HALT as Part of Your Fitness Rampage

HALT is a commonly used for acronym for the words “Hungry, Lonely, Angry or Tired.” The phrase is from the Big Book in A.A. (Alcoholics Anonymous) and it basically means that if you want to stay sane, if you do not want to make bad decisions and if you want to stay positive in life then you need to take care of yourself first. This means –

“Never Get Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired.”

This applies to food addiction as well except that in the case of the “hungry” the need is often emotional. People who have food addiction are hungry for love, approval, affection, sex and forgiveness.  Very often they are not actually hungry.

Instead of binge eating ask yourself if you are genuinely hungry?  Can you get by with just eating a bowl of healthy soup rather than eating four bags of cookies?  Would a walk around the block or a drink of water be just as satiating but without the guilt that comes with destroying your body by binge-eating.

If you are angry, then name the feeling, figure out what is causing it, FEEL IT and then let it go. Do not let it control your life. Do not try and stuff it down with food.

If you are lonely then call a friend. Do not try to comfort yourself by eating loads of food. The inevitable result of that will be even more loneliness.

If you are tired, put down the bag of chips or other snack you think will somehow give you a lift or energize you. Go lie down and have a rest or a nap instead.  Take a break.

The idea is that any of these conditions have a way of deflating our stamina and thus make us more vulnerable to negative thoughts and feelings and therefore addiction.When emotions like anger cloud over judgments the result is more often then not some kind of self-sabotage in the end.

Basically if you have to make a decision when you are very tired, angry, lonely or hungry it will probably be a bad one. This is why it is absolutely essential to just familiarize yourself with the simple four principles of avoidance of addiction known as HALT – never get HUNGRY, ANGRY, LONELY or TIRED.