Training the Brain for Healthful Habits: A Holistic Approach

In our quest for improved health and well-being, we often focus on external factors such as exercise routines and dietary choices. While these are undoubtedly important, we must not overlook the incredible power of our minds. The brain, the command center of our bodies, plays a vital role in adopting and maintaining healthful habits. As a Holistic Health practitioner, I firmly believe that training the brain is essential for long-term sustainable change. In this blog post, we will explore the basic ins and outs to train our minds and cultivate healthful habits.

Let’s begin by stating my favorite saying:  “Life is in Session.” The awareness that we do not always get our way in our existence. And the awareness that at the core of our processing is our Executor (our brain)… How well does [it] function when we are knocked off our healthful habitual ways by unanticipated life events?  Unanticipated life events = Life is in Session.

We humans function by learned habits, or automatic responses to what is and has been our reality in the past. In the path to deactivating unhealthy automatic responses to stimuli, we need to give that part of the brain, our Executor, enough time to come up with a “new plan” for how to respond to a stimulus in a familiar circumstance (to a habit) before our reward system says “embody that, “take that on.” By postponing “transacting” with the habitual, unhealthy automatic responses long enough, the executor has time to enact a new plan to avoid unsavory temptations and to consider the options for healthy alternatives.

Awareness and Willpower: Awareness of the behavior that you are trying to inhibit is key before any change in said behavior can be made. First comes awareness then comes the work! To change a behavior one has to be aware of the unhealthy habit (keep it in our working memory) so that we may avoid the negative consequences of said behavior. Makes sense, by using our willpower to avoid the bad habit, we can overcome the triggers, but not so fast! Think about it, if said behavior is in our working memory, or in constant awareness, the challenge becomes not partaking in the behavior in any situation.

Let me get into this: to change a behavior we have to be aware of what it is we want to change. Keep the thought in our working memory. The issue with this is that if we keep something in our working memory, our brains will include “that something” throughout the day not just when decisions need to be made about the habit, but it will include that thought (the habit) in every decision it needs to be made throughout the day. So for example, although you are “aware” of the habit and you make a conscious effort to avoid the habit and the triggers to that habit, the brain may still trigger a desire for the habit in other situations not related to the usual obvious triggers. You may avoid that “stimuli”, when you see it, yet your executor may very well steer you towards putting the “stimuli” into your system when you feel tired and drained. The decision to use the stimuli is in all the decisions the executor makes, not just conscious ones. Another example: you avoid chocolate when you see it, not going to touch it; this is willpower. Yet the executor may may very well have you ingest it when you feel stressed out, a bit hungry or need comfort food (in all its decisions); takes you off guard. You may even take the opportunity to buy it! So you see willpower is not enough! You need a plan! Yes you do and read on…

The executor has no other alternative in its “hard drive” to deal with the unhealthy habit and it gets cluttered with other things that it needs to do to keep us functioning. When the working memory is flooded, the clutter will make it less likely for the executor to promptly respond to avoid an automatic response. For this reason, it is imperative that we seek alternatives to plain willpower (using our working memory to stop a behavior) and that we have a “pre-plan” of how to avoid unwanted habits in any situation. No stimulant when we are aware of it and we see it (we know the consequences) and no stimulant if we are tired or wiped out or have too much clutter in our working memory (so to stop our mind from considering how “great,” as unhealthy as it was, the past results of that automatic behavior to take the stimuli made us feel).  

Let it be known that “willpower” alone is usually not enough to effect change to automatic responses. Cold Turkey, the act of stopping a bad habit suddenly and completely works if you have a strong, calculated, and focused plan for change.

How we process a behavior: Automatic processing (responses) are habits that we enact without much thought. When the automatic responses result in unhealthy consequences, however, they can be altered through much practice, daily focus, and concentrated effort; to achieve change through what is termed as a controlled process. A controlled process requires thought, effort, planning, and lots of practice. Lots of practice to get to the place where the automatic behavior is quickly “hijacked” by the newly learned process overriding any whim or temptation to carry out behavior deemed as unhealthy.

If we do not practice a new healthful process (a habit) we lapse into old ways of thinking and reacting (old habits). Lapses are normal in our existence and can be defined as the point at which a new habit and skill are compromised by unanticipated life events. Remember, “Life is in Session.”  Building skills to fortify resilience is indispensable to carrying on a healthy lifestyle. To reapply and further develop healthy positive principles and fortify newly learned skills to step back from a lapse, requires much daily awareness. Changing behaviors that do not suit you can change your life, wellness, and longevity. Optimal health requires the ability to make creative, flexible decisions based on your current condition and the local environment

For the Executor to learn new habits, the Executor needs to go through a process that requires it to react to the behavior in question before it has a chance to happen. This reaction needs to be calculated and requires problem-solving and critical thinking.

Developing Daily Habits:

The brain has the ability to reorganize and form new neural connections throughout our lives therefore evolving in response to our life experiences. This process is known as Neuroplasticity which makes it possible for us to form new habits. By understanding the principles of neuroplasticity, we can harness its potential to create lasting change through repetition and consistency in our daily practices (key to rewiring our brains and forming healthful habits).

In Summary, by consistently engaging in health-promoting behaviors, we strengthen the neural pathways associated with these habits, making them more automatic and effortless over time (healthy habits). Training the brain to adopt healthful habits is a holistic approach that integrates the power of our minds to help cultivate sustainable healthful habits. By prioritizing our well-being and focusing on living an anti-inflammatory lifestyle (the 8 pillars of Holistic health), we can unlock our full potential for living a vibrant and fulfilling life. Remember, the health journey begins within. Start training your brain today and witness the transformative power it has on your habits and overall well-being.

For further information on how you or a loved one could benefit from a Holistic Wellness, Whole Health path, please do not hesitate to contact me at sixto@drsixto.me.

To your Whole Health and Wellness, naturally!

Dr. Sixto J. Sicilia

Holistic Health & Nutrition Practioner

Founder, issimoUSA