cells communicate with the brain to eat because 'you cannot starve your fat cells'*.  They put up a good fight especially in women!

+Isabel De Los Rios, "How to Combat a Nasty Sweet Tooth," IsabelDeLosRios@beyonddiet.com, accessed July 2011.
*Debra Waterhouse, M.P.H., R.D., Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell, Warner Books, A Time Warner Company, New York, 1993.

Posted by Christy Larsen