My target to habit change is 66 days. The research shows this to be the best number of days to form a new habit- although some research suggests a habit can be formed anywhere from 20 to 300 days. I’ve discovered a habit change all depends on each moment and living only in that present moment. After all, yesterday doesn’t exist. Literally, it doesn’t exist. There is no such thing as woulda, shoulda or coulda. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow doesn’t exist either, and perhaps it never will; everything done is always done in the present moment and never at any other time.
Now that I’ve waxed philosophical, let’s get down to it- I’ve put together my own CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) plan to reach optimum health. I am freeing myself from the habitual use of food as my super-hero! A habit is nothing more than a thought pattern that has formed a deeply entrenched neural pattern in our brains. We think or do something long enough, day by day, and we hardwire it into our brains. The good news is- we can change the hardwiring. Sad news is- many people believe they are who they are and never do peek inward to see what's going on in "there." We create it all, we own it all. I've studied intrapersonal communication messages in depth for 5 years, made phenomenal discoveries and changes along the way and now love every aspect of my life. I love it all! I even see problems and hardships as opportunities.
66 days is all about changing the neural hard-wiring I have created that deems food as the cure for everything! Not just the cure for some things- Food is the panacea in my psychological world. I believe I saved this hardwiring challenge as one of the last for me to change because it’s played such a salient part in my life. Food is my answer when I want to avoid an unpleasant task or thought, when I give in to perfectionism, when all is chaos and I want to feel organized, when I feel unfocused, when I want to make something fabulous, when I want to reward myself or show self-love, when I fear failure, when I run from disagreeable tasks, and has definitely been a big part of the culture I was raised in. WHEW! That’s quite a list. Some people use food in any one of these paradigms; I use food in all of them. So, I have a boatload of uses for food!
Good-bye Super-hero! Now I’m at the action point.
A professor once encouraged me to enlighten myself in part to see that life doesn’t happen to us, it reacts to us. I became a student of critical thinking, particularly “self” study (intrapersonal communication). In fact, my bachelor degree capstone research was on encouraging students to “self” study. I have applied critical thinking skills in every aspect of my life- except eating, because food was doing so many wonderful things for me (hmmmm…addiction?)! But, telling you all the wonderful ways food cured my many psychological ailments is for another day. This I know (and here's the big climactic point!) - food, is my hero. Food is a dark hero, but nevertheless my hero. Something like the villain you love in a movie- the villain that you cheer on even when he’s wicked because he’s doing something good for you and you love him! To kill this hero means you’ll need to find a new one, or perhaps live life without a hero- Gulp! Maybe you’ll have to be your own hero! Double gulp! That’s pretty daunting. So, I saved my eating habit for last because through other changes I made I relied on my hero to help me- or so I thought- another AHA! moment of entrenched thinking.
My first step in observing myself was realizing that I never did have a weight problem in my youth. I used food to live, to have energy and occasionally for fun. As I added stressors in my life, I started to choose food as a support system instead of my family, friends and loved ones. With food, I could keep what I considered my weaknesses, a secret- I didn’t need help, I didn’t need support, I was not only handling life perfectly I was a support for everyone around me! So I let my authentic self go to attempt to become the perfect support system for everyone! Food was the energy, the rest, the reward, the way to focus, the mini-vacation, the answer to it all. But, I digress- this is about the point of power; the point of action. Hence, 66 days. Here I am launching my plan. I couldn’t be more exited. It’s like a NASA launch to me. It’s a journey into the great universe. I’m jacked!
My plan is created after carefully observing in great detail why I am triggered to eat. I’ve created replacement habits for the toxic food habits I have. I’ve enlisted real people as a support system, and most powerful of all, I’ve written the scripts to change the neural pathways (More on this in the next post!). You see, the research shows that your brain can’t tell a real experience from a memory or a habit, so you’ve got to tell it constantly how you feel and how you’re going to react to get it to change. Dr. Joe Dispenza likens it to a bucking horse that you have to tame. It will revolt at first, so you must keep telling it over and over what the new habit is. You must attach a feeling or emotion to it so it will entrench. Once it attaches the new dialogue and the new emotion to the new habit, you’ve now formed a new neural pathway. This little piece plays a big part in the failure of past weight loss. Folks on diets usually write a script that says, "this diet is temporary, this diet is hard, I hate this diet, I crave this or that food, poor me, I can't wait until this is over, I only have to do this until I reach my goal weight, I will take this challenge for 90 days," and on and on and on. This kind of script tells the neural paths the very same thing. So the brain believes what is said and responds accordingly with the appropriate emotion. Even worse, some folks write scripts that say, "I’m losing weight to be happy, to be sexy, to be confident, so I can go out more," etc. That script says, “I’m of no value now.” Pity. The mind now believes you are not worth change and change isn’t worth having.
