A lot of diets and new fitness regimes fail due to triggers’
Everyday we are surrounded by things that divert us away from a well laid plan, and I call this a trigger. They are all around us in advertising and workplace environments, and when you see or hear them, they plant a memory in your head and distract you. You could be watching the tv whilst eating a lovely fresh healthy lunch you have just prepared, when on the tv comes ‘da da da da da’ and now you want a McDonalds and its planted. You are now going to spend the next few hours craving it leading to you going and buying it and then feeling guilty that you ate it.
How do we tackle triggers?
There are number of ways to tackle triggers but the main thing you must learn to do is acknowledge your weak spots and accept them. By bringing awareness to them it gives you the power to put in place some buffers. If you know a certain thing makes you act a certain way, ask yourself, how can I remove or reduce this? Create a few affirmations maybe to keep you positive and reduce your negative thoughts about yourself. Negativity in your weight or your weaknesses just gives you reason to allow these triggers to gain momentum.
The process and outcome of a trigger:
Trigger (advert, smell, song)
Craving (needing, over thinking, FOMO)
Giving in to the craving
Remorse (what have I done)
Here are a few hints and tips to tackle triggers:
1 – Listen to Spotify or a playlist so you don’t have adverts to plant them.
2 – Give your goal the most importance. Make your bad habit’s less important or even unnecessary.
3 – Rule of 3. Don’t give in straight away to a craving, give it 3 days and if you’re still craving then have it. I can guarantee a lot of the time you will forget about it the next day.
4 – Don’t listen to the people around you and people please. If they are doing it don’t have FOMO. You have your goals, most people won’t care about them or won’t realize that you have them.
5 – Tell the people around you what you’re trying to achieve. This might make them rethink what they are bringing into the office or kitchen, by bringing in alternatives as an afternoon treat. You may even find they join you.
6 – Distract yourself by envisaging how good you will feel when you reach your goals. Act like you already have it.
7 – Think of something really disgusting to link to a food you can’t seem to let go of that is unhealthy. For example, if you can’t give up crisps, think about the texture being like a scab, disgusting I know, but see how quickly your mind changes over that crisp.
Stay happy, stay healthy, Gem x
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