No-Diet Diet Series: Building Habits, Part One

The No-Diet Diet Series

value #1: Building Habits (Part One)

Building life-long habits that feed health

I learned a very important lesson at a very early age:

“Do everything in your life the right way, and the results will take care of themselves. “

It starts with simple tasks like being on time, but extends to every aspect of your daily life. Your attitude in life should be: Don’t be impressed with accomplishments — be impressed with how you got there.   As a coach of young people for so many years, I tried to emphasize to them the importance of every step along the way, not just the score.  This also is what we should be emphasizing to our children:

The end doesn’t justify the means…the “means” is what really matters!

It’s the habits we build and maintain every day that show up in the final score in our life.  For instance, you can lose weight (at least temporarily) by just not eating anything.  However, in the long run, the most important thing is how your body is affected, not how much you weigh.  The score will take care of itself in sports- if you execute properly.  Similarly, your weight will take care of itself- if you put the right nutrients in it.   Believe this:

  • What you put in your body MATTERS!

  • What exercise you do today MATTERS!

As I told you in the first article, the first of the 5 tenants of the No-Diet-Diet is about building good habits.  But what does this mean? 

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“Motivation is what gets you started.  Habit is what keeps you going.” - Jim Ryun

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Changing habits is a process, not an overnight success. 

Let’s look at a few parts of building lifelong healthy habits. We will examine part one today, and part two in our next blog post.

Part One: Eat and live mindfully

  1. Living mindfully means you are living with “intention”, not just mindfully wandering through life.  Zig Zigler said to set your sights on not being a “wandering generality” but become a “meaningful specific”. 

    —Wandering Generalities live life as it comes up, not in a direction.  Wandering Generalities fall for every commercial, and live their life based on someone else’s agenda.  Ever see a commercial for some food and instantly been hungry for it?  That leads to eating that product, which leads to eating even more of that product!  Wandering generalities don’t have a plan, so they just react to what is around them.  Why do you think they have drive-thru fast-food places?

    —Meaning Specifics take charge of who they are, and what they do.  THEY HAVE A PLAN!  When things break down around them, they have something to fall back on, and don’t have to respond to what others want for them.  Meaningful Specifics live their lives with intention, setting a course for what they want, and building habits that will get them there!

  2. Slow down your eating

—This is maybe the hardest thing ever.  We live in a world that demands a fast pace.  We are now training our kids to eat fast and get it over with.  Most lunch times in our schools today give the student 20 or 30 minutes to eat lunch!  Gulping down food is standard procedure in schools, and it has become the norm with adults today.

—Chew your food.  My wife told me for years to go “inhaling” my food.  Did I listen to her?  If you are married, I think you know the answer to that!  Once I started taking the time to chew the food I put in my mouth and concentrate on how it is hitting my body, my whole perspective changed.

—One of the interesting things you will find is that real food- nutritionally dense food- requires a lot more chewing than processed foods.  Manufactured foods fall apart in your mouth and will not satiate you properly.  Fresh fruits and veggies are dense- in nutrition and quality!

Try this tip- chew every bite of food that goes in your mouth 20 times.  This is very difficult, and you will hate me for it, but it works.  Building the habit of chewing your food more will take being mindful when you eat.

3.    Listen to your body

—As you slow down your eating and chew your food more, this will allow your body to respond to the food you are putting in it.  PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU!  When you eat slower, your body will get full quicker.  It is very simple- when your body tells you it is full, stop eating!  It’s okay to not be a “clean plater”.

 

4.    Take control of your portions

—One of the big drawbacks to eating out is most restaurants give out WAY too much food in one meal.  Try sharing 1 plate with your spouse or significant other instead of pushing to eat it all at once.

—-When at home, put smaller portions on your plate.  If you finish the plate of food, and your body still needs more- get it! (Remember- if the food on your plate is nutritionally dense, eat all your body needs. I promise you, if you are eating nutritionally dense real foods, you will not need as much volume of product on your plate.

Eating- and living- mindfully takes time, but it’s worth it.  Building habits that will sustain you for a lifetime are difficult and tedious but will you in charge of your decisions about what you eat.

 

Keep on going after your goals but understand that success happens over time- one step at a time. Remember:

“Success isn’t permanent, and failure isn’t fatal.” (Mike Ditka)

Have a great day- make the most of it.

Bobby Bland  CIHC, SLCP
Chief Inspiration Officer, Snack Lab
Bobby@snacklabnwa.com