So why do you rattle your keys when no one you know does it? Perhaps your mother bit her nails and your father tapped his fingers on the table. You learned that a habit can relieve stress or boredom and came up with your own self-soothing behavior. I saw my parents handle stress and anxiety by drinking alcohol. But not me! I vowed never to become an alcoholic. But in recent years, I've begun to realize that I handle stress, boredom and anxiety by feeding myself comfort foods. During high stress times, when good nutrition is most important, I was giving my body the opposite of what it needed; high fat, high sugar foods with little nutritional value. Deserts instead of alcohol or cigarettes. Recognizing this has helped me improve my diet and even lose some pounds in the process.
So who's to blame? Our parents? Genetics or environment? I don't think so. We may not have made conscious decisions to develop our habits, but we do have a choice to continue them. Think about this the next couple weeks:
What are your habits?
Do they serve a purpose?
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