I thought it took 21 days (or so) to form a habit?

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soccerkon26
soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
edited March 2015 in Food and Nutrition
I am at about week 5 of eating well and did SO well up until mid-way through last week.

For some reason I have lost my self control that I had the first several weeks and it's upsetting.

Anyone have any tips? I was able to only eat a few chips or a few cookies as long as it fit into my macros, but the last several days I have had no self control. I'm wondering if I should get rid of all of those foods, but am not sure if I'll be restricting myself too much then.

(By the way, I'm almost at my estimated goal weight...so close!)

Replies

  • Mech9
    Mech9 Posts: 252 Member
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    I'm pretty sure that the 21-day thing is just a myth. Here's a better researched answer, though: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-clear/forming-new-habits_b_5104807.html
  • Mech9
    Mech9 Posts: 252 Member
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    Also, I get that way when I'm PMS'ing. It helps to eat a ton of protein, fat, and nuts while avoiding sugary stuff.
  • jseo123
    jseo123 Posts: 9
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    I was in the same situation as you. I was so close to my goal weight (I wasn't trying to lose a whole lot in the first place, just around 10-15lbs). I started on January 1st, and I was at about week 5 as well when the junk food binges started. For me, it lasted an entire month. So all of February, I was binging every few days on junk food. I think if I put all the days that I binged together, in total, I must have binged an entire week (or maybe more) of February. It was really hard. I think you just have to come to the realization that you are the one in control. But of course, as always, it's easier said than done. I used to take naps, brush my teeth, drink a cup of black coffee or tea or just leave the room altogether whenever I felt like I needed to eat everything.

    In retrospect, though, I wish I had decided to up my calories to maintenance and eaten like a regular person for about 2-3 weeks instead of trying to keep eating healthy or dieting because February was a very distressing month for me.

    Also, for me personally, I was able to identify the two time periods that were really dangerous in terms of my binging. They were the hours between 3-5pm and then again between 6-9pm. So I started doing things at those hours that would distract me. For example, I started taking hour long naps from 3:30-4:30pm, and instead of doing morning workouts, I started going to the gym from 7-8:30pm. It took a while for me to figure this out, but ultimately it really helped me. I think you need to figure out those triggers (whether it be a certain time in the day or when you feel a certain emotion or whatever) and avoid those triggers by distracting yourself.

    Now, I'm back on track, and yesterday, I was finally able to stop myself amidst an almost-binge-episode which was very triumphant for me.

    Just keep pushing yourself forward. Don't dwell on the past, and keep telling yourself that regardless of what your mind is telling you, you are making progress, maybe slowly, but surely. Don't give up or lose hope!
  • Driagnor
    Driagnor Posts: 323 Member
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    I personally try and keep chocolates / biscuits etc. out of the house in order to minimize the temptation to eat them. I don't have any banned foods, so if I really want it, I can go out and get it. However, I've found that in two months of being back on this, I haven't felt the desire for it that strongly that I've been tempted to go out and purchase them.

    I know that if they had been in the house, there would have been at least a couple of occasions where I would have eaten them however.
  • soccerkon26
    soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
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    jseo123 wrote: »
    I was in the same situation as you. I was so close to my goal weight (I wasn't trying to lose a whole lot in the first place, just around 10-15lbs). I started on January 1st, and I was at about week 5 as well when the junk food binges started. For me, it lasted an entire month. So all of February, I was binging every few days on junk food. I think if I put all the days that I binged together, in total, I must have binged an entire week (or maybe more) of February. It was really hard. I think you just have to come to the realization that you are the one in control. But of course, as always, it's easier said than done. I used to take naps, brush my teeth, drink a cup of black coffee or tea or just leave the room altogether whenever I felt like I needed to eat everything.

    In retrospect, though, I wish I had decided to up my calories to maintenance and eaten like a regular person for about 2-3 weeks instead of trying to keep eating healthy or dieting because February was a very distressing month for me.

    Also, for me personally, I was able to identify the two time periods that were really dangerous in terms of my binging. They were the hours between 3-5pm and then again between 6-9pm. So I started doing things at those hours that would distract me. For example, I started taking hour long naps from 3:30-4:30pm, and instead of doing morning workouts, I started going to the gym from 7-8:30pm. It took a while for me to figure this out, but ultimately it really helped me. I think you need to figure out those triggers (whether it be a certain time in the day or when you feel a certain emotion or whatever) and avoid those triggers by distracting yourself.

    Now, I'm back on track, and yesterday, I was finally able to stop myself amidst an almost-binge-episode which was very triumphant for me.

    Just keep pushing yourself forward. Don't dwell on the past, and keep telling yourself that regardless of what your mind is telling you, you are making progress, maybe slowly, but surely. Don't give up or lose hope!

    Thank you for taking the time to write this. And great job for getting back on track :)
  • soccerkon26
    soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
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    Driagnor wrote: »
    I personally try and keep chocolates / biscuits etc. out of the house in order to minimize the temptation to eat them. I don't have any banned foods, so if I really want it, I can go out and get it. However, I've found that in two months of being back on this, I haven't felt the desire for it that strongly that I've been tempted to go out and purchase them.

    I know that if they had been in the house, there would have been at least a couple of occasions where I would have eaten them however.

    I think I may need to give away my pack of Oreos and chips ahoy cookies, as well as my cereal and chips. Or only keep a tiny bit!
  • soccerkon26
    soccerkon26 Posts: 596 Member
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    Bump :)
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    Mech9 wrote: »
    Also, I get that way when I'm PMS'ing.

    Yeah during pms I'm always hungry. :laugh: So I feed me!!

    nXBz6.gif
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    You said you are really close to your goal, is it possible you need to bump up your daily calories a smidge? I don't know what you are set at, but if you are within 10-15 lbs of your goal and are losing more than half a pound per week, maybe reset to half a pound per week to give you a little extra wiggle room so you can ease off a little?

    I have days every once in a while that I just have to eat more. I just aim to stay at my maintenance calories when that happens and get back to my lower goal tomorrow. Or ummm maybe the day after :)
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
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    You could try pre-portioning your food. Make up ziploc bags of cookies or chips or whatever. Sort of like if you had bought the lunch snack size things from the store. Then you grab 1 bag when you want a thing. I do something similar mentally -- I just have a sort of rule that I can have 1 portion or less. So if a box says 2 cookies is 1 serving, I can have 2 cookies, or 1 if I'm feeling like that would be fine. And I enjoy my cookies. If I want a bigger snack, I'll put 1 serving of the treat with say, an apple (a thing I generally find pretty satisfying). Sometimes I do this 0 times a day, sometimes 1 or 2.

    But yeah, sometimes not having it around is the best thing, at least temporarily. Or limit it. You could have ONE box of treats in the house, but like two boxes of cookies and three bags of chips might be pushing it. If you don't WANT to eat all that this week, don't buy it, type thing.

    And lots of things affect hunger, so don't be hard on yourself. Your cycle. Stress. How well you slept last night. If you're fighting off a cold. Getting more exercise than usual. Etc. You could always take a break and eat to maintenance for a day or two, or a week, if you think it would do you good mentally/emotionally.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    I'd never heard the 21 days to form a habit thing before joining this site. I'm not sure where that comes from, but it has not been my experience. Habits can take various amounts of time to form for me, mostly based on how much I enjoy whatever it is.

    And the thing about habits is they often take longer to break than form, especially if it is something I see as a chore.

    When it comes to food I find it's more about changing my tastes/preferences than forming a habit. I mean, eating is a necessity not a habit.

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