As many of you know, I have a love-love relationship with the occasional coffee. However, if you've read my recent blog post, 'What You Need To Know About Coffee,' then you'll also have heard about the blood sugar monitor I've been wearing lately.
Having a coffee from time to time was an emotional habit for me. I love sitting down, catching up with a friend or just having a break to observe the world around me. We are all emotionally attached to food, whatever the food item is. If you don't eat for 6 months, chances are you're going to wind up dead and I don't know about you, but I'm very attached to living!.
Wearing this blood sugar monitor allowed me to have a direct feedback loop to immediately see the effect my food intake was having on my body.
Whenever I drank a coffee my blood sugar levels would rise drastically, so I've now completely eliminated coffee from my diet. This process of going caffeine free has had me thinking a lot about our habits.
So, in this blog post, I'll cover 3 tips to successfully eliminate a negative habit.
1. Direct feedback
This is the part of the problem when we talk about nutrition. Currently, we don't have the feedback loop technology to tell us exactly what's going on inside our body. In the next 10 - 20 years I guarantee this is going to change. People will look back in shock that we didn't know what was going on at any given moment or were not aware of the impact foods like sugar, refined grains, processed foods, and processed fats, among others, actually have on our bodies and our health. For example, the problem with choosing to eat a frosted donut today is that I wouldn't see the effects of eating that donut today and our minds are quick to forget these things.
What you can do:
Getting a blood sugar monitor is a great way to see the immediate impact, however, this isn't something everyone can afford to do. While a little tedious, food journals are an incredible way to consciously note down what you are consuming and how it makes you feel. If this is something you would be interested in doing, you can download the BePure food journal here.
Having a record also helps you to identify any trends in your eating habits. Being aware of the impact your food and habits have on you emotionally, is a key component to having a desire to change.
2. Stack the odds in your favour
The key to change is knowledge. If you want to change a negative habit or adopt a positive habit you need to clearly understand WHY you want to make that change.
What to do:
Before you actually start to make any changes find out all the negative effects of the negative habit you want to change and compare them against all the positive effects of changing or eliminating that habit.
Doing this means you have the best possible motivation going into the change as you've mentally stacked the odds in your favour to successfully break the habit.
3. Setting specific timelines and goals
The reality is life is busy. Unless you set a specific starting date and really commit to it, a month will go by and nothing will have changed. Once you've set a date and given yourself a realistic goal, it's finding a positive habit to switch your negative habit with. It's much easier to replace a habit than go cold turkey.
What to do:
Having an accountability partner, someone you can confide in, or better yet will join you in breaking the habit, can be really motivating. When it comes to switching a habit you want to find a positive habit that still gives you the emotion of the experience without the negative side effect. An accountability partner could be a friend or family member. Or you might connect with someone else on a similar health journey in the BePure Facebook Community Group.
Get these support people to help you sound out your timeline and goals and then ask them to check in with you on how you're going.
Breaking an unwanted habit can be a tricky process. Remember not to be too hard on yourself and take it one step at a time. When putting something in my body I always think 'is this harming or healing me?'. It's a nice trigger to keep you on track. And when you do succeed, remember to give yourself a good pat on the back.
