Book on changing bad habits

nuckolsm

I just read a great book that has helped me change some bad habits (snacking when upset, eating when not hungry, etc). The book is "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg. In summary, he talks about how the brain is wired to do things habitually -- that our biology is such that we couldn't possibly think about every action we take every minute of our lives, and some things become hard-wired by doing them over and over. The book covers how people go on auto-pilot for most of what we do in our lives -- driving a car, getting dressed, or gorging on chocolate cake -- and then discusses how these habits can be changed. He addresses how to identify triggers that make you start a habit (stressful incident, alarm clock going off, bored at work etc), how habits get ingrained when called upon by these triggers, and how rewards help to cement these habits in place. While not specifically a weight-loss book, he talks a lot about addiction (food, gambling, alcohol, smoking, drugs) and how approaching these addictions as habits is often successful. Finally, he talks about research into changing habits. To change a habit, he concludes that you must substitute one habit with another.

For me, I realized i was eating when stressed by something that I didn't want to deal with, bored, or when I wanted a break. Now, when I catch these triggers occurring, I make myself a cup of herbal tea rather than grabbing a snack. The tea gives me an opportunity to get up, change what I'm doing, get something I enjoy (I buy fancy special teas that I love), and hold my hands around a warm (or in hot weather cold) beverage. I've managed to cut out lots of calories this way -- and am finally starting to see pounds slowly slip off. Now, I am trying to develop a new habit -- going to the treadmill before lunch every day without thinking about it!

This book has really changed how I think about weight loss and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone wanting to better understand why they keep eating when they're not hungry.