I won’t write daily. But I want to keep everyone involved and inspired so I’ll keep you updated often. I’m interested to watch and participate as each pattern of habit raises its head. I know I’ll wrangle with the bucking horse, the superhero, or my authentic self all along the journey. And I'll tell you more about all three of them. This is joy in the making!
Something to think about: "Maybe it's not about trying to fix something broken. Maybe it's about starting over and creating something better."
My Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Plan: Optimum health- (Free myself from food as a cure-all and get strong) This template can be used to change any habit/thinking/neural pathway.
Why change this habit: to be my authentic self, gain energy, gain mobility, buy any clothes I want, have longevity, remain vital, improve health: knee, back, fibromyalgia and blood pressure; dispel stereotype, be an example of confidence, anti-ageism and anti-weightism; encourage others to “self” study.
Start Date- 2/19/13 to 5/01/13 (66 to 90 days to form a new habit)
Obstacles- Psychological eating disorders: avoiding, perfectionism, organizing, procrastination, self-love, making fun fabulous, thinking food is the cure for anything!
Avoiding- When I want to avoid doing a task or thinking about something I eat.
Perfectionism- Thinking,” if I can’t be perfect than I can’t be anything.” All or nothing
thinking. If can’t be a specimen of perfect fitness, then I won’t try at all.
Organizing- When there is chaos around me, eating is an orderly and organized task
that is easy to process and feels like I have accomplished so much.
Fabulousness- If a date or event is planned that’s going to be fun, I feel like it can be
taken from fun to fabulous if food is fantastic .
Self-love- When I give of myself until nothing is left, the only way I reward myself
or take mini-vacations, or spend money on myself, or value myself is
through food.
Procrastination- I avoid the fear of failure; putting off changes until tomorrow.
Culture- My religious and rural culture and the Pratt family culture center joy and
celebration around food.
Triggers- Eating out, going to Swig, researching, planning celebrations, needing focus, getting tired, getting too hungry, being overly optimistic about how I can lose weight, thinking my next “fun” food may be my last.
Support System- Taylor and Laura
Ask for Help – Friends, family, students, co-workers, Facebook
Be Aware of Self-talk- Create a script just for freeing myself from psychological “food” obstacles and getting strong.
Stay Positive- Frame script and thoughts in a positive frame…put that positive energy out to the universe. Spend minimal time with negative people.
Have strategies to defeat urges- Be aware of urge, step away to something new, breath deep, develop a mantra and a cheer, have “organizing” food ready like frozen grapes, frozen lemons, frozen cuties, or ice; walk around, meditate, self-indulge, call Laura or Taylor.
Prepare for saboteurs- Tell people that I’m actively moving to optimum health. Prepare for eating out, celebrations, rewards and dates. Tell people in advance whenever possible. My back-up plan is to eat a big protein/carb snack ahead of time when I’m going out (i.e., boiled egg and a piece of fruit). Use my urge strategies, walk away, use self-talk or mantra to “snap out of it.”
Talk to yourself- Prepare self-talk script to include mantras for saboteurs and urges. Voices could be Bob and Jillian from Biggest Loser.
Have a mantra- Have gratitude and kick-butt.
Visualize- What I have become vs. what I want to be (return to the old me). Make an art project about optimum health.
Rewards- NON food rewards.
NOT NEGOTIABLE- Not one missed day from the exercise plan. Not one day where meals aren’t 80% whole foods. Not one binge.
Get Rest, Drink Water, Read Script every day
Public Accountability – Facebook, write about the experience.
Engineer so it’s hard to fail
-Increase positive feedback, decrease negative feedback
-Avoid eating out for awhile
-Bring foods and snacks
-Get rewards early and often, non-food rewards
-Know when I’m full
-Eat the whole foods I love
-Be acutely aware of entrenched behaviors as they emerge
Recalibrate anything that isn’t working.
