How to Get Rid of Bad Nutritional Habits!
What if I told you that I had not one, but TWO ways in which you could eliminate your bad nutritional habits, and replace them with good ones? Imagine how much that would help you to see SUSTAINABLE results on your weight loss journey :-)
It’s a warm, muggy day here on Long Island, and after I’m done writing this to you, I’ll be taking my dog to the vet. While I’m sure it’s nothing serious, I’ve noticed that he has a couple of cuts on either corner of his mouth, and I want to make sure that it’s nothing more than perhaps a sharp ‘toe nail’ that did it. My dog is like my baby — If he ever needs anything, regardless of what it costs, I’ll make sure that he gets what he needs so he can be healthy. Same goes for my bunny, who I’ll introduce to you at a later time ;-)
To piggyback on this notion of doing whatever is necessary, that’s how you have to not only view your job, your spouse, your children, or your pets, but YOURSELF! If your health is falling by the wayside as your weight creeps up, then it’s important that you have this same mindset around bettering your body, so that you can not only better serve the folks and the things most important to you, but you’re able to live your life to the fullest!
In my personal experience, I’ve found that there are not one, but TWO ways to overcome a bad habit, and in turn, replace it with a good one:
1) Going cold turkey, or
2) Weaning yourself off of the bad activity, substance, etc.
I’m going to break both of these down, because dependent on how addictive a personality you have, and how well you know yourself, I’d like to give you an idea as to the best option to use for YOU and your current situation!
First, we start with going cold turkey…
If you have a sweet tooth or a grain addiction, then it’s imperative that you ELIMINATE, or at the very least, severely MINIMIZE your intake of these types of foods. Sugar has been scientifically PROVEN to be 8x more addictive than cocaine, while grains contain the protein gliadin, which has addictive, opiate-like properties.
Regardless of your food addiction, if you decide to go cold turkey, there are pros and cons…
The pro is that once you’re off of these foods for 2–4 weeks, they no longer appeal to you. That delicious donut, slice of cake or pint of ice cream just doesn’t do it for you anymore. You may even decide to see what happens when you ingest these foods after a period of time without ingesting them, at which point you’ll not only be repulsed by how sweet they taste, but by how crappy you feel afterwards.
Speaking from personal experience, when I’ve been on-point for MONTHS and finally decide to break and have a beer or a slice of pizza, my stomach will begin to bother me within MINUTES of ingestion. I’ll also get stuffy, like I’m having a bad allergy attack. The next morning, I’ll wake up feeling like I drank half a bottle of tequila, with brain fog, aches and pains… the whole nine!
It’s crazy how awful these foods make you feel once you’ve eliminated them from your diet, and your body’s operating efficiently on real, whole, organic foods…
The con of going cold turkey is that you will more than likely go through a form of withdrawal. For some, it’s just a few days, while for others, it can take up to a few weeks! Just like an alcoholic or a drug addict, you can experience things like migraines, the shakes, sweats, irritability, low energy, brain fog, and SEVERE cravings.
The good news is that once you’re done with these symptoms, you’re done with the cravings, and it’s A LOT easier to stay on track! :-)
Now, if you’re not sure you can handle the withdrawal process, then weaning yourself off of these foods may be the best bet. PLEASE keep in mind, though, that while this process is easier from a withdrawal perspective, it’s a lot HARDER to reach the point where you’re no longer craving or ingesting these poor food choices…
Let’s say you’re a grain addict: You have cereal with toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and either pasta or rice at dinner every day. Clearly, grains are a HUGE component of what you eat on a regular basis.
If you were to begin weaning yourself off, you would start by changing up ONE meal. So, let’s say you trade in the cereal and toast at breakfast for eggs, bacon and avocado. Great! Do that for a week, and see how you feel. Once that’s part of your routine, trade in the sandwich at lunch for a mixed green salad and some grilled chicken. Try that for a week, and see how you feel. If that becomes easy, then replace dinner, and see how long you can go without ingesting grains, PERIOD!
While this may seem like the logical choice in terms of forming a good habit, you MUST keep in mind that if you deviate from the plan, you’re back at square one, whereas when you go cold turkey, the negative side effects I mentioned before may be all you need to detract you from pulling that crap again!
So, what’s it going to be? Going cold turkey or weaning yourself off? Let me know in the comments below!
Until tomorrow!
Sincerely,
Pete Weintraub
P.S. If you’re READY to take that first step on your health and weight loss journey, then you’re REALLY going to want to download my FREE report!
With 10 years of experience, SEVEN different fitness and nutrition certifications, and a sustained weight loss of 100 lbs., I think I know a thing or two about this Permanent Weight Loss thing ;-)
This report will provide you with the five strategies I personally used to lose 100 lbs., and KEEP THEM OFF! These are the same five strategies I teach my Permanent Weight Loss clients, and are the basis to losing weight and getting healthy once and for all!
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