Making Healthy Habits Stick
/I recently shared with you the basics of habit formation. You consciously choose a behavior that you want to make part of your life that you basically do without having to think too much about it. It’s part of your life. Habits are usually paired with an environmental cue. Lots of people have a “bedtime routine” that may include things like reading, meditating, prayer, stretching, showering, watching a television show, reading social media, and brushing their teeth. These are behaviors that, because we have done them so often over a period of time, have become “habits.”
In the process of losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight, most people have healthy behaviors they want to incorporate and turn into habits (exercise, logging food intake, eating breakfast). They also have certain habits they want to extinguish (having dessert after dinner every night, getting high-calorie “coffee” on the way to work each day, going to the vending machine at the office mid-afternoon).
In developing healthy habits, we need more than a verbal commitment. We need reminders. We need reinforcement. We need rewards. We need to keep at it even when we “don’t feel like it.” To increase water intake, get a bottle that tells you how much water to drink by noon, by 3 and by 6. Or drink one bottle of water every two hours. Keep track of your water intake in some way each day. Use that smart phone to remind you when it’s time to get a new bottle. Have a family water consumption challenge (but learn about the dangers of too much water consumption first). Give yourself a mental gold star each day you achieved your goal. Buy yourself a newer, brighter water bottle each month that you meet your goals.
For more difficult goals, such as making exercise a part of your life (at least more days of the week than not), start by picking the time of day in which you will be most likely to follow through. Some people are morning exercisers (how I envy them). Some prefer working out just after work so they have the rest of the evening to tend to other activities. And others (like myself) prefer to work out later in the evening. Find exercise you will do (you don’t have to like it to do it). You can walk, follow a video at home, go to a gym or a group exercise class. Then do it. And do it again. And again and again and again and don’t think about whether or not you want to do it or not. Do it. In order to stick with the more difficult behaviors that are, by the way, necessary to maintain weight loss and good health, you need to incorporate assistance. We all need emotional support by others. They don’t have to do the exercise with us, but having someone celebrate you and tell you they are proud of you helps a lot. You can have an accountability partner as a form of support and accountability. You can literally make yourself a star chart and put stars on it when you complete your exercise. And give yourself a star for every day you refrain from that calorie-laden coffee, or manage to avoid fast food, or stay away from the vending machine. Give yourself verbal and physical rewards (that are not food-related). Use support tools that include accountability measures such as charting or using a phone app. Be sure you have solid support and external accountability. Remind yourself each and every day of the reasons you are working so hard on your health. Reward yourself and remind yourself that you and your health are worth the effort it takes to turn these behaviors into habits. I recently figured out that I have been walking on my treadmill “more days of the week than not” for over 15 years. In the past 8 years, I have added yoga as an exercise option. I prefer outdoor hiking or bike riding, but those activities are not always a feasible option. Exercise became a habit one day at a time. Exercise is a routine part of my life. I don’t allow an internal debate about whether or not I have time, or if I “feel like it.” I use a mantra, and encourage you to do the same. I tell myself, “It’s what I do,” and then I do it.
You have likely done very well at times in the past sticking to the “Gotta Do Ems,” or the behaviors necessary to lose weight and keep it off. And yet, how long before you quit and went back to “your old ways,” your “old habits,” the same ones that led to excess weight, health problems, a lack of energy and an overall drain on your life?
There is not a magical number related to how long it takes to turn a behavior into a habit. Twenty one days is inaccurate. Research indicates it take weeks, months, and often over a year before a behavior becomes a habit. You have to really want the results in order to follow through with many of these behaviors. Get whatever help you need: a personal trainer, a bariatric dietician, a team of friends, and/or a therapist, if necessary.
By the way, to extinguish a habit, replace the unwanted behavior with a more positive one. When you are tempted to light a cigarette, drink some water. When you want to head to the drive-thru, call a friend and talk your way past the entrance. When you want to head to the vending machine, head for the stairs and walk a flight or two. Simple, but not easy! It all requires effort.
Health requires effort!
No one can create habits for you. And you’ll develop them more quickly if you don’t try to form them without the help, assistance, encouragement, support and accountability of others. Hey – it’s your health! It’s your responsibility. This day and every day.
