Our physical bodies have laws that are governed by healthy eating and proper nutrition. Nevertheless, people have a tough time sticking to a healthy diet. By applying the principles of how a habit is formed we can develop healthy eating habits that lasts a lifetime.
Nothing happens overnight
If you have been doing push-ups five days a week for over 25 years. Your arm will become strong, but it does not happen overnight. You cannot just do push-ups for a couple of weeks or months and then stop. Push-ups need to become a habit if you want to continuously get positive results.
Healthy eating takes practice and time
The same holds true with healthy eating. You will never be healthy, eating healthy foods occasionally. You must make healthy eating a habit if you want to obtain nutritional health. People jump on the “band wagon” of healthy eating when they read books or view websites that talk about nutrition. While many of these books and websites tell you what you should eat in-order to be healthy, they fail to teach you how to make healthy eating a habit. Thus, in a brief period when temptations come, people fall right back into their old unhealthy eating habits.
Bad eating habits that destroy healthy eating
What is a Habit? According to Webster’s dictionary a habit is “a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance.”
Can you see that if we simply apply this principle to healthy eating we will be on our way to vibrant health?
Bad Eating Habits:
Bad eating habits do not develop overnight. For most people, these habits began forming when they were kids. Thus, one reason many adults have a tough time breaking their bad eating habits is because these habits have been a part of their lifestyle for many years.
Why Do We Eat Food?
There are two main reasons why we eat food. One is to supply fuel for our body. The other reason is for pleasure. Unfortunately, some of the foods that gives us pleasure are unhealthy.
Most people make their food selections based on what they see, smell or taste. Look at these three sentences: That pie sure looks good! That pie sure smells good! That pie sure taste good!
Notice that all three statements involve food and pleasure. However, the food that is producing the pleasure (in this situation the pie) may or may not be good for you from a nutritional standpoint. That is why we need to be wise in our food selections and not simply leave it up to our sense of sight, taste, or smell.
Eating Healthy Can Be Enjoyable:
Some people think of eating healthy as being boring and tasteless. I think that one reason they feel this way is because most of the commercial ads we see promote foods high in calories, fat, or sugar and only a small percentage of food advertising is done for fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans. Thus, if there was more nutritional education, increased people would find eating healthy to be pleasurable and tasty.
How Healthy Eating Habits Changed a Life:
I want to tell you about Jerry. in 2016 Jerry’s wife finally talked him into going to the doctor to get a check-up. Jerry was not feeling sick, but she clearly said that it was a good idea to get a yearly physical examination. Thank goodness Jerry listened to her.
Jerry had been athletic all his life. He ran 18 miles a week. So, when he went to the doctor, Jerry was not expecting to hear the unwelcome news he received. The doctor told Jerry he had borderline diabetes.
Diabetes can be dangerous if not treated. It is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. It is a disease of the pancreas that causes the body to stop producing the insulin it needs to regulate blood sugar.
Jerry’s doctor told him that he did not need to be put on medication, however he suggested that Jerry start reading some books on healthy eating. That was the beginning of Jerry’s path to healthy eating habits that turned his health situation around. Today Jerry is glad to say that he is in excellent health and feels great. Jerry is now able to maintain a healthy weight, and does not take any type of medication, his blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol is normal, and the list goes on.
Jerry is grateful to be in good health. However, he is not healthy because of chance. The one main reason that Jerry is healthy is because he took personal responsibility for his health. Making healthy eating a habit is a great part of this responsibility. Our physical bodies have laws that are governed by proper nutrition. If we violate these laws by consistently eating unhealthy foods, we are going to get sick.
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