I've been working on taking notice of all the unconcious movement my hands do when it comes to food. One of the biggest challenges of learning a healthy lifestyle is UN-learning all the years of bad habits!
For example, one habit I've been working on, is not eating off my children's plates. My sister-in-law helped my change my perspective, instead of thinking, "look at all this food going to waste", I now think, "my body is not a garbage disposal", and I clear the plates after meals without putting my kids' leftovers in my mouth.
I've learned to keep the counters clear of food, because if it's in sight, my hands just grab for it and insert into mouth. It doesn't matter if I'm hungry or not. It's just a bad habit.
One habit I currently working on is not taking a bite of food before I hand it to my kids. I guess it started with wanting to make sure it wasn't too hot, or I would tear off the crust because they seemed to eat the sandwich better without it, but I realized it was a habit when my little boy noticed I didn't take a bite of his food first and offered it to me, as if it had become part of his ritual too! Good Grief!!!
UN-learning years of bad habits takes focus and perserverance. It often requires stopping myself midway through a motion of picking up food and setting it back down again with a mantra running through my head of: You don't need those extra calories, they add up! or sometimes the mantra is a little threatening: Set the food back down and no one will get hurt. :o)
I want to teach my hands to be nice to myself, by not forcing me to eat things I don't need. (I have this mental picture of my left hand slapping my right hand for picking up unnecessary food :o) How are you re-training your hands? What are some tips that make daily life easier when unlearning years of bad habits? Let's help each other!
Great advice. It a good idea to bring out those habits that we don't think about, but have negative affects, to the front of our thinking.
ReplyDeleteI noticed my bad habit was that after each meal I would sit and visit. Georgia is a great cook, and while I was visiting I would continue to eat. One little piece of this and that until everything was gone or I was stuffed.
Now I try to put the right portion on my plate from the start. When I get done I help clean up and put things away.
This has 3 positive results. #1 - I feel much better when I am done. Helps me to not overeat so I feel yukky after. #2 - I help clean up. I am sure everyone appreciates that. #3 - We have leftover food in the fridge for easy quick snacks.