Breaking the Bad Food Habits and Rituals

Movie Madness – So today I ventured out to the movies with Miss “Almost 3” and her cousins (we saw Madagascar 3 for the second time), the point of this story is that for as long as I can remember whenever I went to the movies I would as a minimum get a choc top Ice-cream, then usually chips or popcorn, jumbo frozen coke or soft drink. This week I swore I would have 7 good days of food so a trip to the movies was going to be a challenge. As I was standing in line juggling Miss “Almost 3” as she had just woken up and was very clingy and whingey (an awesome combination) I reached for My Fitness Pal app on my phone and did some quick calorie counting; choc-top approx 350 calories, movie popcorn approx 35 calories per cup (not to mention the salt content), I did not even consider a frozen coke or other soft drink. So I successfully navigated the Candy Bar, I got nothing for myself but a bottle of water, I bought the kids choc-tops, popcorn, juice and frozen coke, 1 food item and 1 drink item per child. I did grab about 5 handfuls of the kids popcorn which I allocated in my daily intake. I also packed some Vita-wheats with vegemite as a snack to nibble on. I honestly think my “OLD” self would have bought chips, drink and choc top which would have been close to a full day of calories.

I also remember as a child when we went to the movies that my dad would finish his choc-top before the previews had finished and would go and get himself or all of us a second ice-cream to have during the movie.

Take-away Trouble – Some of my other bad habits that I have gotten into over the years, ordering way too much take-away Chinese, Thai or Indian, I always want entrée, I loooove spring rolls (I could live on entrée style food), high carb noodles (I don’t eat rice), plus too many dishes for 2 adults and 1 small fussy child. We rarely can finish it in 1 meal, especially since the Lap banding surgery and therefore we don’t just have 1 bad meal but often 2 or 3 because of the leftovers. So recently I have been cutting back BIG TIME, no carb type noodles, so an example of a Thai order for me personally would be Spring Rolls (can’t give them up) and a chicken curry and eat half of each, usually this keeps me at an acceptable 500 calories for the meal and keeps me happy to have a night off cooking or out with the girls.

Friday Night Pizza – We have a great Pizza place nearby Woonona Pizza Kitchen and 1 of the ladies who works there is lovely, we have a good chat about what Movie we are going to watch that night, generally a kids movie as I go in there with Miss “Almost 3” in tow. Pizza has become a Friday night “Ritual”. The problem in our house is that Hubby and I do not like the same sort of pizza. We order 2 of their small size pizza which is actually called a large and Miss “Almost 3” has diverted away from Pizza and will just eat garlic bread, so we have the same problem as with other Take-away where we have the equivalent of a whole pizza left over and then have it for dinner the next night. This problem I have not yet resolved, however a friend suggested that this be a once a month treat and not every week. I do love Pizza, it would be up there on a list of favourite foods, I would say top 3.

Petrol Station Problem – Fuelling up the car has its challenges, god help me if I have to do it when I am hungry or late for a meal or in a bad headspace. Those marketing and product placement people certainly know their stuff (although it is not rocket science), leaving chocolate and “tiny” little morsels near the check-out. Reverting back to childhood my parents would often buy us an ice-cream at the Petrol station and this is a hard habit to break. As a grown up if I had eaten not long before a “Servo” stop then I felt that a dessert Ice-cream was warranted. If I hadn’t recently eaten then a giant bag of chips, coke AND Ice-cream would be the “norm”, I really begrudge paying $3 for a bottle of water and stupidly am happier to pay for a flavoured full sugar beverage. It takes all my strength when I need petrol to NOT buy a snack. I am trying to overcome the drink issue by constantly making sure I have a sports bottle of water in my car. I am no angel it doesn’t always work, but I am TRYING to make better choices.

I am sure I have many many other rituals and places where I make poor food choices that need to be addressed, I guess the positive I can get from this is that I realise I have a problem and I am trying to do something about it.

9 thoughts on “Breaking the Bad Food Habits and Rituals

  1. Good on you for recognising these habits. I think once a week for pizza is extremely often. Maybe you could go down to once a week of any kind of processed foods. I always carry a bottle of water with me when I leave the house, I keep a stash in the fridge, I do it so I don’t waste money on water but it will help you stop buying softdrink too. Could you maybe put what you would normally spend on snacks in a jar for a massage or new outfit?
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  2. Hi Rachael,
    Great blog you have. It’s a great source of motivation. I have just read this post and it had me thinking. You speak alot about your childhood and the things your parents did when you were a child eg. 2 choc tops at the movie etc. that have ultimately had a big influence on you and your habits as an adult. This makes me think about what is being passed down to ‘Almost 3’. (Gosh. I hate writing stuff like this cause sometimes it comes out wrong or people get offended. I am definately not intending to do any offending). You are doing a great job with tackling your habits head on and ‘almost 3’ is seeing this, but is she and hubby a part of this? I feel that it may make things easier for you if the whole family had to change their habits too. Make all things ‘unhealthy’ an occasional treat. Sure go to the movies, but instead of ‘almost 3’ still getting all the treats, get her a water to and get a small popcorn or choc top, not both. She may not be happy with this at all, but hey, you are all in it together.
    I believe that our childhood is a huge influence on our adulthood and what we pass on to our children. I think the only time we were allowed anything with sugar in in was birthdays and christmas. My mum was a health freak and healthy eating was all I knew til I got a job and could buy my own food. But now with my own children, treats are for special days out, birthdays & christmas. And the weekly treat for all of us is Friday night fish and chips.
    I hope this makes sense what I’m trying to say. Keep up the good work 🙂

    • It all does make sense Hope and I am not offended at all. I am trying with Miss 3 but she is a terribly fussy eater. She very rarely gets juice (unless with nanny), has never had softdrink etc. Now hubby is another mission, lets not go there, he has made improvements but hard to control him out of the house.

      I must say my exercising is rubbing off on Miss 3, hillariously so, she see’s me put on my joggers and says I go for a run mummy and runs up and down the lounge room and then tonight she was helping me put away the groceries and said, “look mummy I’m doing a workout”.

      Here’s to making a change in the next generation.

  3. Hey. Found your blog through the Aussie Bloggers Forum on Facebook.

    I have some of the same problems when faced with the movies or going to the servo. For the movies, I now take a packet of Cool Pak Popcorn which is only 100 calories. I always carry a bottle of water because I loathe paying for it and, like you would rather pay for a Diet Coke.

    The servo is a hard one too. My 3yo is so used to me coming back from paying for my petrol with a handful of Freddos or a bag of Allen’s Party Mix that I felt guilty when I stopped doing it. Now I figure it is good for him too that we break that habit of associating petrol stops with sugar consumption.

    Glad to have found your blog. V.
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    • Welcome Vanessa, I seem to be finding out that I am not alone in my problems and then I find the people that look at me like I have 2 heads when I tell them I can’t control my eating. Glad you found me. I hope I can keep you inspired.

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