Learning How to Change your Mindset

Every January we tend to set goals around healthy lifestyle changes like exercise and so we join the gym. And most people around the middle of month, have already given up with their exercise goal or are not as consistent with their exercise plans. And this is probably due to some becoming discouraged because they have not yet seen any results or perhaps in combination with the exercise they started crash dieting and relapsed. As a result, feeling somewhat guilty of their mishaps of failing in their diets and as a result stopped attending the gym. I am here to encourage you all to continue with your exercise program and continue attending the gym. But in combination, we must also make other changes along with attending the gym. The most important thing to do along with exercise is to change those negative eating habits as well as changing our mindset about how we look at food. We must learn to have a good relationship with food and in order to do this we must learn what is good or not good for us. As there are many things that affect us from developing a good relationship with food. 

It can be as simple as, emotional eating, trauma, food allergies, digestive disorders or just eating all the wrong foods. There are other factors that can affect our relationship with food and the ability to digest food such as your blood type, medical conditions or any other associated barriers that affect your body from eating healthy or for your body to effectively process foods. The first thing you must do is to evaluate; how is your eating habits? I say habit because we are creatures of habits. We tend to go for what is easy, what is tasty, what is convenient, less costly and what is enticing to the eyes. Therefore, you mind becomes conditioned to accept this at face value thinking that this struggle with food is because you cant afford it, because you don’t know which foods are good for you, or where you can purchase them, how to save money and buy the right foods or how to cook them properly. These are all factors that can affect your relationship with food, and many do not see it as such, but all these things mentioned are factors that affect your relationship with food. Let’s start with how is your eating habits?

How is your Eating Habits?

One way to learn about your eating habits is by first journaling what you’re eating. For example, writing down what you ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. How many glasses of water you drank or what snacks you ate in between meals and just as important is what time you ate breakfast, lunch and dinner or snacks. You need to be totally honest with yourself on what you are eating and also how you cooked your food, what ingredients you used. There is a reason this will help you get more clarity that is the time you are eating may be affecting your weight and digestion. Another important factor is how you cook your meals and how much of it you eat, as well as your water intake. All of these things affects either your digestive system or makes you gain weight because the foods that you are eating are either lacking vegetables, high in fats, cooked in fats, and low in proteins. 

The only example I think of right now is of your car. Ok, so you are almost out of gas, you go to the first gas station, and they only have diesel fuel (let’s say diesel is like fried food, artificial ingredients and low in proteins) although the gas is more expensive. However, your car only takes regular gasoline. You can’t add diesel fuel as your car will totally shut down itself because it cannot process it. Even though it is expensive and high-quality gas it is still not the right fuel for your car. Now you go to the next gas station, they only offer supreme unleaded, however your car requires regular unleaded in order to run efficiently. Do you see where going with this? While you are tempted to use the supreme gasoline (Let’s say that supreme gasoline is like greasy food, rush eating, drinking carbonated drinks, eating at the wrong times, and overeating) it may still not work for your car, and it may work temporarily but in the long run cause other blockages and other dysfunctional parts. Again, because it was not the right gasoline required for the car. Ok, by now you have learned that those type of gasoline are not effective for your car. So, you go to the last gas station and viola they have regular unleaded, (Let’s say regular is including vegetables, drinking water, healthy foods and healthy snacks) and you fill up your tank. The outcome is your car is running smoothly without no dysfunction. You learned about all 3 types of gasolines and how it can be beneficial or not to your car. You learned to evaluate the price, and where they offer the best gasoline needed for your car. You also learned to evaluate price and evaluate the pros and cons of using the wrong gasoline. In the very same way, we must learn how to have a good relationship with the foods we eat, what we buy, what ingredients they have, how to buy the proper foods, read labels, and know how it will benefit you in the long run. You don’t want to keep eating something that is not going to provide you with energy, health and wellness. You want to eat something that is good for you. The question is why do we end up eating everything that we should not?

