Nothing Glam About It: Ditch This Habit for Good

Glamorous robe and photo by BellaDonnaua.

I love Saturday mornings. For years my husband and I make a 20-minute freeway drive to a dog park that my German shepherd and we all love.

We take the back streets home, and for the first time I really took a good look at the array of fast food places mere blocks from each other: your Burger Kings, your Brusters, Your Dunkins along with their sit-down brethren like Olive Garden and Cheesecake Factory that serve portions large enough to feed two to four people.

Add to that our ability to score a gazillion sky-high calories in any grocery store or in the luxury food markets like Whole Paycheck, Sprouts, and Fresh Market. And we can’t forget Amazon.

Phew.

And we wonder why weight is a problem in our world.

Chris Hemsworth & Us

Here’s my point. I’m faithful to my husband, but if Robert Redford (in his prime), Hugh Jackman, or the Hemsworth brothers – were beckoning from every corner, I might re-consider.

Why It’s Challenging to Just Say No

Isn’t it the same with food? I don’t have a Starbucks habit, but I don’t entirely blame those who “need” their cup each day. Trust me, marketers are paid bucks to lure us into creating a daily food-porn habit.

And yet, learning to mostly ignore our 24/7 food-culture is our responsibility. Agreed.

But isn’t it an interesting juxtaposition that we’re told staying lean is the best medicine for avoiding terrifying diseases, and yet simultaneously we live in a culture stagnant in calories?

Well, It Seemed Glam

Like Betty on Mad Men, back in the day smoking was common: it was glamorous, dulled appetites, and everyone including doctors did it; so what was the harm?

Finally direct correlations between smoking and disease were realized and across the land parents said, “My children won’t pick up that terrible habit.”

And from its peak in ’64, smoking nose-dived; and good riddance, right?

My hope is two-fold. One, that porn-food on the streets, in stores, and online thins out considerably (no pun); that colossal-sized restaurant meals drop off the edge entirely; and that advertisements stop electrifying overeating (Paris Hilton “sex-eating” in the Carl’s Jr. ad).

And two, that you and I learn to play a new line of defense against our on-steroids-food culture.

Your Takeaway

Eliminating our fast food urge is a muscle to develop over the 66-days needed to develop a strong habit (based on my favorite study out of England).

I can hear you now: easier said, then done lady, and I get it.

So, begin by taking a long look at why you’re most likely to succumb to fast food:

• You’re habituated. Do you make a morning Starbucks run and often — last minute — order a doorknob of a blueberry muffin as long as you’re there? Three-hundred-twenty calories, 14 grams of fat if we’re keeping track. And we are.
• Slammed with work? Is it easier to grab Chick-fil-A than bringing a smart meal from home?
• Exhausted? Do you order pizza delivered in the evening to the happy chorus of kids?

No Day at the Beach

I understand. Ridding ourselves of bad habits is rough going. No two-ways about it. But the idea is to take fast-food runs out of our unconscious (our brains on automatic) and make a fast food habit conscious.

Take a close look — by journal-writing — at why and when you’re most likely to succumb to stopping for fast-food:

• Which days of the week are the hardest for you to give up fast-food? (Include time of day too.)
• What needs get addressed by the fast-food place? For example, fast-food isn’t always about convenience. It could be that all the cool kids stop for coffee and you want to feel included.
• And absolutely write about what you’d love to do with the money saved by giving up fast-food.
• What are three ways that I can address each challenge (e.g. take a different route to work, bring lunch from home etc.). Keeping smart food with you at all time is a huge start.

Now put this writing where you’ll see it everyday including your desk, your steering wheel, and your bathroom. Wrap your intentions around your credit card.

Extinguishing a habit that rewards you with tasty – yet non-nutritious – food is not easy, and those who make and market junk food are counting on us to fail. Instead of telling yourself:

I’ll never drink Starbucks again. Say, “I’ll buy a cool coffee thermos for the car and good beans for the freezer. I’ll prep everything the night before to make the morning a tad easier.”

I’ll stop eating all fast food at lunch. Tell yourself, “I’ll purchase a tiny fridge for my cubicle and pack it with smart calories like little cups of hummus or guacamole (Costco), petite carrots, apples, peanut butter and so forth. The idea: don’t let yourself get to a six on the hunger-meter.

I’ll refuse to let Papa John’s call the shots. Let the family know that from now on pizza will be a rarity in your home: not a food group.

What it takes to eat well

One of the pillars of smart eating is planning. Planning is everything when it comes to dealing with the fast-food places and giant restaurant meals.

I’d love to hear from you: when are you most likely to stop at a fast-food joint? And why do you want to stop?

Always remember that it’s not just you, health is hard! But we can do hard things.

♥, Wendy