Thinking about Habits

Recently I've been reading several books about
Willpower and Habit, and thinking about those concepts
as they relate to weight-loss and maintenance of weight-loss. 

Information about Habit formation is now a major field of research
in neurology and psychology departments at manyuniversitities and
medical centers, as well as inside corporate labs. 

Computers have greatly increased the ability to analyze data,
and the push to understand how daily habits influence our decisions
is now one of the hottest topics in clinical research. 

Most of us are hardly aware that our habit patterns exist,
but a study from Duke University estimated that habits,
rather than conscious decision-making, shapes 45 percent
of the choices we make every day, and recent discoveries
have begun changing the thinking about dieting, as well as
treatments for anxiety, depression, and addictions. 

Although Habits can be ignored, changed, or replaced,
once the loop in our brains is established, and a habit emerges,
the brain stops fully participating in decision-making. 
So unless one deliberately fights a habit 
- which means finding new cues and rewards -
the old pattern will unfold automatically. 

The book on habit that I'm currently reading is:
"The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" (2/28/2012)
by Charles Duhigg.

This morning I posted a new Diet Wisdom video,
What is Food?  
which is located at DietHobby, under DIET WISDOM,  Basics.