Happy New Year!
If you’re like many people, you may be in the midst of reflecting on 2025 and thinking about how you’d like to live your life in the year to come. Yes, the turning of the year is a somewhat arbitrary time for change, but the holidays can provide us with a bit of a break in which we can take time to assess where we are and consider whether or not we’d like to adjust our course.
| We know a lot of resolutions we make on Jan 1 don’t last, but a tradition is a tradition, and though none of us want our good intentions to become casualties, maybe we learn something from what we tried, even if we didn’t succeed. One common type of resolution is the “giving up” resolution, ie: “I’m giving up smoking” or “I’m giving up caffeine” or “I’m giving up buying a bunch of crap I don’t need from the Target Dollar Spot”. These aren’t my favorite type of resolutions, because they are always framed in the negative and can create feelings of restriction or deprivation. But truly, sometimes we do need to let go of habits that aren’t serving us, and though we might prefer to add in a positive habit that ultimately displaces a negative one, the indirect approach isn’t always effective. So… |
How can we stop doing things that we wish we weren’t doing without experiencing the vacuum effect where once you experience a moment of weakness in your resolve or willpower, the behavior just gets sucked back into your life?
Well, I have some thoughts when it comes to food and eating.
| Disclaimer: food and eating are a necessary and integral part of life, so my advice probably won’t apply to things like using harmful substances or engaging in dangerous activities – I’m not going to weigh in on those subjects. |
For now, let’s look at the example of SUGAR.
I’m going to admit up front that I continue to have my own struggles in this department. Despite having gone for long stretches of my adult life (a year or more) avoiding sugar entirely, I still have a sweet tooth and very often find myself enjoying far more treats (usually chocolate-based) than I believe are good for me. So, take my advice with a grain of salt, but also know that if you have similar struggles, I get it.
That said, I have noticed some shifts in how I am able to co-exist with foods of the sweet persuasion:
- There is always ice cream in my freezer, yet I only have a small serving every once in a while
- I can keep a bowl of candy on display in my home – I will have a piece or two every now and then, but it isn’t emptied as soon as it is filled
- I occasionally worry desserts I bake will go stale before I have a chance to complete them, so I freeze portions for later
- If I make cookies, I’d rather bake them than gobble up all the dough
I know most of the above sounds totally normal, but it wasn’t always my reality.
My belief was that I needed to keep these foods out of my home or I would go bananas. Much like the mother who forbids her child having sweets in the home and then feels justified when the child goes to a birthday party and binges on candy – the blame goes to the food itself, not the restriction that might be promoting the craving.
The wild suggestion I’m going to make to you is, if you want to cut back on a certain food or type of food…
GIVE UP giving it up.
But hang on, because it can’t possibly be that simple! And I hear you if you really have noticed something has gotten out of hand – I’m not saying you should give up on trying to make a change. But usually, these foods we would like to give up, well, we LOVE them, and a huge part of us doesn’t want to give them up at all. So, here are a few things we can ACTIVELY do to work towards the balance we might like to find long-term:
| Avoid all or nothing. Sometimes mistakenly characterized as moderation, all or nothing thinking is kind of like playing red light green light with eating – a food is USUALLY forbidden, with occasional windows of opportunity that may get out of control. Eat sufficiently throughout the day. If you are under eating, cravings for high fat or high sugar food are your body’s way of trying to get you to take in enough energy. Pack your day with nutritious foods, and even if you do have a treat, you’re not likely to want A LOT of it. Prepare your portion. Put it on a plate. Eat it without distraction. If you carry a bag or box of food with you to camp out in front of the television, you are setting yourself up for overdoing it. This is a simple (not easy, but simple) behavior to adjust. Don’t settle for second best. Love chocolate? Choose your favorite type. If you see a dessert table, pick out the one that is calling to you. Don’t waste your time with inferior versions of foods you crave – you may actually end up eating more trying to reach a point of satisfaction. Do not punish yourself or feel like you have to compensate if you don’t get it “right”. We know change takes time. Trying means you’re more likely to get practice doing the new thing, but it’s not going to go perfectly. Be nice to yourself and try again. |
Finally, I want to add that foods that we crave, that we might tend to overdo it on, are probably serving a purpose. They might be providing comfort or distraction or meeting an emotional need. We’re going to have to look into it a little bit and figure out how to get our needs met without the food. If it is our only way to cope with life, we will keep coming back to it, no matter how strong our resolution.
If you do feel like you need support beyond what you can find reading a blog post, I encourage you to reach out to a Registered Dietitian in your area who can help you sort through nutrition information and help you to make decisions about how you would like to eat in the long run. If you have a good insurance plan, it may be completely free!
If you live in Illinois, I am currently taking new clients and accept Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois insurance.
