Habit? Replaced!

We are creatures of habit. Today I‘m celebrating the starving children in China – from eighty years ago.

Years ago, it wasn’t an uncommon practice for parents to insist that children eat everything on their plate. To leave food uneaten was wasteful. I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid at dinner my parents further insisted that if I didn’t finish everything, the children of China would starve.

I never even thought to ask my parents how my unfinished dinner was going to be delivered to a child halfway around the world, I just dutifully did as I was told, and thereby formed an unhealthy habit.  That habit, which began in the early 1940’s has lasted for more than eighty years. All that time, I have faithfully finished every scrap on my plate, even when I was uncomfortably full. This year, I decided to form a different habit.

I’m delighted to report that throughout the past year, at every dinner, I have stopped eating NOT when I’ve finished everything on my plate, but when I no longer feel hungry. As you might expect, I’m eating less that way.  And have I lost weight?  You bet.  Almost ten pounds.

Certain habits should stay with us for a lifetime, like, “Look both ways before you cross the street.”  Other habits should be consigned to the dustbin of history, with a kick for good riddance.

Even though it’s not yet New Year’s Eve, I’m going to jump the gun and keep on discarding the old habits that don’t serve me and keep forming new habits that do.

It’s never too late to teach yourself NOT to finish your dinner.

Think about it.  Good habits are something new to chew on.

Alan