Netflix and TEA, not Netflix and EAT

Whenever I would sit on the couch and turn on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime, I would always find myself craving a snack while watching a favorite show or a new show that I’ve discovered or was recommended by a friend. And of course, it wasn’t a healthy snack, it was usually chips, ice cream, cheese toast, or some other random concoction that tasted good but wasn’t overall good for me. In the end, this habit became automatic, and eventually, I didn’t even have to be watching anything on my computer! Sitting in my favorite spot on the couch almost ALWAYS led to me snacking on something, whether I was hungry or not.

I came to this realization the other day, that my brain had reprogrammed itself to correlate sitting on the couch with eating, and a result of me doing this while watching a show led to me being unproductive, I wasn’t reaching my goals (personal, professional, and health wise), and on the weekends I was often sleeping my entire day away!

Is this something you can relate to? Is there an unhealthy habit that you have that you might not have noticed is triggered by a certain action? Let’s take some time to really think about it…

What is an unhealthy habit that you want to break? What activities are linked to this habit? Are these activities good or bad for you? For example, me sitting on the couch isn’t necessarily bad, but my sitting on the couch and watching binging shows for hours knowing that it will lead to a habit I’m trying to break is bad (for me, anyway).

Now that I noticed how these two activities are linked, I’ve been more mindful of it and started to come up with ideas of how I can reprogram my brain to correlate sitting on my couch with doing something that I both enjoy doing AND is good for me! Some ways that I’ve started reprogramming my mind include:

• Sitting in my favorite spot with a book instead of my laptop
• Watching a show, but when that craving for food hit, get up and make a cup of tea or drink some water
• Just getting up and doing something else around the house
• Creating and keeping a routine that keeps me off my couch (because when I sit on this thing, 9 times out of 10 I wasn’t just “relaxing”, I was procrastinating!) until it’s time to take a break
• Reminding myself that I’d either just eaten and can wait a few hours, OR if it is time for me to eat, grab something HEALTHY instead of junky

Now, let’s look at the unhealthy habit you want to break, and the activities that you find yourself doing that automatically end with the habit you want to change. What are some things that you can do or tell yourself to help reprogram your brain and associate those activities with the healthy habit you desire to create? Spend some time with a pen and paper and write it out! I think you’ll be impressed by what you can come up with J

If this post spoke to you, please leave a comment below and share with a friend (or a few)!!

Until next time!!!