A couple years ago, I put on 23 pounds during the winter months. I love watching college basketball, and I follow my favorite teams during conference play, March Madness and the NCAA championships. At the end of college basketball season, I get caught up in the NBA playoffs. To increase my enjoyment, my habit was to have a beer or two along with my favorite snacks. Also, because of a lingering cold, I got out of my usual routine of working out. So it’s no mystery to me why I gained the weight. Shocked at what I saw on the bathroom scales, I returned to sensible eating and regular exercise, and 6 months later I had lost all the weight, and then some.

Last year, I vowed not to gain the weight back again. I maintained my regular exercise program, and I stayed away from beer and chips. Unfortunately I substituted red wine and mixed nuts. Yes, these foods are said to have positive health benefits, but they are rich in calories and I managed to gain 11 pounds. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I had to admit that I hadn’t broken my pattern at all.

What’s a habit? Most people don’t know that the behavior patterns we call habits are “hard-wired” in the cerebral cortex of the brain. If you do the same things over and over, dendrites from neurons related to the behavior will grow towards other specific neurons to make the connections needed to execute the behavior. This creates a neuronal pathway that makes the satisfying behavior automatic—a pattern. You no longer have to try to make it happen. It just feels right and you do it.

Habits, then, have a physical basis in the brain. This explains why they are so hard to break.

But people do change habits. They’re successful because they substitute an alternative behavior pattern that also satisfies the need, hopefully without the negative side effects. Repeating this pattern creates a new neuronal pathway. Once the new habit is ingrained, the new behavior pattern also becomes easy and automatic. If you don’t return to your old ways, over time the old pathway, like an unused highway, will eventually deteriorate from lack of use.

Knowing all this, I created a delicious substitute for my usual glass of wine. I simply squeezed a one-quarter segment of lime into a glass of cold club soda (soda water). This drink is healthy and has practically no calories. And it tastes great! For variety I would sometimes jazz it up a little with a fruit drink.

Instead of chips or nuts, I substituted fresh fruit: berries, cherries, grapes, pineapple segments, or orange slices. Occasionally I’d have half a bag of microwave low-fat popcorn or some baked chips with salsa.

This year, I felt the craving for wine and nuts, but I substituted my healthy snacks instead. It worked! By the time I got to March Madness, I automatically poured my lime concoction, which I enjoyed. I only gained a couple pounds, which I quickly lost as I increased my activity during the summer.

Remember: habits ARE hard to break, but you CAN do it. The key is to maintain your fitness habits while sticking with your alternative. The new pattern must be:
1. Nutritious and low in calories
2. Just as satisfying as the unhealthy habit

If an obsessed basketball fan like me can do it, so can you!

Dr. Coates is the author of “Thin from Within: Your Personality Guide to Weight Loss,” a unique personalized weight loss analysis powered by MindFrames, the world’s most accurate brain-based personality test. It’s available on Initforlife.com’s Weight Loss Central. GHF Members receive the Thin from Within report FREE of charge (a $14.95 value)!