Why do we End Up Eating Everything we Should not?

We often eat the wrong things because, one they offer cheaper prices, they look good in the outside or enticing, we like the taste, and they are easier to make. Therefore, we tend to buy a lot of processed foods that looks good, taste good and viola 15 minutes that’s all it takes to cook. Rather than buying healthy vegetables, non-processed foods and fruits. We may have gotten into the habits of buying what is fast to cook and eat. Or what is affordable. We may feel like we are saving but in the long run it is our health that suffers. Let’s start with discussing things that look good or enticing. Now this is where we will learn how to shift our brains into learning what good and healthy food looks like. First, by changing the mindset of looking at foods and appreciating it by what it provides you which is nourishment and health. 

We are conditioned when we see a commercial that shows you an unhealthy food being highlight as good because it looks amazing. However, it may not be healthy for you, because of the way it is made, and ingredients used. Let’s start with the snacks you eat, we are so used to going for the unhealthy snacks rather than some fruit, or nuts. We see a commercial and the first thing that comes to mind is I am hungry, so you get an unhealthy snack that you have available. Your brain automatically reacts to commercial by sending a signal that you are hungry and that this snack is good for you. One way to counteract this is by learning how to shift this by learning about healthy snacks, fruits and vegetables. Setting boundaries in your eating habits like not eating dinner in the living room, or while watching tv as it interrupts the whole process. If you are going to eat a snack while watching television make sure that you are keeping healthy, non-process snacks, like fruits or vegetables. You may want to make gradual changes like substituting water instead of drinking soda or juice. You can get creative by adding lemons, or fruits to the water to make it more appealing and tasty. It is now time to shift the brain and reprogram it in learning what your body really needs which is healthy foods. Setting yourself a time not to eat after 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. this will help in taking steps to shift to a healthier lifestyle and changing habits that have been affecting your relationship with foods.

Habits that Affect our Relationship with Food:

Habits that affect our eating are; eating in front of the television, not taking time to eat at the appropriate times, or missing a meal, eating the wrong things because it is faster and easier. Always eating out, or buying high caloric coffee in the morning, buying lunch instead of making it at home and bringing it to work. We are always looking into cutting corners, saving time and looking to eat what looks good or versatile as opposed to what is healthy. How do we change those habits? We must change those eating habits that we have gotten so used to as being normal by learning what your habits are. Learning if certain foods have an emotional attachment for you or if they provide you with emotional comfort. For example; ice cream has been labeled as an emotional comfort food, and when someone experiences a breakup or becomes upset we see them running to the fridge for ice cream as an emotional therapy. They head to the freezer to eat a pint of ice cream and some people eat more than a pint. This is emotional eating as they it to provide comfort and soothing. This is just one example, on the other hand, learning what do you get from eating out or why is it hard to plan your menu. Why is buying the food items or cooking it yourself such a burden for you. Ask yourself what keeps me from cooking my own meals? How can I change this? We have allowed those habits to manage our relationship with food instead of us being in control of what eat, how we eat it, how we cook it and what we buy.

You must take full control of your eating habits by learning how to discipline yourself by learning how to eat right, healthily and not let food control you. Easier said than done, right! It’s like any addiction it requires retraining and reframing the brain to make the right choices, to eat what is good for us, and also understanding that taking the time to prepare our foods is self-care because it will help our bodies stay healthier. We all know that habits can become addictive therefore, evaluating the patterns of how we see food, what we eat, how we eat and how we obtain it is one way that we can create a better relationship with food. Sometimes we become mechanical in our eating, and we tend to forget to enjoy our meals. It can almost be comparative to a garbage disposal when it grinds everything from what is no good to what is not good. We need to stop and appreciate that food is good for us and that we are consciously keeping our bodies healthy. When we start viewing food with a different perspective, our bodies react to the positive change, and it cooperates by functioning better. How can we make this changes in habits? First we must learn how to gradually start substituting certain foods and ingredients by learning how it affects our bodies. 

