Why is it so hard to build healthy habits? As a species, humans are resistant to change by nature. Because of that resistance, it takes us a while to break a bad habit or implement a new one – up to as long as a month. During this transition period, it is easy to fall back into our old ways, unless we consciously keep ourselves on track until our new change has taken hold as a habit.
In the case of healthy habits, not only can introducing them increase our resistance to disease now, but they also improve life later down the road. That means taking fewer prescribed drugs in the future, maintaining independent living longer, and more longevity as we age, but the road to change can be bumpy if not done correctly.
Healthy Eating
Do you like food that is not good for you? Food that is high in calories and fat? If so, you are not alone… and it is not your fault! We are genetically engineered to gravitate toward that kind of food from our ancestral days. Hunting, gathering, and exploring the surrounding area took a lot of energy and so food with a lot of calories and fat provided the energy.
The food today is different than it was years ago. Today, processed and fast food lurks around on every corner, inviting you to come in … and while you are there, super-size everything making for even more fat and calories. That isn’t the end of the story. Food is addictive. So, if you succumb to eating a lot of processed and fast food, that is what your body becomes accustomed to eating, what it prefers, and in fact, what it craves.
However, the opposite side of the coin is also true. If you start eating healthy, it too over time will become addictive also. The trick is to make SMALL incremental changes over time and not a big change all at once. That way your body will slowly change and adapt to your new way of eating. What gets people into trouble and they fall short of achieving their goals, is they try to make too much of a change in too short a time. Don’t quit eating bad food cold turkey. Slowly start eating less bad food and more good food and you will see your habits change.
Healthy Fitness
The same rationale of change also applies to exercising. At the start of each New Year, people make all-or-nothing commitments in the form of resolutions where they are going to conquer the world of fitness; to exercise five days a week, run a marathon in a month, etc. After the first or second time in the gym, they are so sore they can hardly move. They take a few days to heal up and never return to the gym again.
Instead, they should have started slowly by doing some short easy workouts a day or two the first week and gradually increase the frequency, workout time, and type of workout over the course of the first month.
Building healthy habits is a process of setting small attainable and realistic goals with several milestones of mini-goals along the way.
If you are ready to start making small changes and are not sure how, I can help. Sign up for a free consultation where we will discuss where you are now and where you want to go. You will walk away with actionable steps you can start making today. https://bit.ly/Kissyoursymptomsgoodbye
