How To Get Out of a Junk Food Rut

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Links Mentioned

New Mama Energy Guide
Ep 4: Why a Healthy Lifestyle Should Include Treats
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Transcript

You’re listening to The Love & Lettuce Podcast, episode number eight. I am talking all about the dreaded junk food rut today, and how the heck to get out of it if you find yourself in one. Let’s dive on in.

Hey, this is Laura Lima, holistic nutritionist and founder of New Mama Nation and host of The Love & Lettuce Podcast. I am here to help mamas know what to eat to give them energy and help them feel fantastic so they can better enjoy life with their littles. And remember, this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice from your healthcare provider, and is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition. As always, please consult your healthcare provider to find out what is right for you. With that said, let’s get to the show!

Could you use more energy, mama? I mean, who couldn’t, right? Get my free New Mama Energy Guide, where I’ll give you 10 tips to increase your energy stat. Go to bit.ly/newmamas to get your free copy. 

The Junk Food Rut

Yes, the good old junk food rut. We’ve all been there, some of us visit often, and still others have no idea how the heck to get out of it once they fall in. Listen, let’s just start by saying it’s totally normal. We’re only human after all, born to make mistakes. Oh, wait, that was a song from the 80s. Never mind. But it’s also kind of relevant, although I will say, I don’t label “falling into a rut” as “making a mistake”. It just is what it is, plain and simple.

That said, being in a junk food rut isn’t somewhere we want to stay for long. Not only does it not serve us physically, because junk food can wreak havoc on our blood sugar level, hormones, digestion, immune system, and so much more… but it can also mess with our mind, making us feel defeated, breaking our confidence in ourselves and preventing us from living up to our true potential.

So the question is, how the heck do you get out of it? Well, my friend, I’m here to give you a few tips. The key to getting them to work is to commit to the process. Seriously. There aren’t many steps; in fact, there’s only four, but it’s the consistency that counts. When it comes to the actual changes to implement, I repeat, the important thing is the process itself, as opposed to exact steps. This is because we’re all in different places when we’re in a rut, and therefore the exact changes we need to make are unique to each of us.

The Process for Getting Out of the Junk Food Rut

So here is the process that I recommend for getting out of a junk food rut.

Number 1

Here’s number one: Really understand your reason or reasons for wanting to get out of the rut. So maybe you want to have more energy, boost your immune system, maybe you’re getting sick all the time, maybe you simply want to feel better. So whatever your personal reasons are for wanting to get the heck out of the junk food rut, I want you to really get clear on them, and then write them down so you can read them again when things get tough.

No matter what, when it comes to healthy eating, it all comes back to your why, the reason or the reasons why you want to live a healthy lifestyle and eat healthy foods. Because when things get tough and you’re faced with a decision to eat the junk or not to eat the junk, remembering your why can help you so much in those moments.

My Future Self

Honestly, one of my main whys is my future self. I think of who I want to be five days from now, five months, five years from now, I think about the level of health I want to have, how I want to feel, what symptoms I want to experience, or obviously not experience, and just who I want to be. And when I think of her, it’s a lot easier to say, actually, she wouldn’t want me eating that cake right now. No, I think I’ll pass because in the long run, I’ll be happy that I made this decision today.

Now, there has to be a caveat here, which is that this is life, and I don’t personally feel that we should always say no to the cake or the chips or the chocolate almonds or name your thing. I feel that eating those foods is actually part of a healthy way of living, believe it or not. But I only feel that way if the majority of one’s diet is as healthy as it can be. I think of this as the 80/20 rule, where 80% of the time we are rocking it with eating super-nourishing foods, and for the remaining 20%, we’re eating cupcakes.

Okay, maybe not actually, but you get the point. So I totally do feel that we should have freedom when it comes to the foods that we eat, and that we should absolutely indulge. But I also feel that there needs to be somewhat of a limit. Otherwise, we’ll just end up in a junk food rut, hello! And that is not a fun place, iIf you ask me.

If you want to hear more about this, listen to episode 4. It’s actually called Why a Healthy Lifestyle Should Include Treats, and it’s all about why I believe that is. So check out episode 4, and you will hear a lot more on this.

Okay, so that was a long aside, but I felt that it was a necessary one. So just to review here, the first part of the process for me, number one in getting out of a junk food rut, is to really understand your reasons for wanting to get out of it, and then writing them down so you can read them again when things get tough.

Number 2

Okay, on to number two: Beyond knowing your reasons, you must commit to sticking with the healthy changes you’re about to make. Yes, it will be tough at times, and yeah, you’ll have moments when you just want to say “screw this” and eat an entire pack of cookies. And I get that! But do your absolute best to follow through with the changes you decide to make, and you’ll be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in no time.

