How to change eating habits FOR GOOD? // neuroplasticity (Day 8)

Struggling with habits? Let’s get into the science behind WHY today… the nature of the brain and neuroscience can explain a lot about why being healthy is so hard!

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The information provided on this channel is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional. You should not use the information on this channel for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment. Consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you suspect you might have a health problem.

[MindOverMunch]

Can you share one habit you’d like to break, and one habit you’d like to build? Remember—today’s course material provides a Habit Loop PDF worksheet for you to explore these and make an action plan!

[zeldawolf]

I'd like to break the habit of judging myself when I overeat or my weight goes up when I am putting in so much effort to sustain it. It is hard to not become discouraged and to talk negatively to myself. I want to change this habit to be more compassionate to myself because I will mess up or not always get the results I want, but what matters is that I am consistent and putting in the effort and even if I mess up, I can gently and compassionately get back to where I was when I go astray.

[Cindy-bogi]

"The more I'm willing to look, the less scary it becomes" I found this so profound and relevant and true. Anything I've avoided looking at - my poor spending choices, my bank account and my diet - I haven't been able to change because I was not letting myself fully see the issue.

The more you avoid something, the more you want to avoid it because avoidance is the behaviour we carry out in response to an anxiety inducing stimulus. No one wants to experience negative emotions! By seeing it clearly you realise that its not some enormous mountain, and your anxiety decreases. When you remove negative emotions (guilt, shame, and fear) you can see that small, easy, simple changes are all you need.

[АнастасияМакарович]

one habit I'd like to break is eating fast food when I'm uncomfortable (anxious, stressed, sad).
and the habits i work on right now are reading and journaling every day. my goal is 10 minutes a day at least and I've done both every day since the start of the year.
in future I'd also like to add meditation in my daily routine, but not right now or I'll get overwhelmed. also fixing my abysmal sleep schedule is a dream of mine lol

[TheAnatomyofAStar]

One habit I would like to break is reaching for sweets when I feel sad and One I would like to build is remembering to take vitamins everyday

[cekane]

I love how excited Alyssia gets when she talks about science! 🧠😃

[Steve_Gouws]

I gave up sugar one year ago. I’d like to maintain it for this year.

[tracy_in_primary]

I used to think that I wasn't an emotional eater, that I just ate because I wanted to enjoy the taste of the food...and keep tasting that yumminess. I could never link my eating to a particular episode of negative emotions. Today I realised why I do this, and that what I do is actually emotional eating.
I never used to be terribly motivated by food, until my mid teens. When I was nearly 15yo we returned to Australia after living overseas for six years. I did. not. want. to. come. back. I remember being really really angry when I discovered we had returned when there were still five months left on our visas and we could have stayed. I began getting eczema for the first time in my life because I was highly stressed. We didn't know it at the time, but we all suffered really severe reverse culture shock that lasted about five years - almost as long as we had been away. That is the season in which I began to overeat foods that I really enjoyed, because I wanted to keep experiencing that enjoyment - it was the opposite of everything else I was feeling. That obviously set up a strong habit loop that I never identified and so never sought to change. Now that I know I can do that. The really silly thing is that eating food doesn't just bring my enjoyment. It also brings me weight gain, elevated blood pressure, painful joints, not enjoying exercise, indigestion and insomnia. How dumb to continue that loop!!! The reason I continue that behaviour loop is that that my job brings up all that overwhelmed, anxious, stressed emotion daily. I can't change my job situation in the short term, but now that I know what I'm dealing with, I can work on changing the way I manage it.
Sorry for the little novel here, but I'm just now putting things together that have been brewing for 35 years.

[guesswho]

I’m struggling with maintaining any good habits- currently on bad sleep, no exercise, eating out whenever possible, occasionally eating meat despite giving it up for most of last year. None of these feel like me and they obviously aren’t good for me but still unable to break the chain

[nad.sheikh]

I'd like to break my habit of ruminating on negative beliefs, and I'd like to build a habit of creating art every day. This is such great content thank you for breaking down the habit loop!

[kawthar]

I want to break the habit of turning to food when i get discomfort from being around people for too long,
A habit a wanna build is waking up early and spending more hours studying
I wish i knew before that it was only a matter of Mind Over Munch
I didnot know the reason of me binging was my abmiverted personality!
Thank you❤

[erinmwellnessa]

A habit I started recently is journaling what I eat each day. As well, I watch a meditation video and your video every evening which I am really enjoying. As a teacher I thoroughly appreciate all the work you have put into this course A+

[danielcampbell]

That helps a little and give me a better understanding.

[maiseyk.]

I’m working on breaking the habit to look towards crazy diets to lose weight fast when I’m feeling anxious about my weight (I haven’t done one in over 2 years but I don’t even want the consideration in my head anymore). I want to build the habit of working on preventative care of managing anxiety and stress so that it does not create problems in other areas of my health.

[Blueskies]

Thank you so much for all this information! I need to change my bad habits for a healthier me.

[jenniec]

I really loved this video, it really enlightened me to what habits really are and what we can do to change them. I have plenty of habits I'd like to change, but I feel like I need to sit down and think about my habit loops for each. Not being able to follow through with my intermittent fasting is one for me!

[Sarah-tric]

Currently breaking the habit of late night snacking ... scaling it back half hour at a time, it was not the snack that is the issue, but how late I was doing it ... this has worked great, I no longer eat after 7:30-8:00 pm. I have also been building a water drinking habit, I could honestly go 2 days without a drop of water 😲 ... I now have goals in mind, more like rules - I drink one bottle before I can have coffee, drink a second bottle before I break for lunch and one through the afternoon before dinner. Setting these parameters has made me aware and now becoming a habit.

[DaBlondDude]

Charles Duhigg "The power of habit" is an excellent book on this topic (I had the audio book so I could listen while working, driving, etc). It offers some great examples of good/bad habits, how/if they changed, how habits can be used as commercial tools to draw us in, etc.
Try wearing a Bob Ross wig next time you draw ;)

Getting back into the kitchen was a big change for me. Housework was too but it's slipped a little lol.
The negative habits and loops are tougher simply because there's resistance to see, recognize, acknowledge and own ... "work-in-progress" ...

[carolquade]

I'm working on night time snacking---I use a habit tracker in my planner and enjoy seeing the checkmarks start to accumulate. But you still have to do the work of thinking about the habit and how it doesn't serve. Interesting content! Thank you!

[carolinaferrin]

Habit Loop! Aha moment for me! Sunday hikes, I found a group of friends who hike with me. With Covid we meet at trail head now it is a habit to gather where/time and group text the next hike. Now if the gals don’t hear from me by Tuesday they start either asking me or planning a hike for our group. I’ve hiked every Sunday since December 🥾 hiking habit