Do we have habits, or do they have us?

Habits and other automatic patterns of behavior can, as we all know, become problematic.  Every New Year’s Eve, millions of resolutions are made, and many are aimed at breaking unwanted habits or behaviors.

Come the end of January, often, we face reality (and disappointment), as efforts to change the behavior fall short.  What may not be clear is, when we set out to break a habit, we’re up against a formidable system designed to keep autopilot-like behaviors in place!  The human brain is adept at making behaviors automatic, and there’s a “survival reason” for it.

Many millennia ago, when early humans had to be on the alert both in hunting food or avoiding danger, on the savanna or in strange surroundings, the more automatic some actions were, the better.  It freed up early humans’ brain power to focus better on being vigilant—to stay alive.

The brain evolved to reward autopilot behaviors, too!  The neurotransmitter, or brain chemical, dopamine, is part of the brain’s motivation-and-reward system, and it is released in the brain when we experience something pleasurable, like high fat-salt-sugar foods.  This evolved to happen.

With early humans, when the food supply was uncertain or scarce, the pleasure effect had a purpose—when high-value foods, like fats, were eaten, humans evolved to experience pleasure from them.  The pleasure was (and still is) motivating: in this case, it created the drive to get more of that nutrition, helping ensure survival.

Fast-forward:  In our time, automated behavior is not always so vital, and sometimes it causes trouble—in varying degrees.  One example:  simple mindless eating, where we just grab a half-bag of cookies or chips, and while looking at a screen or some other activity, before we know it, the bag is empty!

Sometimes a habit or other autopilot behavior can progress into a problem, like when an individual develops a pattern of “emotional eating” or stress-eating, which can then move into the more troublesome territory, binge-eating.  There may be underlying body image issues.

In coaching, the client and I work on bringing to conscious awareness the automatic, unconscious stuff that contributes to the automatic behavior, like deeply-held, limiting beliefs (We all have these beliefs in some form).  Through “thought work,” and other processes, I guide the client to understand how their patterned behaviors developed and teach tools and strategies for resolving them.

When coaching is focused on eating and body image problems—in addition to thought work, other coaching processes, and teaching the client new tools and strategies—we work on barriers to change that may arise, as well as other issues.  Once the problem is resolved and coaching is near completion, we work on how to prevent the return of the problem.  The great news is that this kind of problem can respond well to coaching and can be overcome!

 Note:  I offer the Possibility Coaching Food + Body Program for clients who want to resolve eating and body image problems that are causing distress. Clients accepted to this program have otherwise well-functioning lives.  “Food + Body” is a coaching program, and is not a counseling or eating disorders treatment program for severe binge-eating disorder, or other serious conditions like bulimia or anorexia.