I have a bone to pick with “mini”-sized treats
I have a bone to pick with “mini”-sized treats. You may be thinking, “But Kim, don’t you mean you have a bone to pick with the value super size meals?” Well, that’s a different story. Let me tell you why mini-sized “junk food” pushes my buttons.
But first, let me set the stage by explaining a little something about my philosophy. You’ve probably heard me say it before – I’m a big picture person. Rather than encouraging my clients to count every calorie or weigh out every kernel, I coach based on general principles and guidelines. You see, the women I work with are in their 50’s, and usually by the time they hit the prime of their life they’ve been from diet to diet and meal plan to meal plan and they’re sick and tired of trying the “latest” thing that will help them lose weight and feel great. Rather now, they’re more ready than ever to build a strong foundation of healthy eating and exercise the good old-fashioned way and never go through the challenges and disappointments of yo-yo dieting again.
I strongly believe in helping women build healthy habits and behaviors that will benefit them over time. “Healthy habits” isn’t sexy, but it’s true and it works. In fact, you’ll hear me say it time and time again that the key to lasting change is changing your daily habits.
I’ve had several clients have a problem with eating something sweet at night after dinner while watching TV. For some it was chocolate, for others it was ice cream bars, which is why it struck a chord in me while I was cruising around Facebook the other day.
As I scrolled down the page casually reading updates, I came across an advertisement for “Magnum ‘Mini’ Ice Cream Bars”. The ad showed a box with the different flavors that they offer. But more importantly, they were selling the “mini” part. They showed a picture of how small these new ice creams bars are that they make now. Basically, they want you to know that you can have your ice cream and eat it too (pun intended). Now that it’s a mini size, you don’t have to feel as guilty when you have your nightly treat.
But, here’s the thing about habits. They work both ways. They can either be healthy or they can be unhealthy. In this case, it’s not the size of sweet treat one has, it’s the frequency one has of that treat. Sure, it’s better to have a smaller size rather than the regular size or super size, but the issue is not about the size. The issue is the habit of having a nightly sweet treat – an unhealthy habit.
Today, I challenge you to do this exercise. Grab a blank sheet of paper and make two columns. The column on the left will say “Healthy Habits” and the column on the right will say “Unhealthy Habits.” Draw a line right down the middle of the page and start listing.
Think about the habits that you currently have. Some of your “Healthy Habits” may look like taking a walk during your lunch break everyday, walking your dog before work and when you get home, making an extra portion of dinner the night before to take to work for lunch the next day, standing up once an hour at work to stretch and move around, etc.
On the other hand, your “Unhealthy Habits” could look something like having a nightly “treat,” getting fast food on the way home from work every night because you don’t have any food at home, that daily afternoon Starbucks Frappuccino, spending too many hours sitting and watching mindless TV or surfing the internet when you know you should be moving your body, etc.
Then, regardless of which list is longer, I suggest doing just one of two things: either ADD something to your “Healthy Habits” list that you will start doing this week, OR find the one item on your “Unhealthy Habits” list that would be the easiest thing for you to stop doing.
Will you commit to making one of those changes today? If so, I’d love to hear it. Reply back and tell me if you’re going to add a healthy habit into your life this week or if you’re going to get rid of one unhealthy habit that you currently have.
Image Credit: http://www.magnumicecream.ca/
