Mindset Shift for Staying on Track with Healthier Eating Habits

Hi there, welcome to the Eating Habits for Life Podcast. This little mini episode kicks off a new series that I’m going to be doing a weekly in addition to my regular podcast episodes that are published every Thursday. And that is every Monday I will be helping you with your mindset around eating habits, weight loss, your body image, work stress, your busy schedule, and everything in between.

Listen to the episode here (or read it below):

Why I want to help you with this is because our mindset is everything. You’ll have a really challenging time changing your behaviors, your habits without changing your mindset. And that can be just a little shift. It doesn’t have to be a drastic change.

Why mindset is everything is because your thoughts determine your emotions and your emotions determine what you do or don’t do and then that of course leads to a result. That result is either something that you desire or something that you don’t desire.

So, if you have a crummy mindset about something, you’re not going to feel very good, which is typically not going to lead you to do the actions that are in alignment with the results that you want.

If you have a more positive mindset about something in particular, then you’re going to feel a better emotion, which is then going to likely lead to actions that are more in alignment with the result that you want.

Following?

So, the example that I am going to give for this very first episode in the Monday Mindset series is thinking that you’ll never be able to stay on track with healthier eating habits.

Have you personally had this thought or one similar to it?

OK, so what your brain likes to do, and everyone’s brain does this, but it will take evidence from the past and predict the future with it. So if you’ve not been able to stay on track in the past with eating habits, even if that just occurred one time, your brain will remember that and tell you that you’ll never be able to stay on track with eating habits.

If you’re thinking that thought, how do you think that that’s going to make you feel? What emotion? Probably not a great one. Maybe something like discouraged.

And if you’re feeling discouraged, what do you think you would end up doing or not doing? You probably wouldn’t really put as much effort into trying to change your eating habits. Maybe you’d slip back into eating a big bowl of chips every night. It can be anything.

But I think you get the idea and these things that you’d be doing or not doing would have what result? You wouldn’t be staying on track with healthier eating habits, that’s for sure.

But what if we shifted this thought to “it’s possible I can stay on track with healthier eating habits. I’ve done so at least one time, for 2 months.” This thought or this mindset shift shifts you over into that feeling of possibility. And I wanted to give this specific example because you’re even showing your brain evidence of being able to do it in the past, even if it was for shorter than you would have liked it to have been.

And if you’re thinking it’s possible I can stay on track with healthier eating habits I’ve done so at least one time for two months, how do you think that would make you feel? Maybe encouraged. That feels better than discouraged, right? So already, you’re feeling a little bit better just because of this shift in thinking.

And if you’re feeling encouraged, what do you think that feeling, that emotion, would help you to do or avoid? You’d probably put some continued or maybe even more effort into figuring out how you can better be able to have those healthier eating habits. You’d more likely to not go back to eating the big bowl of chips every night.

And then those things would help you to reach what results? Probably staying on track with healthier eating habits. At least more so then that other thought and the resultant emotion and behaviors.

Alright, so that was your Monday mindset shift for staying on track with healthier eating habits. Be sure to tune in this Thursday for the normal scheduled episode and every Monday morning for these mindset Monday mini episodes.

And if you need help specifically on mindset or a thought that you’ve been having that you suspect isn’t helpful, then be sure to drop it in the comments if you’re listening on Spotify, or you can also find me on Instagram at Kate Johnston coaching and send me a message there.