{"id":28599,"date":"2021-03-07T14:14:15","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T18:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=28599"},"modified":"2026-01-20T16:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:00:16","slug":"how-to-change-your-eating-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Do you want to know how to change your eating habits? How can understanding why we form habits help you change how you eat? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you learn how to change your eating habits, you need to understand how our brains form habits in the first place. Doing this can help you rewire your habits in a more positive way.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to find out how to change your eating habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-change-your-eating-habits\"><strong>How to Change Your Eating Habits<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You now know that the habit consists of a cue, a routine, and a reward. But this is only part of the story.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The final essential component of a habit is craving.&nbsp;<strong>A craving is the&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><em>anticipation<\/em><\/strong><strong>&nbsp;of the reward when you get the cue, even before you actually get the reward.<\/strong>&nbsp;This craving pushes you through the routine so that you get the reward at the end of the habit. And if you don\u2019t push through the routine, you don\u2019t get the reward, and the craving is unsatisfied \u2013 making you unhappy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine the habit of ordering fast food from McDonald\u2019s. You get the cue of delicious French fry smell. Before actually going through the routine, you crave the reward \u2013 the Big Mac with Diet Coke at the end. This craving pushes you through the completion of the habit\u2019s routine. And if you don\u2019t satisfy this craving by completing the habit, you end up pretty dejected as you instead eat your baby carrots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This craving makes the cue-routine-reward loop a true habit, rather than just simple learning.<\/strong> But you can learn how to change your eating habits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-monkey-brains-and-cravings\"><strong>Monkey Brains and Cravings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The seminal work in understanding cravings was done in monkeys. The monkey was set in front of a blank computer screen. Periodically, a colored shape would appear on the screen. The monkey\u2019s job was to press a lever when this shape appeared, and it\u2019d get a drop of grape juice (which the monkey loved). This can also help you understand how to change your eating habits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-habit-loops-in-real-life\"><strong>Habit Loops in Real Life<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Let\u2019s make this concrete with a few more real-life examples.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smoking:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cue: see a cigarette carton or smell smoke<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Craving: you want a hit of nicotine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Routine: get a cigarette and light it<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reward: get nicotine<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Checking your phone:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cue: hear your phone buzz<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Craving: who\u2019s contacting me? What\u2019s going on in the world? I HAVE TO FIND OUT<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Routine: stop everything you\u2019re doing and check your phone<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reward: get pleasure from the momentary distraction from a text, email, Tweet, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Cravings are the centers of real habits, and they\u2019re very powerful at driving you through your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-habit-loop-2\/\">habit loop<\/a>.&nbsp;<strong>If you keep ignoring your craving, it can keep building and building until you lose control over your own behavior.<\/strong>&nbsp;Just try to will yourself to hear your phone buzz 20 times before picking it up, or go to your favorite restaurant when you\u2019re on a diet. It\u2019s really hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-overpowering-your-cravings\"><strong>Overpowering Your Cravings<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is, by becoming conscious of your habits and cravings, you can overpower them.&nbsp;<strong>Recognize which cues and cravings are driving your habit.<\/strong>&nbsp;This is an important part of learning how to change your eating habits. You can avoid the craving by removing the cue. If you silence your phone, you won\u2019t get the cue to pick up your phone, and you won\u2019t get the craving to find out what Becky\u2019s saying to you. Instead, you can focus on reading this summary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And if you want to start a new habit, set up a clear cue and reward.<\/strong>&nbsp;Then, when you encounter the cue,&nbsp;<strong>actively mentally crave the reward that follows<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if you want to start exercising:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Set up a simple cue (like putting on your running shoes after you get back from work).\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set up a reward (like a snack at the end of your run, a feeling of pride at extending your run time, the endorphins you get after running, or a picture of yourself in your summer swimsuit).\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When you encounter the cue,\u00a0<strong>actively think about the reward and anticipate it<\/strong>. This will make you more likely to drive through the routine to get the reward.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, if you\u2019re trying to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-sell-a-product\/\">sell a product<\/a> or drive behavior in other people,<strong>&nbsp;think about how to attach a craving to that behavior<\/strong>. For instance, healthy behaviors like putting on sunscreen isn\u2019t nearly as universal a habit as taking a shower. So manufacturers are now trying to attach a sensation to putting on sunscreen, like a cool tingling sensation, to inspire a craving for that feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-keystone-habits\"><strong>Keystone Habits<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Certain habits can have a domino effect \u2013 get one habit right, and many other good habits fall into place naturally. These&nbsp;<strong>keystone habits&nbsp;<\/strong>act as massive levers, and can be helpful as you&#8217;re learning how to change your eating habits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A 2009 study on weight loss tried to get obese people to follow a simple habit \u2013 write down everything they ate, at least one day a week. While difficult at first, it became a habit for many.&nbsp;<strong>Unexpectedly, this small habit rippled throughout their diet.