Alexandra Jamieson, holistic nutrition counselor, Morgan Spurlock’s famous detox guide from the film Supersize Me, and the author of the new book Women, Food, and Desire: Embrace Your Cravings, Make Peace with Food, Reclaim Your Body, says you actually don’t have to. You just have to understand them. Jamieson says taking a step back and asking yourself why you’re doing it in the first place—are you reaching for that Diet Coke because you like the taste, are you tired, or is it mindless?—that helps dissolve bad habits better than swearing off them (and failing). “Think about what you’re really craving when you reach for a habit,” says Jamieson, whose book is full of examples from her own life and her clients’. It’s never just about the cupcake. There’s something that we want. “This is one of those awareness practices that’s like meditation. If you give yourself five seconds to ask yourself ‘What is it about a cup of hot tea with milk?’ Is it the milk? Am I cold? Is it the caffeine? Do I want to feel cozy?’” It will give you much better insight into why you’re actually doing certain things (even benign ones like sipping tea), says Jamieson, and the awareness kicks off the transformation process. It also banishes the feeling that you need to dissolve all of your crutches in one day (which, ahem, isn’t very realistic). Of course, there are some very unhealthy habits (like smoking) that you might need to break ASAP. But then there a lot of common, unhealthy habits that you can start to re-think. Find out how at Well+Good.
