Habits and self-sustaining systems

[garbage]

So you're looking to get yourself all healthy.

Sheer willpower is great for denying temptations like juicy quadruple-bacon burgers, six-gallons-of-ice-cream souflee, and four eight-hour marathons of The Honeymooners in a row. There's no question--you just have to tell life "no" once in a while.

Flipping these temptations the bird becomes much easier over time. It often become a habit or even an instinct--something that you automatically do when faced with such choices.

Sometimes, you're lucky to wind up with some seemingly physiological reactions, too. Sweets become too sweet to you. Burgers taste like crap to you. Big portions wreck your stomach and so you naturally go for the smaller ones. Exercise becomes addicting.

It's all conveniently self-sustaining. Whatever you do becomes natural.

As I've tried to eat healthier, I've kept "self-sustaining systems" in mind. Knowing that these cravings would eventually get minimized on their own made it much more motivating to start.

As of right now, I pretty much can't do fast food. I tried a soda a while back and it felt as though my teeth were melting and my tongue was being attacked by an army of flesh-eating bacteria.

I still have a ways to go. The next phase is to get myself addicted to swimming.

So, does any of this resonate with any of you health freaks? Any similar approaches out there?

 

[Qlip]

I don't think I could be catagorized as a health freak, but I am living much more healthier now than I was because I took the time to notice/realize that fatty foods and quick carbs, as tasty as they are, make me feel like crap. This, over time, has reduced how desirable I percieve theese foods to be. Also, I have noticed that excercise has a positive impact on my mood and my abilities, and being sedentary, as easy as it is, makes me feel like crap as well.

The connection and the results are so obvious that it feels silly to mention it. Doing bad things makes me feel bad, therefore I should have less desire to do bad things. But once I started making connections, it really was like an epiphany.

 

[Such Irony]

I don't think I could be catagorized as a health freak, but I am living much more healthier now than I was because I took the time to notice/realize that fatty foods and quick carbs, as tasty as they are, make me feel like crap. This, over time, has reduced how desirable I percieve theese foods to be. Also, I have noticed that excercise has a positive impact on my mood and my abilities, and being sedentary, as easy as it is, makes me feel like crap as well.

The connection and the results are so obvious that it feels silly to mention it. Doing bad things makes me feel bad, therefore I should have less desire to do bad things. But once I started making connections, it really was like an epiphany.

I'm kind of that way with food. Too much of anything not good for me makes me feel like shit later. I still get cravings now and then for foods I know are bad for me. Knowing that I'll probably feel lousy afterwards is usually enough to ward off a craving.

I'm not this way about exercise though. I rarely crave exercise, it's usually something I have to force myself to do, an unwanted interruption in my day. I have to be doing something while I exercise like listening to an audiobook or music to make it more enjoyable.

I'm wondering if this principle could apply to this forum. I sometimes I find I spend too much time on here- more than is good for me.

 

[garbage]

The connection and the results are so obvious that it feels silly to mention it. Doing bad things makes me feel bad, therefore I should have less desire to do bad things. But once I started making connections, it really was like an epiphany.

Yeah, it's easy to deduce, but it's 'difficult' to internalize. That internalization involves making the connection between 'bad stuff' and 'bad results' instinctual, though, which leads to good habits and good results!

Bam, we're animals after all.

 

[Randomnity]

So, does any of this resonate with any of you health freaks? Any similar approaches out there?

Well, I'm not a health freak at all, but yes, definitely. Not just with eating, but with everything. I have ZERO willpower so it's habits for me or nothing happens. Forming habits is a real struggle at first too, no matter how easy I start off. Any habit-forming tips?

 

[UniqueMixture]

Well, I'm not a health freak at all, but yes, definitely. Not just with eating, but with everything. I have ZERO willpower so it's habits for me or nothing happens. Forming habits is a real struggle at first too, no matter how easy I start off. Any habit-forming tips?

Don't think of it as the beginning of a process, just as something you do that day. Seems less daunting.

 

[kyuuei]

I find food is the easiest healthy thing for me to do. Making smart choices when I eat out, and buying the right things based on recipes I found that look yummy and work for my diet help entirely.

Exercise, studying, advanced hygiene (like masks, and steaming my face and exfoliating, etc.) and other such things are really hard for me to maintain with gusto. if I have a steady schedule in my life, it is easy for me to do these. When something interrupts that schedule, these are the first to go even though I feel better after having done them.

 

[Bilateral Entry]

The most I ever exercised was when I was bored as fuck and had nothing else to do, so it was all I looked forward to.

 

[UniqueMixture]

I've been thinking moderation is necessary as well. I gogogogogogogogogogogogo with regard to this stuff then I get frustrated and want to release all that tension and then I wake up on the metro heading to hollywood at 4 in the morning and I'm like wtf??? the last thing I remember was drinking the fourth beer at my friend's house

 

[EvidenceOfRedemption]

I take a realistic approach to this, not trying to convince myself of any given mentality. Instead of trying to pretend I don't have certain unhealthy desires, I one-up them with better choices and this works very well and almost never fails for me. For instance, if I'm feeling hungry and a see an ad for a big juicy cheeseburger, I right away will go eat a healthy meal instead. Usually, the temptation is only unbearable because I've skipped a meal or something along those lines. If not, I'll just wait until my next meal and look forward to healthy consistency. This does away with the problem all together instead of trying to wrestle against something I want to do or become one of those nuts that pretend delicious food is disgusting to them (no doubt you feel that way afterwards, but it does taste good when youre eating it!). I think that's delusional and unrealistic.

Think how uncommon marital unfaithfulness would be if married couples frequently satisfy themselves with their spouse. Why pretend like you don't feel like it when there is a better alternative? The problem is usually not the temptation. Temptation will come, inevitably, but our choosing to crumble to it instead of a clearly better option which is quite readily available. There's no reason not to, so why don't many people do this?

The answer, I think, is our culture's inability to admit that hesitating to the right thing is still doing the wrong thing... and if you sit there and mull over a cheeseburger instead of finally using that lettuce you bought to whip up a salad to kill that craving before it bites you... well, then, you're gonna fall to temptation eventually. Don't hesitate to choose the better thing and you will find something better than will-power: self control.

 

[WALMART]

I've been good at naturally regulating my actions. When I feel myself getting sloppy, I exercise more. When i feel myself getting fit I slob around, etc.