<\/strong>&nbsp;When forced to study what they ate, the study participants couldn\u2019t help noticing when they snacked absentmindedly, or when they had unhealthy dinners. They then proactively started to plan future meals so that when they wanted a snack, they reached for an apple instead of a candy bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The keystone habit of keeping a food journal created an environment for more healthy habits to thrive. Eventually, participants who kept a journal lost twice as much weight as the control group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How do you find a keystone habit? Find an area where you can have small wins. By achieving small wins, you create forces that favor another small win, and that in turn encourages the next small win, and so on, creating a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/virtuous-cycle-john-malone\/\">virtuous cycle<\/a>.<\/strong>&nbsp;These wins create a culture of change, and create new structures that help new habits grow and thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: this chapter contain as much scientific rigor as in the first 3 chapters, so the keystone habit concept feels anecdotal. It can make sense intuitively, though. When you\u2019re stuck in a rut, it\u2019s often easy to resign yourself to thinking you\u2019re incapable of change, that you\u2019re a lazy good-for-nothing. By achieving small wins, you can reverse this resignation \u2013 you can convince yourself that you ARE capable of change. This courage can empower you to take bigger and bigger steps.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-change-your-eating-habits-by-building-willpower\"><strong>How to Change Your Eating Habits by Building Willpower<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Willpower<\/strong>&nbsp;can be defined in a number of ways: as self-discipline, determination, self-control. More technically, it has also been defined as the ability to delay <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/short-term-gratification\/\">short-term gratification<\/a> to reach long-term goals, the ability to override an unwanted impulse, and regulation of the self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-develop-willpower\"><strong>How to Develop Willpower<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The key to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hub\/personal-life\/motivation\/how-to-strengthen-willpower\/\">developing willpower<\/a> is to predict the most painful points, and build a <em>specific <\/em>plan beforehand for how you\u2019ll work through them.\u00a0<\/strong>For example, if you want to start running, the most painful point is probably when you get off the couch, put on your shoes, and take the first 20 steps. After that, you can get into the zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To build a habit, <strong>construct a routine ahead of time to push through the pain, and keep practicing it until it becomes a habit.<\/strong>&nbsp;You don\u2019t necessarily need to have a greater bank of willpower \u2013 you just need to make self-control automatic so you don\u2019t even think about it, and this conserves willpower for later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you want to know how to change your eating habits? How can understanding why we form habits help you change how you eat? Before you learn how to change your eating habits, you need to understand how our brains form habits in the first place. Doing this can help you rewire your habits in a more positive way. Keep reading to find out how to change your eating habits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":18931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7,9],"tags":[226],"class_list":["post-28599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-lifestyle","category-psychology","tag-the-power-of-habit","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you want to know how to change your eating habits? First, you need to understand how you form habits. Here&#039;s what you can do.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you want to know how to change your eating habits? First, you need to understand how you form habits. Here&#039;s what you can do.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-07T18:14:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-20T20:00:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-07T18:14:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T20:00:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/\"},\"wordCount\":1295,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Power of Habit\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Health\",\"Lifestyle\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/\",\"name\":\"How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-07T18:14:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T20:00:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do you want to know how to change your eating habits? First, you need to understand how you form habits. Here's what you can do.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1440},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\",\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carrie Cabral\"},\"description\":\"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower - Shortform Books","description":"Do you want to know how to change your eating habits? First, you need to understand how you form habits. Here's what you can do.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower","og_description":"Do you want to know how to change your eating habits? First, you need to understand how you form habits. Here's what you can do.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-03-07T18:14:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-20T20:00:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1440,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carrie Cabral","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carrie Cabral","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/"},"author":{"name":"Carrie Cabral","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56"},"headline":"How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower","datePublished":"2021-03-07T18:14:15+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-20T20:00:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/"},"wordCount":1295,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg","keywords":["The Power of Habit"],"articleSection":["Health","Lifestyle","Psychology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/","name":"How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2021-03-07T18:14:15+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-20T20:00:16+00:00","description":"Do you want to know how to change your eating habits? First, you need to understand how you form habits. Here's what you can do.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-change-your-eating-habits\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Change Your Eating Habits and Build Willpower"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56","name":"Carrie Cabral","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carrie Cabral"},"description":"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/a-child-called-it-withholding-food-as-punishment-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28599"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147219,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28599\/revisions\/147219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}