How to break out of bad eating ruts

When it comes to eating – poorly and well – we all have our rituals and habits. The beauty of predictability is how it frees our minds to concentrate on other things.

The problem comes when the rituals are detrimental and degenerative over time. Breakfasts are the best example, because the things we do in the morning are generally the most ritualistic of all – people tend to go through the motions before the brain is fully capable of decision making. If your ritual is oatmeal or a fruit-protein blender drink, chances are it’s a good habit. But say you always put raisins in your oatmeal, never alternating with blueberries, strawberries, apples or other fruit. That would tend to limit the types of vitamins, antioxidants and fiber you consume, to your body’s disadvantage. The principle of balance, variety and moderation suggests mixing it up now and then just to give your body a chance to absorb new nutrients.

Following are five steps to shake up your habits, change out of bad habits and not only reduce excessive calories, but take in a broader variety of nutrients – to the betterment of your health overall.

1. Know what you’re up against The world really is out to get you. Or more specifically, the forces of free enterprise and marketing catch you at every turn – reportedly about 1000 advertising messages hit you every week. Here are some examples of how the purveyors of those aforementioned cheap agricultural commodities – processed grains, potatoes and sugar – are chasing you down:

• Action-oriented pizza??: Pizzas have some good stuff in them (tomato sauce, vegetables, and even protein). But a spokesperson for Pizza Hut, a stress management expert at that, said in a 1998 press release: “as our lives become more hectic and stressful, the need to occasionally indulge and reward ourselves increases. A new survey reveals that today’s young men (ages 18-29) choose zestier, more intensely flavored food to indulge in, similar to their adventuresome, action-oriented lifestyle that keeps them tuned-in to extreme sports.” So, on a stomach full of cheese, sausage and baked dough, we’re indulging in the adventure of watching TV. Impressive. That’s how they think of us. Incidentally, another study also conducted in 1998 for Pizza Hut showed that men aged 18-29 ranked their favorite indulgences in this order: pizza, ice cream, steak/beef, chips and cookies. Guys, they might understand our vices better than we do – although, steak and beef can easily fit into the plus column.

• Gridiron gastronomy: Ads on the Super Bowl – all sports programming skews male – are largely for high-fat, high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods. The January 2001 contest (Baltimore Ravens over the New York Giants, 34-7) featured the following at halftime: M&M/Mars Snickers Cruncher Bar, Frito-Lay’s Ruffles Flavor Rush Ruffles, Doritos Nacho Cheesier and full-blast sugar Pepsi Cola. And that’s all while we’re drinking beer. One hopeful note is that Subway sandwich shop’s Jared, the guy who lost about half his body weight on his (healthy) submarine diet, was also featured in the game’s commercials.

• Low-rent luxury: And on the subject of snack foods, according to a report in Supermarket News (May 7, 2001), the $6 billion snack food category (includes salty, savory, bakery, “better-for-you” and sweet) grew 27 percent in the previous five years. Think about that: This is a mature industry, where growth rates in the single digits would be far more likely. They’ve clearly come up with new ways of getting more of us to buy and eat significantly more of their stuff. (The “better for you” is an industry designation for confections such as Snackwells, not necessarily as evaluated by nutritionists.) Most of these items are made with processed carbohydrates, the cheap flours, potatoes and sugars. An industry spokesperson crowed, “Snacks and chocolates are recession foods. They are that indulgent treat that’s still affordable when money gets a little tight.” Chuck that trip to Cancun, it’s time for a King Size Milky Way Bar.

Of course, not everything from the food industry is bad. But if you rely on advertising to get nutrition advice you are in trouble. Chew on these numbers: McDonald’s alone spent $1.1 billion on advertising worldwide in 2001; in the same year, the U.S. government’s entire promotional budget for the “5 a Day for Better Health” program was $1.1 million. The voices from TV, billboards and radio advertising are not working in your favor.

So what is there to learn from all this? The ability to overcome food vice lies in your inner resolve to beat them at their own game. Knowledge is one of your best weapons against chronic food vices.

2. Ask yourself, “Can I live with less of this?” It’s important to have limits. Setting limits and adhering to them is gratifying, reasons to feel good about oneself.

Note how it’s not about abstinence. When you play in the ballpark of smart eating, the game includes a few pop outs on the way to scoring a few runs. This is about raising your hitting stats by improving your form. Make it a commitment, then turn that commitment into a structural element: quit driving on streets with donut shops or just keep junk food out of your house.

3. Establish a frequency of acceptability Vice reduction is best accomplished with the least amount of pain. So if you cut back on something without cutting it out entirely you’re less likely to feel deprived – and therefore more likely to succeed.

For example, say you eat a bag of potato chips every week. You decide you want to reduce this to, say, one-quarter of that. Rather than try to eat a quarter of the bag each week, you might just eat one bag once a month in a single sitting. If you instead dole the bag out over four weeks, you might rationalize the chips will loose their crunch with time, then eat the whole thing some dark and stormy night. Better, restrict your chip eating habits to occasions when they are served at parties.

But the alternative approach might work too. I tested myself at eating a single potato chip every evening while making dinner. Just one chip. It was a ridiculous goal, but I managed to do it. I savored the chip for as long as I could, appreciating it for all that it could be – at the same time, learning to appreciate all it was not. It taught me that I could stop at one, and, how much taste I could experience with this single chip.

4. Shift gears If you’re like me, you love peanut butter. Or maybe it’s something else that you keep around the house – such as leftovers from that great meal you just made yourself – healthy foods in moderation but a problem when you eat too much. I’m pretty good at eating a small spoonful of peanut butter once a day, usually an hour or so before going to the gym. But sometimes it is mighty tempting to have a second spoonful. Perhaps even a third. When faced with that temptation, I try to shift my brain to another taste, usually something distinct and different. Pepperoncinis (a type of pickled peppers) are effective – spicy and vinegary, I can eat one or two and divert my thoughts away from peanut butter. Pickled herring works too, as do fruits and vegetables such as apples, pears, baby carrots and celery. Just get off the track of that one food craving before you ride reckless all the way to the bottom of the jar.

5. Dilute the vice Maybe your weakness is macaroni and cheese. You love that buttery, creamy texture and the mouthfeel of all those little slippery elbow pastas. It’s primarily a meal of processed carbs with lots of fat but knowing that just isn’t enough to stop you from making and eating it; heck, it was probably the first thing you learned to cook. If you must have it, start cutting a bowl with a whole bag of chopped broccoli (throw into the boiling macaronis in the last minute or two of cooking) or add kidney beans just up raise the protein level a bit.

Ice cream lovers can do something similar. Go to a single flavor (vanilla, chocolate, whatever) without the chunky monkey parts – things mixed in like cookie dough usually add more fat and sugar than the base ice cream. Put it in a bowl; don’t eat out of the pint carton. Again, cut back a little here – a pint container is considered four portions (check the nutrition facts label). Now add raisins, berries, orange slices or apple chunks to your ice cream. Come on, just give it a shot. Get some of those nine daily portions of produce right there at dessert time. In a few days or weeks or a year, try to move on to a new taste, fat free vanilla yogurt – and mix in the same fruit. Just try it.

Don’t get too hung on the vices in food, because the real point of eating smart is finding the foods that you enjoy. Done smart, you’ll learn to indulge in the pleasure of good health.

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Excerpted from "A Guy's Gotta Eat, the regular guy's guide to eating smart," by Russ Klettke, with Deanna Conte, MS RD LD (Marlowe & Co./Da Capo Press 2004). Available where books are sold and in more than 100 public library systems in the U.S., Canada and Europe.