What it Takes to Change Habits Around Food

I would like to give credit to whomever shared this story online. I honestly don’t recall where I read it.

There was a young man who was living in his first apartment on his own.

While growing up, he watched his parents compost their vegetable scraps, egg shells, and coffee grounds. He learned at a young age that these were items that don’t go into the trash.

In his new apartment, to keep these items out of the trash, he sent the majority of his food scraps, etc. through the kitchen sink’s garbage disposal

After months of this the kitchen sink in his apartment quit draining like it should and eventually he needed to use a plunger to get things working again.

When he told his landlord that the sink wasn’t draining properly a plumber was sent out to assess the situation.

The plumber shared with the young man that the high volume of coffee grounds, egg shells, and veggie scraps he was sending through the garbage disposal had clogged up the old plumbing and it would be expensive to fix if he didn’t change this habit.

When he was at his parent’s house the following weekend he explained the situation to his parents. They said the same thing happened to them when they moved into their first place together. They gave him a countertop compost container he could empty in the garden when he visited.

From then on, he no longer had plumbing issues and lived happily ever after…

The end

Put yourself in that young man’s shoes.

You’re not aware that your food scraps cause the plumbing to become clogged. When you learn that it’s what’s going on (because a professional dedicated to the health of plumbing tells you) you change your habit based on this knowledge and the assistance of others who have been in your situation. You change your FOOD scrap habit.

So why is it so hard to change your food consumption habit when a health and wellness expert tells you why you need to make a change?

…

Start by accepting that what you’re doing is causing issues. This isn’t a time for guilt or shame, just simple acknowledgement of facts.

Accept that it’s going to take help to make changes. If you could do it yourself, you’d have done it already. (Willpower is mostly bullshit anyhow.)

Find someone who has been in your situation that has done the work to be in the situation that you want to be in.

Hire them

Listen to them

Do the work

Take massive action and understand that there will be a need to correct your trajectory as you go.

You’re learning new habits. Be patient and above all, be kind to yourself.

You’ve got this!

Be well