So it’s all about commitment; you have to commit to sticking with the healthy changes that you’re about to make. Compared to number one, that was actually pretty short and sweet.

Number 3

So now we’re on to number three; here it is: Decide what changes those are that you need to make. So you’re actually deciding the specific changes you’re going to implement, and choose two or three of them to start with. If you really think about it, you know what they are. For example, let’s say that you have chocolate almonds every night after dinner. You know it’s not a healthy habit, but you can’t seem to stop. Ding ding ding! That right there is a change that you can focus on making. Instead of having those chocolate almonds, and I know how good they are, believe me, you can choose to have a healthier snack, one that includes protein and fat. Doing this will help to stabilize your blood sugar, especially going into sleep time, and it’ll keep you fuller, longer.

My Favourite Nighttime Snacks

Some of my favourite nighttime snacks include toasted pumpkin seeds, delicious, a boiled egg, or two if you need, or a few scoops of almond butter mixed with coconut oil. Mix it up, eat it with a spoon, yum.

Now I want to give you a little healthy side note while we’re talking about protein and fat. Let’s give them the shoutout they deserve. These food components are what we should be focusing on in order to reduce our desire for junk food. That whole blood sugar stabilizing, making you fuller, longer thing. Yeah, that is key for reducing cravings, and protein and fat can help make it happen. And side note, protein and fat are super important.

Okay, beyond our nighttime snacking example, other changes could include drinking more water, say eight cups per day, maybe walking daily, and/or going to bed earlier. Again, the specific changes you’ll focus on will be the ones that you personally know that you need to make.

Step 4

Let’s move on to the fourth and final step. You’ve now chosen two or three small changes to start with. Now, here’s an equally important step: You’re going to do them every day until they become new healthy habits.

So right now, you might be wondering just how long it might take for those things to actually become habits. Well, a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology set out to discover that very thing, how long it actually takes for a new behaviour to become automatic. In other words, to become a habit.

How long does it take to form a new habit?

The conclusion? On average, it takes 66 days to form a new habit. Okay, that may sound like a lot, but that is just the average, and it could take a lot less time for you personally. But even still, either way it’s going to be 66 days from now. Would you rather have this new, awesome, healthy habit that is automatic for you? Or would you rather still be in a rut, wishing that your health was different? That you could just get motivated, that you could just get started already? Either way, my friend, it’s going to be 66 days from now, and you have that choice as to how things will look at that time. Remember, it’s all about your future self, right?

Now, the other part of the study was that they also found that “missing one opportunity to perform the behaviour did not materially affect the habit formation process.” So in other words, we don’t have to be perfect in order to get a new habit to stick. If we miss a day here and there, that is totally fine. Like, that is really good news.

So once you start to notice the improvement in how you feel, and mama, you will if you stay consistent, believe me. So once you start to notice that improvement, it’ll become easier to implement even more healthy habits. And before you know it, you’ll be like, what rut? And you’ll be dancing your way through the day. Okay, maybe not actually, but you’ll feel like it because you just feel so dang good. Proud of yourself for sticking to it and making it happen, and healthier, which just literally makes everything better. When you feel healthier, everything is better.

Let’s Recap

So let’s do a little recap of the steps to take to get the heck out of a junk food rut. Number one: Understand your reasons for wanting to get out of the rut. Write them down so that you can read them whenever you need a reminder. Number two: Commit to the healthy changes that you’re about to make. So commitment is key here. Number three: Focus on two or three changes to start with. And number four: Decide to do them daily. It’s your choice, so remember that and use it to your advantage. You’ve got this.

Okay, so I want to know if you’ve ever found yourself in a junk food rut before.

What the heck you did to get out of it? Or maybe you’re still in it, in which case, I’m so glad you just listened to this episode today! And I hope it helps you take action to get out of it. If you have gotten out of a rut before, I’d love to know how you did it and what tips you might have for others in a similar situation. Take a screenshot of this episode and tag me on Instagram in your story, or you can send me a DM and let me know. I genuinely love to get your comments. I’m on Insta @lauraannlima. And if you’re not already subscribed to this podcast, do it mama. That way when a new episode comes out, you’ll see it right there on your phone. Talk to you next week.

And don’t forget to get your free copy of my New Mama Energy Guide. Just go to bit.ly/newmamas for instant access. Thanks for listening to The Love & Lettuce Podcast. To find out how to work with me and for more great info, check out newmamanation.com. This is Laura! Until next time, love and lettuce.