Creating Your Own Path

I was talking to physiologist one time and he explained to me how our minds work.  Just like water takes the route of least resistance, our minds will do the same.  We face a situation, we react to the situation all without much thought or effort.  When that same scenario presents itself again the path has been carved previously and we generally follow it.  Creating new paths can be difficult.  Many times the first time these paths were carved they were done automatically.   An understanding of this information can help as we are losing weight. 
Here is an example. 
You are making school lunch for the kids and you pop a grape, then a chip and then a half of a cookie in  your mouth without even thinking.  This scenario plays itself out every morning until a habit forms.  The problem with this habit is not the extra calories consumed but when you decide to try to be healthy and that habit pops up and you feel guilty about losing control.  Little by little these moments kick you in the pants until you give up.   Guilt is the first red flag that your efforts are not lifestyle changes but rather changes that are good for the moment.  These moments are not bad in fact they are good.  They are good practice and give you a lot of thoughts to process and analyze. 
When we can identify these kinds of scenarios we can have a plan of action to create a new path.  In my example you could put a pack of gum right next to the sack lunch bags and stick one in right before you start the packing.  After a while you will see that the desire to put something in your mouth will be gone - even without the gum.  You have created a new path!