Have you ever gotten out of bed with an eating and exercise plan you are excited and committed to, yet by 4pm feel like you can barely make it to bed without scraping the frost-bitten particles of a month-old pint of ice cream in the freezer for some misguided pleasure?

Feel like you are unstoppable in the morning but hankering for a vending machine treat by midday?

Or ever make promises and plans for what your future self WILL do only to be gut- wrenchingly conflicted for not following through when stress and overwhelm set in?

This is how many Americans feel.  And it’s compounded by a society that makes it harder than it already is to stay consistent and successful with your new healthy eating routines.

We blame ourselves and have no problem, assuming it’s WE who are doing everything wrong, rather than the very food and diet culture that forces us into this predicament in the first place.

• Did our ancestors have KFC?

  
  
  
  

• Did our ancestors have 15 types of chips in the chip aisle at the grocery store?

  
  
  
  

• Did they have 90% off Christmas candy at CVS?

  
  
  
  

100 years ago, we had plenty of health problems but we never faced the kinds of challenges we do now that each day takes us further away from our own nutrition and body wisdom.

Consider the following:

You can now have virtually any food or snack in your fridge or doorstep without even leaving your house.

We are more stressed, overworked, overwhelmed and under-rested than almost any other developed nation.

Because we value output, money and status, we’d prefer to work or multitask than set aside real breaks for self-care, thoughtful planning and rest.

Our responsibilities do not end once we get home.  No, for many, the non-work related responsibilities become amplified once we’re home.  (dishes, helping kids with homework, carpooling, finishing a work project etc etc etc).

So, what can be done to combat our very culture that does not support us in leading a healthy lifestyle?

Our solution up until this point has just been to use willpower, discipline or other restrictive and punishing hacks that only help us in the moment and are often fleeting and unreliable, especially in the face of stress.  

Or, we go on another structured diet because we think it’s the only way to keep us and our HUGE appetite and love of food in check.

Both of these strategies, in my opinion, only lead to MORE food cravings and often only serves to make us feel bad about ourselves when we slip up.

There is another way to maintain consistency with our healthy behaviors throughout the entire day.

But, it has to do with moving past the old worn-out habituated behaviors and compassionately moving towards habits that come from skill power, repetition and planning instead of fear, mistrust, blame and all-or-nothing thinking.

Here are just a few reasons why you fall apart and give into food cravings at the end of the day:

• We are distracted

• Stressed

• Sleep-deprived

• Made too many decisions during the day

• Used too much "discipline" or said "no" too many times during the day

• Intentionally skipped or forgot to eat meals

• Have habituated the behavior

There are many reasons behind your nighttime cravings that have nothing to do with food at all!

Yet, food is often what we most look at to solve the problem.