This book is so useful to me and I'm sure to many of my readers too. Charles Duhigg is a bestselling novelist whose daytime job is a reporter based in the USA. Once I read this book, it opened my eyes and awareness that many of us, subconsciously fall into mental traps which influence our behaviors by going through routines which require little mental and cognitive use and ability.
In short, we all fall into this 3 step activity on a daily basis.
1. Cue
2. Routine
3. Reward
This is repeated many times a day, and for many people, it becomes second nature, which subsequently becomes entrenched into our subconcious mind, without even giving a second thought to it.
The truth of the matter is this ; most of the highly processed foods in the market, ranging from snack foods crisps, to sausages, bacon, ham, chocolate and even ice cream are highly processed foods. Recent in- depth studies have shown that processed foods and regular intake of them can and will cause metabolic syndrome, leading to diabetes, high cholesterol, cancer, high blood pressure, aneurisyms and heart attack just to name the most common diseases which are so prevalent and are a result of our modern day lifestyle and activity or non -activity.
Snack food manufacturers have put so many flavours and additives into these snacks with the sole intent of creating an addiction which is a craving which if not satisfied leads to behavioral change and longing. There are numerous examples of these, especially soda drinks and fast food that literally millions or (maybe) billions are living the poor food, snack diet and soft drinks cycle day in day out.
It the same with nicotine (smoking) and alcohol consumption. I do not need to elaborate that these 3. ;
1. snack and confectioary foods
2. alcohol
3. smoking
are the opiate of the masses, or the feel good stuffs readily available to the general population to dull the grind of daily urban life. We the people subconciously do things and repeat these acitivities ad nauseum, to mechanise our daily activities so that our brain function is kept on low gear - 90% of the daily awake time.
We believe and learn from young to develop regular activities which we are told to be good. 4 of which spring to mind effortlessly and so regularly that they become habits which are repeated on a daily basis, that they become ingrained in our daily cycle. However, over time, we subconciously develop bad habits and over the years stick with the ones which give us the best endorphin rush or boost for the least physical activity expended. Meaning, we are inherently lazy.
The 4 food habits which we have trained upon us since young worldwide are, exercising :
1. good physical hygiene (bathing at least once a day and trimming our bodily hair growth)
2. good oral hygiene (brushing and flossing our teeth at least twice a day)
3. good sleep hygiene (getting at least 7 to hours of continuous uninterrupted sleep).
4. good internal hygiene (moving your bowels and urine regularly).
The simple act of brushing our teeeth, twice (minimum) a day is to prevent bad bacteria from building up and causing plaque which will eventually cause tooth decay, rotting and gum disease. However, up till about 100 years ago, people did not bother to brush their teeth with toothpaste with enamel and gum protection flouride and other good nutrients. That is another story for another blog.
Let me qualify. Its perfectly OK to eat some crisps, soft drinks, alcohol, chocolate, red wine or whatever you like once in a while. The issue is when it consuming these things become cravings and eventually must haves on a daily basis that I believe it can be detrimental to your health and wellbeing. The fact that these are sold over the counter all over the world with no warning labels, with the exception of alcohol and cigarettes doesn't imply that they are health foods.
That said, striving to eat a balanced diet of fresh foods, vegetables, ideally without GMO, or genetically modified processes, clean water and regular exercise plus adopting a healthy outlook in life is what we should all strive for.
Development of good habits is key. and over the course of 4 score years (80) which is the average life expectancy of most people in developed countries, we would have mindlessly picked up several bad habits over these decades.
The good news is that they are reversible and can be replaced with good ones. You only need a strong willpower, a supportive family and friends environment and a never say die spirit.
Habit #1 ; Snacking
Lets start first with the snacks, there are 3 stages in the habit loop.
1. Cue
2. Routine
3. Reward.
So, the cue in this case is hunger. There are some who snack out of boredom. That is mindless activity creating dopamine or the feel good chemical in our body. Scientists have for decades developed endless artificial flavours and smells and tried all kinds of triggers to make us feel food without us doing the necessary work, like exercise which naturally creates it.
The 'likes' on your social media feed, on Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok to name just 3 gives everybody a rush of dopamine, never mind they are strangers. "hey I got 300 likes for my post" I must be some hero.
Coming back to the snack foods, the Cue here is Hunger for 90% of the time.
We then do the routine, without the activity checking in our mind, "hey, what is the best food or small snack I can eat to settle my hungry tummy ?".
So, in the larder (for example like mine) are .2 packets of Potato Crisps (baked not fried to lessen the guilt trip), and the routine is for this old fat body to make his way down, tear open the vacuum sealed packet and pop in to my heart (or tummy's) content. My calorie counter is thrown out the window. Oh while I am at it, pop open a small can of beer.
In no time, my snack has become a full blown meal of bad bad calories (450 and above).
Reward : I am rewarded when my tummy is full and my dopamine tank has kicked in and fulfilled.
I mindlessly omit that I have added another 450 and above calories to my daily intake, and these are the worst kind - processed food and alcohol.
Assuming that I have eaten 3 healthy meals, each of say 500 to 600 calories each, I should have enough for the day. So why do I snack ? Perhaps it is boredom, perhaps the food has digested easily and I need to pop in something, OR, I do some exercise and generate endorphin, the naturally occuring chemical which is critical for creating dopamine.
So, the logical and healthy thing for me to do, is 1 of 2 activities.
a) If I am in the office, I would eat something healthy like a crunchy fruit, or crackers.
b) If I am outside, then make my way to do a run / walk or play some table tennis with some buddy of mine.
The change in routine is so crucial to many of us, especially me. I have miraculously improved my running condition (at age 62) so much so that I can still run or walk practically every other day.
So, the new habit, is now (with effect from Dec 15th 2024)
1. Cue - Hunger
2. Routine - Physical activity (running/ walking/ gardening)
3. Reward - Dopamine tank is replenished.
If I can keep at this for 1 month, a new healthier me has emerged. A person who has shed his old bad snacking and drinking habit.
So, as of tomorrow, I will create a INPUT AND OUTPUT LOG food log, a snack log and an exercise log for myself to track every single activity in and out for my tracking.
A lot of self discipline is required. Self denial and never say die spirit is also needed.
Wish me luck in my journey.
