Tips on how to break bad habits?

[Duffpic]

So after knowing myself for so long, this morning I realized that it's very simple.  What I do yesterday will affect today.  So.... I thought long and hard.  What's it come down to?  The bad habits I've gotten myself into.  I do great at breakfast, good at lunch, exercise 2 miles a day on the treadmill and got a stabilizing ball with cords to work my arms/stomach/etc.    However dinner time comes around and all hell breaks loose - starts with a glass of wine while I'm prepping dinner.  Then I snack while I'm prepping, then I have way to big portion with my meal and another glass of wine (not 5 oz).  Then after dinner I have dessert with husband - low carb but still dessert.  I have to focus on the bad habits at dinner - so very hard.  I know I can have my wine - time to get out the scale and measure ONE glass @5oz. That should be my treat. Also cut down portions and skip dessert or have fruit.   

[Bill_k]

Dry wine isn't much of an issue in dieting unless you are drinking a bottle a day or more. A whole bottle of wine is only about 650 calories.

Sugar and calories in desserts can be an issue though. 

Honestly you can't just play it by ear when trying to lose weight if that is what you are trying to do.

You have to get into exact or at least approximate numbers of calories eaten and calories burned.

Once you see what the glaring causes are of your gaining weight it makes it easier to justify dropping your bad habits.

Say you eat a big chunk of cheese as a snack while you are preparing dinner and you check the package and see that you just ate 300 calories in a minute and that negates all your exercise you did.That's motivation to cut back or exercise more.

[Duffpic]

thanks - its so easy to get caught up in the snacking mode - that will be my focus. cut that out for a week and see what happens!

[Bill_k]

For me, a major way of fighting temptation  and keeping on the straight and narrow when it comes to losing weight is telling myself that eating  that cinnamon bun i really want right now will only result in a momentary feel good moment and isn't worth blowing a day's weight maintenance.

[JAMIE9999]

Lately ive really kicked into balancing my eating and walking so i just ask myself "is it worth having to walk for an extra hour or more to burn off that extra hunk of cake?" Thats usually enough to deter me.  Also, substitutions e.g. a protein bar instead of a brownie

[Baltoscott]

Drinking really does make it harder to not eat while prepping.  (Prep dinner AND sit down dinner — what could go wrong?) Maybe a better strategy would be to delay the first drink until having dinner with husband  On a related note, I found taking every other day off from drinking to be a lot easier than limiting myself to one measured drink every night. The first drink just makes the second one so easy ... And that has been one of my key habit changes toward maintaining the 40 lbs I lost two years ago.  Nowadays I usually have a couple of glasses of wine or a couple of beers on odd days, and only drink on even days if it is a really special occasion like an anniversary or birthday. Taking a day off might be a challenge, but it is good test to see if alcohol is turning into a problem for you.  

As for dessert, I really like 1/2 cup of full fat plain yogurt with some frozen berries, or mango or peach chunks, and a scoop of protein powder, and maybe some walnuts or flax seed for good fats.  It is not ice cream, but the taste and texture are great, it is a lot healthier, and I like it better.

[mdmc]

hey there

I've learned that I am a glutton and a sloth, and it is my habit to over indulge and not make up for it with extra exercise.

So what I've learned is I just need to stop.  I start by not buying sugar snacks.  I will eat them all if they are available.  I replace them with healthy snacks.

I would suggest trying for a shopping cycle to not purchase the wine.  Go without if you can. I you can go without for a week, or whatever period of time works for you, then you can really reward yourself with, say, three glasses of wine on the weekend.

Good luck and best wishes

[gtg947h]

For me, I have to look at the counter and see how many calories are left in my budget for the day.  Then, because I have a general idea of what's in the various foods, I portion out what I'll allow myself to eat.  If I want more than that, I make myself earn it through exercise.  But I'm that guy that'll do an extra workout that day just so I can eat more food, and I'm blessed with a fairly high metabolism.  Pound out an extra half-hour high-intensity workout and I've earned myself ice cream and a glass of wine.

In short, see what's left in your budget, and plan your food for that budget.  I think too many people just say "I'm going to eat stuff, and I'm going to do stuff, and I'll see where I come out for the day". 

If there are foods you eat that cause you problems, don't buy them in the first place.  One of my weaknesses is bread/pasta; we don't keep much bread and pasta in the house any more.  Nutella is a bad one too; we gave it away.  We don't stock tortilla chips any more, either. 

[aldensmith]

Bad habits interrupt your life and prevent you from accomplishing goals. It not only affect your health —but also waste your time and energy.I think changing the environment is the best way to keep yourself out of bad habits...

[jonnysins1885]

In today’s lifestyle everyone adopt bad habits easily. We don’t think that bad habits interrupt our life. It not only affect our health —but also waste our time and energy.I think changing the environment is the best way to keep yourself out of bad habits…

[YoungFowl]

Hi there.

I also have this bad habit to eat desserts at dinner time. And I think this is why I still can't lose my weight. I'm going to start to have desserts at lunch because after dinner I don't make any exercises, that's why I think I still gain my weight.

[Dominique]

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@YoungFowl wrote:

I also have this bad habit to eat desserts at dinner time. And I think this is why I still can't lose my weight. I'm going to start to have desserts at lunch because after dinner I don't make any exercises, that's why I think I still gain my weight.

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Nutrient timing only plays a very minor role in weight management. Having the same dessert at lunch rather than at dinner won’t make much of a difference. You’re gaining weight because your overall intake exceeds your overall energy expenditure. What you could do is reduce the size of your dessert (e.g. have a smaller slice of cheesecake), or substitute a lower calorie option to your current dessert (e.g. have a fruit instead of cheesecake), or maybe skip dessert every other day instead of having it everyday. Or increase your activity so that it matches your intake. Lots of different possibilities to balance calories in and out.

[Baltoscott]

Dessert paired with dinner every day sounds like a classic habit pattern.  The cue is 'dinner time' and your body and taste buds are programmed to expect the 'dessert reward' at the end of your meal every evening. 

I doubt having dessert earlier in the day will get you away having the craving after dinner (and it won't save you any calories anyway).  There is even a pretty good chance you will wind up having two desserts some days, and that you will develop another habit of having desserts at lunch.

As an alternative strategy I like @Dominique's suggestion of skipping your 'dinner dessert' say every other night.  You will still have the cravings on skip days for a while, but each non-dessert night you can just tell yourself that "having dessert is fine, I just have to wait 24 hours."  Will power is not infinite, but you can probably hold out for a day. :-).  Eventually you will develop a new habit where you are having a craving for dessert only on odd days or even days (or however it works out), which will cut your dessert calories in half.  Another plus to this approach is that you can have your cake and eat it too ... every other day.