Bank of Bad Habits

Written and Read by Dr. Russ L’HommeDieu

After more than a decade as a weight loss coach, my experience and research has taught me some habits that keep people from reaching their weight loss goals. Do you think it would be helpful to see if you have any of these behaviors?  

Below is a list of 20 such habits. Put a check mark next to each statement that describes you. When you are done, add up the check marks. The lower your score the fewer dangerous weight gaining habits you have. No matter what your score, focus on just one habit at a time and think of ways you can change it.

1.    I sneak food when no one is looking / I eat things I would prefer no one knew about.

2.    I frequently skip breakfast.

3.    I consume almost all of my calories for the day after lunch.

4.    I go to bed late and I wake up late.

5.    When I am hungry, I need to deal with it right away as if hunger were a disease that I need to cure.

6.    I avoid stairs.

7.    I eat when I drive.

8.    I eat fast.

9.    I eat even after I feel full

10.  I eat in front of the TV

11.  I watch more than an hour of TV a day

12.  I like big bowls, cups and plates

13.  I don't like vegetables

14.  I eat a lot of packaged and convenience foods

15.  I eat out _____ meals a week (each meal is a check mark)

16.  I eat _____ take-out meals a week (each meal is a check mark)

17.  I snack a lot

18.  I tend not to think about what I'm eating

19.  I never read food labels

20.  I drink drinks that have calories and I rarely drink water.

Now, there are THREE habits that do seem to make a big difference for weight loss.

What I have observed is that when people are organized, aware and curious they do better with weight loss.

Organized: More organized people are more successful in general. People that plan their meals have a greater likelihood of eating healthier. They don’t tend to default to high calorie convenience foods because they already planned out their menu for the week. This makes it easier to shop and cook because they have already thought it through. Organized people also tend to exercise more because they schedule it. They plan their week around the things that are important. If exercise is one of those things, it becomes almost automatic. While you don’t need to be an organizational freak to lose weight, a little organization does go a long way.

Aware:  All change starts with awareness. Would you agree that you can’t possibly change what you don’t know about?  Clearly, to change anything, the very first step is to recognize the problem. This is why all change begins with AWARENESS!

Awareness is a three-step process. The first step is the asking yourself questions. However, it doesn’t do any good to only ask the convenient or easy questions. Quality questions make you squirm. What good is it to question your healthy choices when you happen to be eating a healthy salad?

To truly practice awareness, you need to ask uncomfortable questions at a point in time when the answer may be difficult to hear. You want the ice cream and your impulse is to ask how many calories are in the large but, you really, really want the large. As a result, you don’t ask. Can you relate? Step two is to ask these questions often.

Of course, any question is useless if the answer is a lie. The next most important step in building awareness is telling yourself the truth. If you are like me, this is easier said than done. 

So, how about if I were to give you a really cool formula to help you remember the three parts of awareness? Awareness is determined by quality of the questions you ask yourself multiplied by the frequency you ask raised by the power of the integrity of your answers.

Curiosity: According to psychologist Todd Kashdan, Author of Curious? The greatest opportunities for joy, purpose, and personal growth happen when we are mindful, when we explore what's novel, and when we live in the moment and embrace uncertainty. Curious people do better with major changes in life because they approach the experience with a sense of wonder and excitement. Their curiosity not only increases their capacity to learn more, it allows them extract more pleasure and meaning from their experience. Imagine if you were to approach weight loss with an attitude that makes you open to new experiences and relish the unknown.

Now, all you need to do is add up your check marks, concentrate on one or two of those habits that you will stop doing and add a little more organization, awareness and curiosity into your life.