Change your eating preferences: Throw away the rules, change your habits

Change dietary preferences

To improve their skills, a soccer player wouldn't slap themselves every time they missed the target; instead, they would practice kicking the ball correctly. If they learn to kick correctly and consistently practice, the correct way of kicking will become a powerful habit, overpowering previous incorrect methods, thus improving their skills. This is a simple, clear, and direct process. However, how many people still rely on guilt and punishment to diet and motivate themselves to eat "correct" foods? How many people still believe that food is of varying quality, dividing it into "good" and "bad," instead of practicing healthy eating habits?

Eating is like all other behaviors because it's closely linked to habits. We might not realize this easily. The way to change your eating habits is to practice eating what you want, not to forbid yourself from certain foods and hope you can resist temptation. I want to reiterate that changing your eating habits relies on practicing eating what you want, not on forbidding yourself from eating unhealthy foods.

Let's say you're currently addicted to sugar, constantly chugging soda, or a fast-food connoisseur. Do you really think avoiding these things will solve your problem? You'll only feel hungry and frustrated. But if you learn to enjoy healthy food, you'll start to like it even more. Our food preferences aren't as fixed as we imagine; preferences can change.

Discard the rules, change your habits

To break a bad habit, you must consciously re-make the decision to abandon it, which is the opposite of forming a good habit. Forming a good habit requires turning a conscious decision into a natural action at a subconscious level. Most people don't consciously re-make decisions; instead, they follow diets and suppress their habits. Suppressing the core of a behavior is not a wise thing to do.

If my diet rule is no ice cream, I'll crave it even more. Eating ice cream proves my autonomy, shows I'm stronger than the rules, makes me feel in control, and since ice cream tastes good, of course I'll eat it. Things we can't eat are always tempting, and this somewhat irrational rule can trigger our sense of control, thus having the opposite effect.

Just as forbidding processed foods makes them seem more appealing, telling yourself "I must eat healthy foods" makes healthy foods seem less interesting. One important concept is this: people who consistently eat healthily don't need to forbid themselves from unhealthy foods, nor do they need to force themselves to eat healthy foods. They simply prefer healthy foods. You can do that too.

When implementing a micro-habit plan, you can eat cheeseburgers, pizza, fries, and candy, and drink carbonated beverages and sugar-free cola. At the same time, some micro-habits will change your preferences. Others may find this absurd, but the reason this transformation is possible is because we are not concerned with superficial changes, but with fundamental habitual preferences for food.

Once eating healthier foods makes you thinner and feels better, your perception of ultra-processed foods will change. As your taste buds adapt to the wonderful flavors of nutritious foods, you'll find yourself thinking, "With so many delicious things to eat now, why did I have to focus on not eating certain things?"

Bell pepper and cheese incident

One night, I was lying in bed when I suddenly sat up, leaned over the edge of the bed, and started vomiting, soiling my beloved Detroit Lions pillow. I wasn't vomiting because the Lions were playing poorly on the court, but because of food poisoning. I had eaten some bell pepper cheese that day but hadn't noticed that the cheese had gone bad. I didn't feel well for the next few days.

To this day, I still don't like bell pepper cheese. Before that night, while I didn't consider it the best thing to eat, I enjoyed it. But that food poisoning incident changed my opinion of bell pepper cheese, creating a negative association with it and constantly reminding me of food poisoning. Several factors can influence our food preferences, such as texture, appearance, and smell; our memories and beliefs about food; the effects of food on our health, energy, and digestive system (e.g., beans cause bloating); and the social impact of food (a common factor influencing alcohol consumption). Factors influencing food preferences go far beyond taste.

Are food preferences innate or learned?

Most people are somewhat addicted to salt. Processed foods and restaurant meals contain large amounts of salt, and some people even add extra salt themselves. Is this love of salt innate? Of course not. We don't need that much salt, nor are we born liking it; we are trained to love it.

Studies have found that newborns have a neutral to an aversion to foods with moderate salt content. It's not until two or three years old that toddlers begin to enjoy salty foods. People who normally eat less salt show the same reaction when they first try high-salt foods. This suggests that high-salt foods are initially unappealing at any age, and people need time to adapt to them.

It's not just about salt intake; everything we do is designed to bring us rewards. From a young age, society trains us to love foods that make us gain weight-high in salt, fat, and sugar. Salt, fat, and sugar are generally fine under normal circumstances, but they cause problems when they are not in moderation or in excessive amounts. It's almost certain that processed foods are excessively high in salt, sugar, and fat. At first, we might find these foods unpalatable. Have you ever found something too sweet, too salty, or too greasy when you first ate it? After eating it a few more times, you'll find the taste normal.

We've become accustomed to eating foods with excessive levels of various substances. A bite of those lab-produced foods fills our mouths with rich flavors and copious amounts of sugar, salt, and fat, providing a powerful sensory experience. Now, people not only accept, but also crave, intense sensory stimulation from food.

Gradually change food preferences

Below are some of my interesting experiences, which may differ from yours, but I am definitely not the only person who has been able to change their eating preferences.

