Healthy Eating While Flattening the Curve: Part 2, Time, Tools, Tenacity

by Brenda Titus on April 2, 2020

When I see new clients for weight issues, our first goal is to make a plan for them to change their eating habits. In this post, I will share the importance of meal planning in an overall healthy lifestyle where it comes to food.

The first obstacle that we often need to address is “Time.” We live in a busy world- in addition to responsibilities within the home, there are many outside obligations. Taking time to meal plan, prepare shopping lists and cook on top of their already busy schedules sometimes feels like too much for my clients. My normal response is that taking the time once or twice a week to plan and follow through will actually make their lives easier in the long run. It’s true- when meal planning becomes habitual, it takes the stress out of it, it becomes easier to do, and it takes less time. As many families are currently “home” with fewer outside responsibilities and commitments, this is the perfect opportunity to start making meal planning, shopping and preparing a habit.

Next I address various “tools” to help people make new habits in terms of food choice, overcoming emotional eating, overcoming distracted eating, making healthy choices in restaurants, etc. These tools vary from person to person, but I will be including several of my favorite “tools” in the recording below.

Finally, we address “tenacity,” the ability to stick to these new ways of eating as an ongoing lifestyle choice. While there are often underlying issues that we need to address to encourage people to make these choices permanent, the early part is easier because they are excited about doing something new that is actually helping them feel better physically and emotionally. They’re usually able to notice the difference in their energy level when they start eating a more well balanced diet, which encourages them to continue. Before long, it’s a “habit,” so they don’t need to put as much effort into it! Right now is great timing to put these tools into practice to help your overall health and wellbeing- by the time you’re able to get out to socialize again, you’ll have solid habits in place!

Following is a 20 minute hypnosis video to support you in making these new choices!