In the last year, I've made the study of habits...well.... a habit. I have been amazed at how they completely take control of someone's life, whether it's driving on autopilot, drinking alcohol, or walking around staring at a smart phone 24/7.
I'm the "victim" of a few destructive habits, my worst being my stress eating. I've gotten better about it since I've started my study of how habits work, but I haven't been able to completely eliminate my cheetah-like sprint for something sweet when I feel the heat coming on. The human body avoids mental and emotional stress as much as possible, and when the body feels the stress, the hypothalamus tells the adrenal glands (located next to your kidneys) to release the stress hormones, adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine. Those hormones work great if your stress is being caused by a bear growling at you because they stimulate your body's entire physiology to immediately prep it for "fight or flight" (neither of which are recommended when confronting a bear www.wikihow.com/Escape-from-a-Bear).
The problem with that stress is you typically aren't going to do anything with that instant burst of energy and it sits on your chest making you feel awful...until you find an outlet. I've speculated that sobbing at my desk isn't the best outlet, so for years, my release from that stress prison has been snack cakes. High levels of cortisol cause the body to crave salt and sugar, which in the case of someone running for their lives, carbs would be the fuel and salt would be a replacement for the electrolytes lost in the sweat. Cortisol also cuts out several unnecessary functions in the body, one of which I personally believe is the ability to think rationally (but that's just my theory).
If I were to jump up from my desk and RUN instead of heading to the snack machine, it wouldn't be a problem. The endorphins released from running override the stress hormones in the body and bring it back to a somewhat normal status. That's why runners are always the most relaxed, "chilled out" people I know.
But I'm in an environment that doesn't allow me to just burst out of the office "Garp style" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_According_to_Garp) and start running down the parking lot. I am however, desperately wanting to eliminate the stress eating habit. The problem is, habits are so hard coded into the brain, that it's really rare to simply eliminate a habit. You have to replace the habit with another. In addition, you have to be very aware of what triggers your habit and recognize that trigger before you slip into your destructive routine, and immediately start the new, hopefully, healthy routine.
Next, the routine has to be reinforced with some kind of reward, or emotional satisfaction at it's completion. It can be something as simple as a look in the mirror, giving yourself a silent nod of acknowledgement of a job well done (although right this moment a Little Debbie sounds like a much better reward). The key is execution of the positive routine when the trigger occurs.
I'll continue with my thoughts on my next post and avoid all things sweet, except my wife.
Comments welcome!
Chris
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