Healthy Habit Building
One of my favorite books, Atomic Habits by James Clear gives practical ways anyone can start healthy habits and practical tips on how to add them to your life. His work combined with my own personal experience and my busy cousin Bonnie’s advice give you a few practical ideas on how to build healthy habits.
Even though we tend to get into routines and schedules, we can all get a curve ball and be thrown off our routines. For many, Covid -19 has been that curve ball. Between the different government orders, CDC statements and our own circumstances I think we can all agree once healthy habits have been disrupted it’s difficult to get them back. Some have been abandoned and the thought of restarting is daunting.
My hope is that you get back into healthy habits – 1 at a time. We’ve all seen what eating whatever we want and sitting in your pajamas waiting for the next waive of Covid does to people…it destroys them. It’s time to stop living in fear, forget big pharma’s scary tactics and start eating healthy again. Fuel your body with nutritious food, regain your energy with fruits and veggies and refresh your mind with real foods, not take-out of frozen meals.
But what if you’ve been thrown off and need to get back to habits you’ve temporarily abandoned? Here are a few tips to get you started.
1. Habit stacking – James Clear refers to this in his book. The basic premise is that if we are trying to add in a new habit, stack it with something you already do as a reminder. For example, if you brush your teeth 2 times a day, and you want to stretch 2 times a day the catalyst of the new behavior can be tooth brushing. You automatically or habitually brush your teeth, so the reminder goes off. After you brush your teeth, you do a couple of stretches or even start small (number 2) with one new stretch. Brushing your teeth is the invisible sticky note to remind you of the new habit you are trying to institute.
2. Do something small – Leo Babauta says “Make it so easy you can’t say no.” Add in a small habit that over time will accumulate to a large change. For example, if you need to be more active, pick something you like to do (number 3) and do it for a short time. Make the goal 5-10 minutes of walking, dancing, or taking a self-care break. Do this daily to build a small habit that over time will change your life.
3. Do what you like - Pick something you like to do and want to put back into your life. For example, you liked to serve a good meal. Get your recipes, scroll through saved ones on Pinterest and get motivated. Make a healthy meal for your body. Your family will also thank you for it. That right choice can fuel the next right choice, like doing 5 minutes of weights to increase your strength.
4. Have a why – To be motivated internally we need to dig into the why. Why do I want to do this healthy habit? When we can answer that question and build on it, we can internally motivate ourselves to perform the new habit. We have a stake in it and want it to happen to make our future better. For example, if you stopped going to the gym because Covid closed your gym and your goal is to get back to how you felt after exercising you have a “why”. Why – Because I want to feel good and have more energy, so I am going to be active 3 times a week.
5. Get back up – We need to expect to fail or miss a day. In the past that all or none thinking could have derailed you. Do not look at missing a day as a failure that stops you from trying again. Go back to last week’s blog and re-read the 4 nuggets to get back on track and reset. The difference between those that succeed and those that don’t is not a perfect track record.
Lastly, remember change is not linear; it is a cycle. If we are realistic, we need to think about barriers to change and then plan to get over, under or through the obstacle. This is where a health coach or setting SMART goals becomes important. The key is being consistent, not perfect. Think ahead and create a Plan “B” for the trigger that derails you. If you think it through and have options, poor choices that seem to control you can be broken with a new option. Hook that to something you value, like feeling good or having more energy and Plan “B” can quickly become your new habit, your go-to and your Plan “A”!
