Eating habits start early.
- Jim Kellner - Stage Hypnotist | Speaker |
- Aug 18, 2014
- 4 min read
The video I’m posting really struck me for a few reasons. First of all it was a reminder of where I was headed when I was at my heaviest at 270 lbs. Actually I may have been even higher but I happened to be weighed at the doctors office once when I was at the 270 mark. I struggled with my weight for most of my life and still have challenges from time to time. I remember thinking that it would just be impossible to NOT eat ice cream every day or to never have pizza again.
Fortunately I discovered that I didn’t have to give anything up, I really could just eat less of those unhealthy foods. The funny thing is, now I rarely even want many of those old foods like ice cream or pizza. But I still like nachos. Dammit! I wish I didn’t. Haha. For me, even with the help of hypnosis, at first it was difficult to avoid junk food. So what I did was just focus on all of the good and healthy foods.
My first goal was just to eat one serving of fruit and one serving of vegetables every day. Not much but previously I’d seriously go for long stretches, weeks or months, not eating a single fruit or vegetable that wasn’t fried or baked in a pie. Now, it’s just a habit for me to eat them.
This video also reminded me of a client who had come to see me for weight loss at my Seattle office back when I lived there (I’m now living in Phoenix, AZ). After a few hypnotherapy sessions for the weight loss he was having some excellent results. He’d lost 30 or so lbs was eating healthier and even getting in some exercise. One of his challenges had been giving up or at least reducing his fast food intake. Before coming to see me he’d been eating fast food 2-3 meals a day at times.
Anyway as we were discussing his success with the hypnosis, and really creating a new life for himself, he expressed to me that he was amazed at how easily he’d given up the fast food almost completely. He then went on to say that the only time he’d even go out to fast food was for the kids. He must have noticed a slight twitch in my eye brow as I thought, “ugh”. He went on to explain that it was ok for his kids because they burned it all off because they were active in soccer and martial arts. Again I thought, “ugh”.
This wasn’t the first time I’d heard this comment or similar ones from clients. Many of us were more active when we were kids and could burn off excess calories. But many of us also slow down as we get older. The kids who love playing soccer now may soon be held up in their rooms playing endless hours of video games. The kids who love to participate in martial arts today may find themselves sitting on the couch at 30 drinking beer and eating a bowl of chips that’s resting on their pot belly watching MMA on TV.
Believe me I know what a challenge it can be to get kids to eat healthy at times. I wish I could have another shot at it myself. But please don’t use the “they’ll burn it off” excuse to rationalize the fast food/junk food to yourself. Eating habits are formed early.
The other one that I heard a lot from clients was, “I don’t want to make them eat the same (healthy) food as me”, in referring to their family members who weren’t trying to lose weight. This was especially true of female clients who did the majority of meal prep for the family. They’d say their husband or kids didn’t need to lose weight so they didn’t want to make them “suffer”. The thing is regardless of whether someone needs to weight or not healthy food is good for EVERYONE.
Just because someone is thin doesn’t necessarily mean they are healthy. There are still a variety of diseases that can afflict a person who’s thin. Research has even shown that people who are overweight but eat healthier and exercise are still healthier than thinner people not eating healthy or exercising. Encouraging them to eat healthy food is NOT a punishment; it’s a gift, gift of health and wellness.
I certainly wasn’t a great example to my boys. At 270 lbs I ate fast food, junk food, and microwave meals almost exclusively. As I said I wish I had another opportunity to teach them by example some good eating habits. Their Mom had good eating habits so hopefully they’ll get those from her. One thing that I did discover early on was to have fruit as an appetizer. Even though they liked fruit they’d typically get full off of their entre and have no room for it. Eating it first a least got a bit more fruit in them. Hurray!
Comments