A duh moment on how to eat better (Read 1044 times)

One of my profs, a few other students, and I were chatting about this and I thought I'd share it with everyone. One girl was talking about how she wanted to start eating better but she never craved healthy foods when she was hungry. My prof said "Of course you don't, because you don't EAT healthy foods when you're hungry, you're reinforcing bad eating habits". It was a total lightbulb moment. If all you eat is say, burgers and fries when you're hungry, your body will say "I'm hungry, please give me some burgers and fries" not "I'm hungry, give me a chicken ceasar salad". Satisfying hunger is positive reinforcement. So if you're hungry and you consciously reach for yogurt instead of chips (even if you REALLY want chips) when you want to snack, satisfying your hunger with yogurt will become a positive experience, so you'll want to do it again. It takes a while but it does work. I used to eat pretty badly myself, I had a lot of unhealthy habits. I ate too much fast food and when I made an effort to get healthier, I ate less fast food. Now even if I'm in a hurry and need to dash in someplace, it's Subway or Cousins instead of Hardees. I don't even think about burger places anymore and I rarely crave that stuff. Once every few months I'll get a taste for a Big Mac and of course I get one because 3 Big Macs a year isnt' going to kill you. It's just so simple it should be obvious...eat good things and you'll want good things. Healthy food won't be a "punishment" anymore.

You know what has oddly worked well for me? I stopped buying groceries. My freinds tell me I have a serial killer's refrigerator -- there's nothing but brita water and condiments. I don't have a bit of food in my apartment. I found that if I did, I'd continually eat while at home. I even tried buying only cereal and i'd finish the box of cereal in 2 days because I'd eat bowl after bowl at nite. This probably works decent for me since I'm single...and I hate to cook (especially for one). I will admit that I don't eat the healthiest a lot of days because I'm constantly eating out...but i'm eating significantly less compared to when my kitchen was stocked with food. i've lost about 10 pounds while maintaining muscle..so the combination of eating less (even if not the healthiest) and working out more has thinned out my waist some. Perhaps some day i'll develop self-control.

I think what you are saying makes sense... Today though I actually craved mostly healthy foods-a whole wheat tortilla with tomato/avocado/cheddar, it was tasty! That being said I was also craving "Back to Nature" brand chocolate sandwich cookies with a tall glass of milk! I had it all!

Finney, While I don't disagree with what you are saying, I still think that sometimes there is this overwhelming urge to eat something completely unhealthy. For me, I have a few things that just overpower me sometimes, even though I normally eat healthy. While I most of the time crave the good things I already have around, sometimes that just doesn't do the trick and I need the most unhealthy food I can find.

Oh completely! That's why I indulge in a Big Mac when I crave one. You can't be good all the time. And I know chicken caesar salad is an odd healthy food choice but it was all I could come up with at the moment.

Prepare your own food at home instead of buying ready-to-eat or a take-out. This way, it takes longer to satisfy your hunger and it's more of an effort, but if you're lazy, you're going to eat much less than usual.

I tried the "if I only keep healthy food..." routine. I dove headlong into a box of Kashi 7-grain crackers and Hummus. I just need to keep repeating: "just because you run, it doesn't give you the right to eat everything in sight". TC