CHANGING HABITS
I’m always glad I never took up smoking, nor do I care for alcohol. Because habits are a sod to get rid of.
“Don’t do it!” I say to myself. But my bad habits, though generally simple ones, stay firmly put. Though I’m lucky: they’re not real addictions where your body, as well as your mind is enslaved.
There are many websites about changing your habits.
Strangely, changing a habit doesn’t seem to be a question of willpower or self control. In the first place it’s important to work out what its function is in your life, the deep-down reason. For bad habits always have their uses. What are those, for me? And how can I replace them with something else?
Strangely, changing a habit doesn’t seem to be a question of willpower or self control. In the first place it’s important to work out what its function is in your life, the deep-down reason. For bad habits always have their uses. What are those, for me? And how can I replace them with something else?
Clever trickery is an important part of the way out. Learn from other people’s experiences!
- Changing only one habit at a time is vital. This is why new year’s resolutions often fail. If you try to change more than one habit, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Keep it simple and you will have the best chance for success.
- Be patient with yourself. Don’t make dramatic adjustments, focus on very small steps.
- Write down what you want to achieve: both the immediate steps and the long term goal. You could even keep a diary.
- If there are any occasions when you foresee trouble, like parties or outings, set up a reminder in your calendar for that date - or maybe give yourself a day off. My yoga teacher told me to have one day a week without the usual rules. It worked for me.
- Your surroundings make a big difference. Be aware of the effect they are having on your habits, and try change them, if possible.
- Make it easier to do the right thing. For example, put healthy food in front of the pantry, bad stuff at the very back. One reason we stay with a habit is that it may be too easy to do it. Make the old way more difficult or unpleasant. If you want to stop playing video games and get more sleep, move the computer out of your bedroom into the basement. To give up unhealthy snacks, ban them from the house and make nutritious snacks more available and tasty.
- A positive statement - “I’ll have meat and veg” always works better than its negative: “I won’t eat rubbish”.
- Motivation is a key part of forming a new habit, but excessive fantasizing about the results can have a bad effect on the long-term outcome..
- Work on the small habit till it becomes a ritual, something you're pulled towards, rather than which requires willpower.
- It may help to fine yourself for each offense. Or, better, reward your successes.
Here are some good websites: [2].
So far I’ve talked about habits which enslave your mind. However, commercial interests are trying to tie us into eternal, profitable bondage by enslaving our bodies as well. And not just via advertising, but using much more subtle methods.
Smoking and recreative drugs cause addiction, but ‘normal’ food can have the same effect. And it is hard to free yourself from a habit, when your body complains even more loudly than your mind.
- Artificial sweeteners ruin the body's ability to count calories - and so enlarge your appetite [3]. The fact that you go on snacking forever has little to do with habit and everything with the sweeteners. And then of course, this creates a habit of the mind as well [4].
- Dieting in general is another danger zone. See [5].
- And it may not be right to try resist a craving with willpower: cravings may be a sign that your body needs a nutrient, urgently. Best find out what it is [6]!
- Leptin, a hormone which normally tells you when to stop eating, may not be doing its job. ‘Leptin resistance’ might be caused by consumption of fructose (in soft drinks for instance), sugar in general, stress, or overeating. In that case to try stop eating has become impossible, unless you fix the leptin resistance first [7].
- Lack of energy may have a physical reason, and not just bad sleep. Fatigue can be caused by the wrong light signals hitting your eyes. Too little light in the mornings, or too much at night, can cause lethargy - especially if blue light is involved. 'Blue light' is emitted by screens like computers or tv, and the modern so-called ‘eco-bulbs’ [8]. Blue-blocking fitover glasses help [9].
- Inflammation can also play a part in tiredness and lack of motivation. A sedentary lifestyle, regular stress, poor diet – high in sugar and low in fruits and vegetables – have all been linked to chronic, lower-level inflammation [10].
For an extensive in-depth study of this subject, see, on the right, ‘New Scientist: Craving control: how food messes with your mind’.
NB NB!
The fastest growing cancer in women (at least in the US), cancer of the thyroid, may well be related to the use of dental x-rays and mammograms.
Is this surprising, in view of the following?
When you have an x-ray, the dentist puts an apron on you which has a special flap to be wrapped round your neck. However, many dentists can't be bothered to use the flap.
And whenever you have a mammogram, there is a 'thyroid guard', usually kept in a drawer. You have to ask for it specially. Who does?
I found this information on Facebook. It was forwarded by a friend of mine. Her sister had thyroid cancer in her early twenties. And in their family of four children, three have thyroid problems. As it happens, these same three had lots and lots of dental x-rays when young. My friend, the only one who hadn't (she didn't have braces), never had any trouble, although the family is now closely monitored. Genetics and other causes have been ruled out.
