Whether you’ve had cancer or not, achieving and maintaining a healthy eating lifestyle is an ongoing process. Many people think that because you’ve had cancer you’re automatically motivated to eat healthily.
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But that’s simply not the case for most survivors – we are human and most of us have trouble staying on the healthy eating lifestyle track.
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I see the healthy eating journey as twofold.
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First is having a clear understanding of which foods are going to push you towards optimal health, boost your immune system and give you the best fighting chance to live a long and healthy life.
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I have written many blogs on this topic and
this one is my current favourite.
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Secondly, making healthy eating a lifestyle – getting on the track and staying there AND how to get back on as quickly as possible when we take a mini detour.
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This is why everyone talks about habits. Creating habits means that we don’t have to think too hard about the daily choices we are making because we do them as automatically as we clean our teeth.
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How do we do that?
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It turns out there’s a LOT of research around this topic and I will give you a brief overview of Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones, by James Clear.
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Start small – you are far more likely to stick to a new habit if it’s attainable. I’m going to eat a healthy breakfast every morning, compared to I’m going to eat healthy at EVERY meal.
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Set the environment – leave out the utensils or some of the ingredients for your breakfast on the bench. Even better make your breakfast the night before. You can watch my cancer-kicking oat breakfast ideas
here.
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Stack your habits – Piggyback off of an existing habit. If you go for a morning walk, make making your breakfast before you jump in the shower a part of your routine.
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Visual cues or triggers – Leave that jar or bowl that you make your breakfast in on the bench in the kitchen so you see it when you walk in from your walk and it reminds you to make your breakfast.
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Don’t break the chain – yes you might forget one day but don’t let it be 2 days in a row. There’s a lot of power in wanting to not break the chain especially when we first start a new habit.
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Eventually, you’ll forget the last time you forgot to make your healthy breakfast and you’ll know you’ve created a new habit.
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The last point I want to make is perhaps the most important…no self-judgement. We spend a lot of time criticising ourselves for not being where we want to be or falling off the track…again. In reality, we all fall off the track, but successful people get back on as quickly as possible.
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We don’t criticise toddlers when they’re learning to walk, we encourage them every step of the way!
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If you want some inspiration to create some healthier habits then book a free chat and let’s see how I can help you get started.
