Why we go for the unhealthy
It has always fascinated me why we sometimes make unhealthy choices. Nobody wants to go through the suffering of getting sick. Nobody wants to look bad. Nobody wants to have challenging last few decades of life. Yet, I see everyday so many people making unhealthy choices. I’m in this boat too, as I am also going for the unhealthy sometimes too.
So what’s going on?
Let’s explore together a list of potential reasons. If you are reading this, try to identify what are your reasons, and how you can work with them for your improvement.
1. Lack of awareness
Although the internet is vast, and every book or article is at our fingertips, we are not aware of some health consequences of our actions because there’s simply too much out there and too little time for everything we need to do in life, or we get conflicting information that confuses us more than anything.
Here are some tips for navigating this, in a simplified way.
What to pay attention to:
The things you do or use regularly - Most things are not bad in moderation. Diversity is good. The only thing to pay attention to is what you do often, and what you consume a lot or regularly. Think for example the oils you use for frying almost every day. Olive oil is bad at high temperatures and causes chronic inflammation and aging, despite being a very healthy oil when not heated. So just do a bit of research on this kind of things.
The symptoms that you have - Listen to your body. Some foods or habits make you feel worse, so just take note and research them. Everything can be highly personal. For example, I discovered I have sensitivities to foods considered quite healthy, like lettuce, arugula, etc. So much for having a salad to improve health. If you feel bloated, or have brain fog, dig through info and experiment out until you find your solution.
What to do:
Choose a few trusted and enjoyable sources - Unfortunately, the internet is full of articles with regurgitated info by amateur writers and ad-loving owners. Yet, there are some good gems too. Identify some sources you can trust, and that you like, and follow them on Instagram or subscribe to their newsletter. Some of my go-tos are Dave Asprey, Thomas Cowan, Robin Berzin, Aviva Romm. Also, I generally recommend books over articles. They are much better quality, and you get to see the reviews they have.
Choose a health goal for a time period - Every year, quarter, or month you can choose what you want to focus on when it comes to your health. And then get curious and explore the topic from various angles and sources.
2. Bad habits
Unhealthy behaviors can become ingrained over time, forming habits that are difficult to break. Once established, habits can become an automatic response to certain triggers, making it challenging to change these behaviors.
My personal “not-favorite” is the part where we all reach for sweets to give ourselves a treat or celebrate something. That’s just a bad reward that we ingrained in our thinking. Giving ourselves a treat could be something truly nourishing, but we’ve been trained since little kids to associate celebrations with cake.
What to do:
Read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear - I really love how well it explains how habits are formed and how to remove bad habits (usually by adding something better, rather than trying to remove the habit and reward altogether). Get methodical about all the bad habits you want to address and make a plan according to the tips in this book.
Read the book Get Off Your Sugar by Daryl Giofre - In the world of switching habits to healthier ones, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to stop sugar and high-carb cravings. The gist it offers is the same as in Atomic Habits: simply add healthier things so you don’t even get to those cravings. Amongst other good tips…
3. Emotional coping
Some people turn to unhealthy behaviors as a way to cope with stress, anxiety, or emotional pain. Comfort eating, excessive alcohol consumption, or reaching out for chocolate when feeling down might sound familiar.
Emotions are on a deeper plane of existence, so you can’t really talk yourself out of doing unhealthy things when used for emotional coping, no matter how much you want or try.
What to do:
Increase your arsenal of emotional coping tools - There are so many other ways to cope with stress, sadness, anger, anxiety, etc. Get curious and explore. For example, have you ever thought about using a drum for soothing yourself?
Meditate - Everyone recommends this. It’s great for having a more stable inner world and being less triggered by external factors. I especially recommend it accompanied by gentle movements, like yoga or qigong.
Journal - This is so easy, yet so effective. Let the steam off or spill your heart on some pages. Does wonders.
4. Lack of self-discipline
Making healthy choices often requires motivation and self-discipline, which some people may struggle with, especially when faced with short-term temptations.
Instant gratification also comes into play here. Unhealthy behaviors often provide immediate pleasure or relief, making them more appealing than healthier options that may require more effort or time to produce benefits.
Peer pressure is another culprit here. The desire to fit in or gain acceptance from others can lead people to adopt unhealthy behaviors, even when they know the potential negative consequences.
What to do:
Do a dopamine detox - You’ve trained for many years in this society to get instant gratification. Think of all the one-click-to-buy deliveries to your door the next day, or the likes notifications on social media, just to name a few. And all those actions and quick rewards have made your body produce a lot of dopamine (a hormone), that you are now probably addicted to, for unsustainable pleasure and joy. This is going to be hard, but try it out: delay gratification in every little aspect of life for a while. It’s going to feel like caffeine withdrawal, but it shall pass after some days.
Make mini-plans for proving self-discipline to yourself - Start small instead of starting with getting the bull by the horns - those big changes you want to make but fail at. Instead of saying you will start working out 3 days per week from now on, start with planning 3 push-ups per day into your routine, or make a plan to investigate what holds you back. For example, I realized that I couldn’t work out because I first had to deal with my chronic fatigue and stress hormones. Once you achieve some things, and you prove self-discipline is for you, you can then tackle more complex and harder things.
Visualize your future self - This helps to gain perspective and start with the end result you want to achieve (how you want to be, who you want to be), and work backward on how you should behave today to match that better future image of yourself. I can recommend a book here too: Be Your Future Self Now by Benjamin Hardy.
5. Going for the more affordable
Unhealthy options are often more accessible and affordable than healthier alternatives. Fast food, for example, is widely available and less expensive than fresh, nutritious meals. Organic groceries are more expensive than “normal” ones. Cheap pans that leak metals are more attractive than higher-quality ones.
The thing here is that we prioritize this month’s budget over our health many years from now.
What’s important is to be very conscious of the choices we are making. We are what we eat after all.
What to do:
Build awareness on consequences for each alternative - Take your time to fully understand alternatives. Look into the differences in nutrient content and toxins, and their health effects, between organic and non-organic food. Read about the effects of leaked metals in the body from low-quality pans.
Find affordable healthy alternatives - If you think free-range pasture-raised animals for meat is too much, remember that you only need meat 2-3 times per week, instead of indulging in 3 meals per day of animal products that are full of antibiotics, grain-fed, and stressed. If ghee is too pricy for you, learn how to make it yourself or use coconut oil for frying. And the list can go on.
I encourage you to not just read this, but grab a pen and paper and identify your reasons for going unhealthy, and build a plan based on the recommendations here. The time to act is now. You will thank yourself later when you will enjoy many years away from hospitals and medicine.