This is part of the mind shift of learning about your food. I highly recommend reading labels and not becoming obsessive with it but learn your food value by paying attention to certain things that can make you sick, gain weight and/or altogether cause long term sicknesses. Paying attention to your sodium, sugar, fat contents, carbohydrates, colors and artificial chemicals or ingredients that certain foods have that may contribute to your inability to lose weight or energy levels. I highly recommend a book called titled “Calorie King” which is the bible for reading labels, informing you of what fast food restaurants and chain restaurant foods actually contains in terms of fats, sodium, fats, sugars and other ingredients. It can be found at Amazon, but they now have a website to look up fast foods restaurants at (1) https://calorieking.com. This book is helpful because it lets you compare and contrast the foods values when you are learning about what will be the best or healthiest choice for you.

What Changes Must I Make?

1. Learning what is in your food. Is one of the first thing that makes you look at food differently. By reading labels you will learn not only to look out for fats, sugar, sodium, carbohydrates or other ingredient that are not healthy for the body. You will also need to learn about how to distinguish what is organic and what is GMO by reading the labels in fruits and vegetables. Learn how to read those UPL/QR Code numerical numbers that show if they have been modified and the quality level of the foods based on the numbers assigned. Based on the consumer report website there are two labels that indicate a product has no GMO’s and these are: foods that carry the United States Department of Agriculture’s 100 percent organic seal and the other one is the non-GMO project verified seal. Know that corn and soy are the major GMO crops in the US. Sugar can be GMO especially in processed foods, cereals, soups and yogurts. High fructose is GMO modified as well as artificial sweeteners like aspartame. The following are never GMO modified, agave, cane sugar, molasses, and turbinado sugar (2). PLU’s to know conventionally grown foods always have 4 digits and begin with 4, for example: 4131, organically grown produce will contain 5 digits and begin with 9: 91022 and PLUs for genetically modified items contain 5 digits and begin with 8: 8022. However, they are not letting this code to be visible to the buyers and the only item that still uses the code is the Hawaiian papaya which shows the 8. Therefore, finding GMO’s codes is often a hit or miss (3).

2. Learn how to measure your food based on your calorie intake by keeping a food scale to measure the right amounts. Using a food scale is a good way to measure and learn more about how much should you eat and how to visualize the shapes based on the weight of the food. This will help you rate your plate when you go to a restaurant or eat out. You can look at your plate and rate it visually. USDA website has a rate your plate page that gives you a visual of how your plate should look per portions based on your caloric intake. Know how to order when dining out, how to substitute some foods, and how to ask for the right amount of foods. If you see more than what you should be eating, you can start by separating the food in two portions. Then asking the waiter for a container to take the rest home. This is one way to learn how to be in control of your food intake. Remember that normally some restaurants serve you more than one portion of food as the plates sometimes are rather large. It is ok to take some home. Now another trick is to ask what dishes are steams, broil or stir fry and ask if you can substitute. Also, you may ask for a vegetarian version for your dish. Another option is to pick the restaurant beforehand by choosing one that you know serves healthy side dishes, or plates. Perhaps one that also offers vegetarians dishes so that you may substitute some side dishes. You also may want to keep in mind that you can have a cheat day, let’s say for instance you have been good all week with your eating and this weekend you want to eat out, you can splurge by eating desert. Again, you can still apply what you have learn so far by choosing the desert with less calories, sugars and fats. You are not denying yourself, but you are making healthier choices.

