Be Stubborn

This is a hard time of year to be sticking to the healthiest of eating habits, especially if they’re new behaviors.  When they’re new behaviors, they are not quite habits yet and it really takes some discipline to stick to them through the barrage of temptations, potlucks, and sweets of this beautiful season.

Someone wise once told me that we can never truly get rid of old habits, but that we can choose to put new positive habits in their place.  Does that mean those old habits always linger waiting to retake their place at the head of, well, your head?  For instance, have you ALWAYS had something sweet after your meals?  That is a good habit to address during a time when you’re watching out for extra sugar and pounds, but it will not be easy to say “no” to your mind’s desire to have that treat.  It will feel as if you NEED the sweet for your meal to be complete.  What new positive habit could you replace this with?  Perhaps you could take a short walk after your meal or make your post meal-time a time for devotion or thanks.  Truly once your brain is engaged outside of food, then that NEED for your treat wanes.  When faced with the temptation to practice our old bad habit, choosing that new replacement behavior takes lots of practice and repetition, but you can do it!  Be stubborn!

I’ve been told that I can be stubborn at times.  I believe I most often use my stubbornness for good…to stick to a plan or complete a commitment or to do my very best at something.  Other times it seems silly.  Just this week I stubbornly refused to put any of my bags down after returning from work and our Christmas party.  I was holding big bags and little bags, plus a box and a crock pot…up 3 flights of stairs (made it)…to the door (made it)…keys?  I was determined I would make it in without putting anything down.  Through some interesting contortions, I did.  Why?  For no other reason than because I decided I was going to and stubbornly stood by that decision.  What a silly example!  But sometimes it is that kind of silly stubbornness we need to stick to our plan to steer clear of sweets after meals, or maybe to forgo the extra helping at dinner, or maybe to skip the doughnuts that have become a weekend tradition.    

I used this idea again this morning when I talked myself down from jumping off my balanced breakfast cliff.  I had my usual big balanced breakfast, but oh I watched a fresh hot batch of doughnut holes being poured into a basket prior to church this morning.  I am not going to lie…I thought about it.  I thought about eating one, just one you know.  No big deal.  But, NO!  I am not hungry, they are not THAT good, and the sugar and calories are not worth it.  Plus, I know I wouldn’t feel so hot about it afterwards.  Today I stood by my decision not to eat when I’m not hungry or just because it’s there (an all too familiar situation recently).

Can you be silly stubborn beyond peer pressure, beyond your old habits, beyond your self-doubts, to stick to your healthier plan through a food filled season?!  This is where knowing what your goals are is important.  If you’ve only sort of thought about the fact that you would like to eat better or would like to lose some weight, it will be more difficult to stick to your plans and meet your loosely framed goals.  Set specific goals and write them down and/or share them with a friend.  It seems insignificant, but it makes a difference.  Your goals take on greater meaning when in ink and when you set yourself up for accountability.  From specific goals you can make plans and stubbornly stick to them.

I plan to keep control tomorrow too.  I enter into another food-focused day of Christmas celebrations at work, potluck style.  While everyone has been instructed to bring a heart healthy dish, there will still be a table of finger foods available to me ALL day.  I will take part, but plan to take along the main part of my normal homemade lunch and fill in the gaps with mostly fruits and veggies from our table.   A goal, a plan, and now I’ve told you – accountability.