My past love for sweets was practically legendary. I loved them so much that I would eat anything sweet, regardless of whether it was food or not. I clearly remember my sister shouting, "Mom, Stephen is eating my Mickey Mouse lip balm again!" I loved the taste of lip balm the most. I would also eat Tums antacid chewable tablets, vitamin gummies, and candies I secretly brought back to my room. I would often hide under my bed and secretly eat these treasured treats (I really don't know how I survived as a child).

I used to love candy and hate cabbage; now I hate candy and love cabbage. I used to hate sauerkraut, now I like it. I used to eat at the worst fast food restaurants, now I never go there again. I used to drink soda with every meal, now I only drink water.

Given the right reasons and methods, we can, and certainly will, change our food preferences. I eat healthily now, even though I was once a person with weak willpower and a severe sugar addiction.

You'll find that by allowing yourself the freedom to eat unhealthy foods, their temptations will significantly decrease. Guilt and shame can harm us. When you get rid of these feelings and treat all foods equally, you'll be able to make more informed decisions. Combine this approach with daily micro-habits and situational strategies, and your perception of fattening foods will completely change.

I still eat unhealthy things occasionally, but not often, and in very small amounts. When you become sensitive to substances like sugar and salt again, even small amounts can feel satisfying. I used to pile several scoops of ice cream into a large cup because a regular bowl was too small. Now I rarely eat ice cream, and even when I do, one scoop is enough to make me feel satisfied. I've never intentionally dieted; my tastes have changed naturally. I haven't forbidden myself from eating ice cream, but rather I've made sure to eat healthier foods. When I discovered that fruit with cinnamon and peanut butter tasted just as good as ice cream, I stopped eating ice cream altogether.

The paradox of belief and change

If people have to experience change before believing they can make change, but because they don't yet believe they can change, they don't even try, how can they change themselves? Once you break this deadlock, positive change and belief (self-efficacy) will reinforce each other. So, which comes first, belief or change? Or, which has a more solid foundation?

Making a change generates belief. Even if you don't have much belief, micro-habits can bring about real change because they get you started making changes and then believe you can make changes.

It wasn't until the small habit of doing one push-up a day became a daily gym workout habit that I truly believed I could build muscle. I had previously lifted weights sporadically for three to five years with almost no results; how could I believe I could build muscle then? Similarly, if you've been eating healthy foods intermittently for many years without seeing any changes, how can you believe that changing your diet will change your weight? To see results, doing something intermittently is far from enough.

Quick weight loss methods and diets involving fruit and vegetable juices have one obvious advantage: the weight loss effect is immediate, which strengthens your belief in losing weight. However, this effect is unsustainable and, in the long run, can disrupt metabolism and destroy your belief in weight loss. Why? Because once you stop dieting, the weight rebounds, and you'll start to believe that truly changing yourself is impossible, thus turning the benefit into a disadvantage. Ironically, you might think that if such rapid and drastic changes can't truly change you, then there's really no hope. The problem is that you want to make a huge change, but your brain and body don't like that kind of change. The brain and body prefer gradual, simple changes, so let's start with that.

Make change simpler

Processed foods always have a major advantage over healthy foods: they're convenient. A bag of potato chips can sit on your desk for months, and you can open it whenever you want-it's that simple. Cutting fruit into pieces isn't much work either, but compared to that, eating processed foods is still easier.

Preparing a healthy meal can take two hours or more, including cooking and cleaning up the kitchen. If the timing isn't right, the food might burn or be undercooked. But there are actually many ways to make eating healthy food as simple (or nearly as simple) as eating processed food.

I'm both a health fanatic and a complete lazybones, which makes things difficult because in the US, a healthy lifestyle is generally much more complicated. To escape this predicament, I have to figure out ways to make a healthy lifestyle as simple as possible, or I'll become increasingly frustrated. Here are some practical methods to make healthy choices as easy as choices that lead to weight gain.

Simple healthy meals

Buy a roast chicken and use it to make different dishes over the next week. A roast chicken can last at least three or four days in the refrigerator, and if the whole family eats together, a roast chicken will be finished quickly.

Buy some frozen vegetables so you can quickly cook a dish in the microwave or on the gas stove. Frozen vegetables are great because they have all the nutrients of fresh vegetables, keep for a long time without spoiling, and are very easy to prepare.

Learn to cook. I love broccoli, so I sauté it in a pan with coconut or olive oil, adding a little all-purpose seasoning (without salt), chili, ginger, and turmeric. When it's almost cooked, I add some pre-cooked chicken to heat it up. This makes a healthy and filling dish. It's delicious, easy, and quick to make (only about 10-20 minutes). Finding simple and healthy methods like these is important for weight loss, and we should think about this more often because these methods can make a huge difference. Here are some more tips.

Learn to cook with a slow cooker. Just throw all the ingredients into the pot, and once it's cooked, you can eat it.

My usual breakfast consists of eggs, cheese, bread, and avocado. Eggs are a very simple breakfast option; if you're in a rush, a microwave will only take a minute. Some microwaves have a dedicated egg cooking function. I have a microwave egg cooker from a Nordic appliance company that cooks four eggs in just eight minutes, and the shells are easy to peel. Now I usually fry eggs in a skillet (with olive oil), which is quick, easy, and tastes even better.