3. Learning how to know what is in your food by using the Calorie King it can be a great tool to help you evaluate what’s good or not good in your food. Learn to know how much sodium, fats, sugars, carbohydrates or other ingredients are in your foods. For example, a Mc Donalds sandwich contains 43 grams of fat, 45 grams of protein and 5 grams of carbs. You may want to compare it to another fast-food sandwich and determine which one will be the healthiest based on their value. We are not saying to stop altogether but to learn how to minimize harm by substituting foods that are less harmful until you are able to fully adapt to healthy eating. Again, small changes make a difference because it is changing the way you now look at food. Just make those small adjustment in your life of reducing fats, sodium, fats, sugars and balancing carbohydrates. You will gradually see a change in your weight and in your health. Start off small and this is one way you can test yourself by being committed to not eating foods high in sodium or staying away from anything that has sugar. For example, we know that sodas are high in fructose and sugars as well as high calories. You may want to work on reducing your soda intake gradually by introducing more water intake until you can ultimately overcome this habit. The same with any other foods, you must gradually make those lifestyle choices and changes that will help you in not only losing weight, but also keeping yourself healthy.

4. Journaling is another great way to learn about your food intake and how it makes your digestive system feel by writing it down. If you monitor you’re eating habits for 1 month it will give you insights on the foods you eat, when you eat and what portion you eat and at what times. Also, it will give you an idea how much water you drink per day, and this will help with learning how to keep yourself hydrated. It also helps to document the times in which you eat and in order to keep consistent with the timing and not eating before bedtimes. Writing a note to remind yourself to take your time to chew your food when eating and documenting how you feel after you eat. This is important in order to evaluate if you are properly digesting your food, as digestion problems, food allergies and slow digestion affects your nutrition. Documenting symptoms can help pinpoint if you need to follow up with a gastroenterologist or nutritionist. Another thing you will learn is if you develop an allergy to certain foods, perhaps eating certain vegetables or milk makes you gassy, bloated or inflamed. The same with certain foods that may cause you rashes, low energy or fatigue. This is also important to know if you have developed a gluten problem again because it may also affect your ability to lose weight. Eating the proper diet may resolved all of those issues or removing certain foods from your diets it will help feel better or digest your food better.

5. If you struggled with losing weight, you may want to discuss it with your primary doctor so that he can evaluate any medical conditions that may affect your ability to lose weight. For example, endocrine system or metabolic diseases that may contribute to weight gain as well as all other autoimmune disorders. Learning about what foods are catalyst in creating inflammation in the body, it will help you stay clear from any flare ups. As well as learning what foods help decrease inflammations in the body will help you stay healthy. Either way learning about your relationship with food it will help you know more about how you can better take care of your body.

6. Learning how you eat by properly chewing your food, taking your time to savor your foods and not drinking water, juice or soda while eating. As it creates gas and disrupt digestion. Properly chewing your food is important because the saliva contains enzymes that helps with breaking down the foods especially carbs and fats. Therefore, eating and not chewing your food slowly gives you heartburn, digestive troubles, not properly breaking down nutrients that your body needs to thrive. Not chewing your food properly causes you to eat quickly and also over eat. Another important thing is that you are not savoring or enjoying your meal. It is recommended that we chew our foods 20-30 before swallowing but it may depend on the consistency of the food and the amount. Rule of thumb is to chew until it feels completely mush. These are habits that we need to also pay attention to because it will help us not only stay healthy but learn more about our eating habits (4).

7. Where and when you eat affects your ability to lose weight. Learning to eat in the kitchen versus the living room. We can learn a lot from the people from France and the Mediterranean from their eating habits as they tend to be slim, healthy and do not have a high risk of heart disease and other disease because their eating habits. Not only do they eat healthily, but they take their time to enjoy their meals with their families. They eat together as a group, and they do not deprive themselves from food as they eat plenty. Their relationship with food is one of nourishments but also of bringing the family together. The same with France they really take their time to savor their meals, eat at the proper times and eat 4 times a day. They prioritize their mealtime and use quality foods. According to the website “ouiinfrance.com” (5) the importance of a sit-down meal is still practice and inbreeded in their culture.