Could it just possibly be those x-rays? Women these days have lots of mammograms, especially in the US. X-rays for your teeth are more and more common, just to check the roots. Beware.
See also http://thoughtforfood-aw.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/february-2018-thyroid.html.
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EAT:
veg: celeriac, turnip, beet, broccoli, cabbage, calabrese, carrots, cauliflower, chard, fennel, kohlrabi, runner beans, salsify/scorzonera, spinach, tomatoes, Jerusalem/globe artichokes, brussels', chicory, endive, swede, celery, corn salad, leek, peas/mange tout, courgettes, marrow, pumpkin/squash, (white) radish, rocket, spring onions, watercress, sweetcorn.
meat: rabbit, goose, grouse, guinea fowl, partridge, pheasant, wood pigeon, duck, venison, squirrel.
fish: crab, clam, hake, cuttlefish, lobster, mackerel, mussels, scallop, sprats, cockles, black bream, gurnard, winkle, pollack, grey mullet, American signal crayfish.
SOW:
broad beans, land cress, round seeded peas, chinese leaves, corn salad, winter purslane, winter lettuce.
Plant rhubarb sets; spring cabbage; garlic; autumn onion sets if the weather is good. The garlic should be suited for autumn planting. Don't use your old cloves! Plant out spring cabbage and, in South England, cabbages and winter/spring lettuce.
What else can you still do in the garden? See www.thompson-morgan.com/what-to-do-in-the-garden-in-october.
RECIPES
MEATBALLS in LEMON SAUCE
1 beaten egg, 700g lamb mince, 240ml breadcrumbs, 1½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, 720ml boiling stock, 3 tblsp flour blended with 120ml water, 1 tblsp lemon juice.
Combine egg, mince, crumbs, salt and pepper and form into 24 large balls. Bring stock to the boil, add the meat and poach gently for 15 mins. Whisk together flour and water. Remove meat, keep hot. Slowly stir flour mix into the stock and whisk until the sauce thickens. Add lemon juice and return meatballs to the sauce. Simmer 5 minutes before serving.
POTATO and FENNEL HASH BROWN
POTATO and FENNEL HASH BROWN
1 small fennel bulb, 2 tblsp oil, 375g waxy potatoes cut into small dice and patted dry, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ground pepper, 1 garlic clove, chopped, 2 tblsp chopped flat-leaf parsley.
Cut the fennel into 1½ cm cubes. Cook until just tender. Drain, set aside to dry. Sauté potatoes. Cook until golden and crisp, turning often, 20-25 minutes. Mash the potatoes, leaving big chunks, while in the pan. Add fennel, salt and pepper. Cook until the fennel is golden, stirring often, about 5 mins. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the parsley and serve hot.
HEALTHY, NICE and SIMPLE GREEN (meal-) TOAST!
Mix chopped, well-cooked broccoli (or other greens) with minced garlic and olive oil while still warm. Spread toast with (peanut)butter and top with this mixture. Add lots of chilli powder.
You can replace the peanutbutter with cheese.ROAST POTATOES with ANCHOVIES, GARLIC and PARSLEY
1k potatoes, 42g unsalted butter, 3 tblsp of extra-v. olive oil, 3 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped, 2-3 cloves of garlic crushed, 2 heaped tblsp chopped flat leaf parsley plus extra to serve,
2 tblsp fresh lemon juice, 140ml water, black pepper.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Quarter the potatoes so they’re roughly the same size. On the stove top, heat the butter and olive oil together. Add the anchovy, mashing with the back of a fork until mostly dissolved. Add potatoes and stir fry for a few minutes, until they start to brown. Stir in garlic and parsley, then pour in the water and lemon juice. Give a good grind of black pepper. Put everything in an oven dish and roast for ab. 30 minutes till the potatoes are done, stirring and basting at 10 minute intervals. Once golden and tender, tip into a warmed dish and pour all the juices over. Serve immediately, topped with more parsley.
For more recipes see October issues from former years. Or go to https://thoughtforfoodaw.wordpress.com, which still has eight recipes for this year.
We also have an alphabetical index of subjects, which you will see if you click on this month, in the top right hand corner.
Next month: fat - the latest research. To see this now, go to https://thoughtforfoodaw.wordpress.com and scroll down.
www.positivehealth.com/article/nutrition/the-impact-of-artificial-sweeteners-on-family-health
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/artificial-sweetners-unhealthy-eco.htm
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/artificial-sweetners-unhealthy-eco.htm
And see the Thought of June 2012.
[7] For where to get blueblockers, see footnote 7 in http://wellnessmama.com/5356/fix-your-leptin/
[9] See the Thought of May 2018.
[10] See the Thought of May 2014.
