How to Have a Growth Mindset for Better Eating Habits

Did you know that mindset plays an even bigger role than researchers and behavioral specialists thought? It’s not just simply that a positive mindset helps you to stay motivated either (although that’s certainly one piece of it).

It has more to do with the connection between a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, and the effect it has on things that affect your eating behaviors and habits like ghrelin, the “hunger hormone.”

So, I’m going to teach how to have a growth mindset for better eating habits, so you can start making much more progress toward your eating habit goals.

First, What is a Growth Mindset Anyway?

A growth mindset is where you believe that your abilities and knowledge can be improved upon. This means even despite failure or never having done before. A growth mindset helps keep you moving in the right direction, rather than feeling stagnant.

Being in a space where you believe that you can improve upon the abilities you currently have, will open you up to learning, trying, and taking risks.

A growth mindset is necessary to truly make progress. It’s necessary to push yourself closer to your goals. Not just having goals.

A growth mindset for better eating habits looks like this. “I’ve always eaten poorly because of the way I was brought up, but I want better for myself and I know I can improve those eating habits.”

Contrast that with a fixed mindset. I’ll explain.

*By the way, researcher, Carol Dweck (of Stanford University) and her colleagues were the ones who coined the terms “growth mindset” and “fixed mindset.”

• RELATED: Feeling Better in Your Body (Podcast Episode)
• RELATED: 10 Mindset Shifts for Weight Loss (Blog Post)

What is a Fixed Mindset?

A fixed mindset is the belief that you were born with certain abilities and that won’t really change.

This can be something like the belief that because you were a shy child, you’ll always be shy.

Or, as it relates to eating habits, can be a belief that you’ve never been able to turn down a dessert, so you never will.

As you can see, these beliefs will prevent you from trying. Which means, you’ll just prove the belief true to your brain. (Your brain loves being right, by the way, so it’s VERY easy to fall into this trap of not doing and therefore then proving your thought true to your brain.)

A fixed mindset keeps you stuck. It keeps you from pursuing goals and dreams.

It does so because of several things. One is that there is a fear of failure. A fear that failure will mean something about you. A fear that other people will see you “fail” and might think something negatively about it.

A fixed mindset also keeps you from pursuing goals and dreams because of the effort required to take the actions necessary to learn, improve your ability, etc. There is certainly going to be some effort there, but pride in your accomplishments is partly due to pride in the effort you know you took, right?

• RELATED: Short vs. Long-Term Behavior Change (Podcast Episode)
• RELATED: 4 Thoughts That Are Sabotaging Your Weight Loss (Blog Post)

Do You Have a Fixed or Growth Mindset?

You’re going to want to start by answering the following question in general, and then as it relates to your eating habits specifically.

Ask yourself the following questions (both in general and as it relates to more specific things like your eating habits, your body or body weight, etc.)

Do you believe you were born with certain abilities and traits and can’t really change those? (can’t at all, or very minimal)

Or…

Do you believe you were born with certain abilities and traits, but can improve or change those?

If you answered “yes” to the first question, you have more of a fixed mindset. If you answered “yes” to the second question, you have more of a growth mindset.

If you have more of a fixed mindset, then good news! I’ll teach you how to move more to a growth mindset, which is very rewarding.

If you have more of a growth mindset, let’s see if we can make it even more robust.

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How to Have a Growth Mindset for Better Eating Habits

There are several ways to move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset and also to really optimize a pre-existing growth mindset.

I’m going to keep it simple for you here though and keep it to something you can start doing immediately that will have more noticeable results early on.

#1 Look for Proof

Start out by looking for things you’ve done in the past that have demonstrated that you’ve learned, changed, or improved an ability or skill in some way.

Make a list of these things. I always advise my clients to write them down, rather than keep them in your mind. You already have enough going on in your brain, there’s no need to keep more in there to just float around. Get it down on paper, so you can see it in front of you.

Next, make that list even longer. Try to think of at least 10 things you’ve improved your knowledge or ability with, or a personality trait you’ve changed. You’ll start seeing how you’ve grown.

You haven’t been stuck with certain ability or skill levels. You haven’t had the same, unchanging personality traits over the years.

You’ve evolved. You’ve grown.

This list is proof, and trust me, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more things you’ve changed or improved that you just aren’t thinking of right now (or don’t necessarily feel like writing down).

#2 Commit to the End Result

Next, you’re going to look at your goals and tell yourself you’ll get there, even if you don’t know exactly how yet. You don’t have to know how just yet, you only have to believe that you WILL.

Knowing how will come, and you may not even know how right away.

You might try, fail, try again, fail again. And that’s okay, because you’re learning as you go.

You’re learning what works and what doesn’t work. You’re moving forward, which means you’re moving closer to your goals, no matter the number of “failures” or challenges along the way.

When you’re committed to the end result, you don’t need to feel like you have to know every exact step and be confident you’ll do every step perfectly. You just have to be confident in your belief.

Commit to that end result and even if you fumble along the way, just know you’ll get there.

• RELATED: Self-Compassion and Your Eating Habits (Podcast Episode)
• RELATED: Willpower and Your Thoughts (Podcast Episode)

Final Notes and Keeping it Simple

Keep it simple with focusing on these two things first. Just focusing on these two things and mastering them first, will make you more successful than if I gave you ALL the things you can do to move to a growth mindset for better eating habits.

Too much to do at once is overwhelming to the human brain and will likely just lead to giving up.

So practice these, notice the changes in your mindset, and you’ll be well on your way to better eating habits.

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