8. Eating at proper times by making sure that you eat when hungry and planning your 3 meals. We all tend to have busy schedules, but it is important to plan your meals at least the day before. Taking time to make your breakfast or at least eat breakfast before work. If you buy breakfast each morning keep tabs on what you spend each day and calculate how much you spend monthly versus preparing it at home. As this can be a motivating factor to change this eating habit. The same with lunch you want to be committed to preparing as many meals at home as possible perhaps at 3 out 5 days. Think about it the less eating out will actually help you save money to use on other things or buy healthier foods. It is also helpful to plan what you are going to eat by choosing the right foods, based on your diet, calorie intake and budget. Again, if you prepare your meals the day before or at least have a menu of what you are making it will be much easier to have a nice, warm home cooked meal versus restaurant foods. And if you do not want to spend too much time cooking or need help learning how to cook better meals. There are many companies that sell packages of food for each day with all the ingredients you will need to cook the foods. You have the option of choosing from a healthy or vegetarian menu. Some packages are affordable, super healthy, and less costly than restaurants.

How can I change my mindset?

One way you can change your mindset is changing those learned unhealthy habits to healthy lifestyle choices. Changing your relationship with food, making gradual lifestyle changes in your eating habits, adapting to a new way of looking at food, appreciating that it nourishes your body, by taking the time to learn how read labels, buy healthier foods, eat properly, eat a consistent time as well as adapting to new habits. Adapting to learning about yourself and the relationship you have with food by writing down what you eat, when you eat it, and time you eat. All of these help you to change your mindset by making adequate slow transitional steps towards a better relationship with food and changing how you view food.

How will I determine and know my progress?

One way that will determine your progress is that you will learn through journaling patterns, by tracking what you eat. You will see the difference from when you started moving forward 3 months how you’re eating habits have changed. Once you start making these small adjustments you will notice visible changes in your body by evidence of losing dress or pants sizes. You may start feeling better and more confident about yourself image. You will feel more energetic, and you will become more consistent with your exercise routine. But the most important thing is that your mindset has changed to one that is conscious about what you eat, what you buy, and how you prepare your food. You will be more apt to read labels, buy healthier food items, and most likely adapted yourself to practicing better eating habits, planned meal preparation, cooking more at home, buying less restaurant food and lastly you have learned how to become more of a wise conscious health consumer by knowing which foods to buy and how manage your food budget better.

What will be the outcome?

The outcome is a healthier you, a better you and a more knowledgeable you. You have taken the time to love yourself better by making these lifestyle changes and in doing so you have changed your relationship with food to a more positive one.

Recommendations:

One of the recommendation that I used to suggest to my clients, when I taught healthy life style changes as part of diabetes prevention initiative for the agency I used to work for was weighing yourself 1x a week early morning before breakfast. I recommend weighting yourself every Monday morning and tracking your weight by writing it down in your food journal. Another recommendation is you may also want to find out your Body Mass Index (BMI), waist to hip ration, know your target heart rate zone, and how many calories you should eat. All of these things are important in your new health journey as it teaches you how to keep consistent with your goals. The calorie king offers all these tools to help become more disciplined in your lifestyle changes and by using these tools you it will also help you lose weight and maintain your weight off. And remember that you are not aiming for drastic weight loss, you are aiming to develop a better relationship with food through healthy eating. Lastly, there are many Apps and books you can also use to help monitor or track your weight, learn about food, calorie, fat & carbohydrate counter and a food & exercise journal. 

Below are some apps to help you begin the journey.

· Remove the guesswork from losing weight. Can be downloaded from App store

· Calorie King food search app for IOS and Android can be downloaded from App store and Google play

· Calorie King book. Book can be purchase in Amazon

· MyFitnessPal: Macro, diet & fitness tracker app. Can be downloaded from the App store.

· USDA rate my plate

Written by: Claribel Coreano, MS, Transformational Life Coach

Images: https://www.FreePik.com

Resources:
1. https://calorieking.com

2. https://www.consumerreports.org

3. https://www.elizabethyarnell.com

4. https://www.realsimple.com

5. https://www.ouiinfrance.com

6. https://www.USDA.gov