Experts say it takes 21 days to develop a habit and around 90 days to make the habit a permanent lifestyle change. As we count down to the new year right NOW is the perfect time to make a change and develop new habits. Below are some good habits to develop to help you reach your weight loss goals.
Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day. (64 ounces)
Engage in 30 minutes of purposeful movement (aka exercise) at least 3 times a week.
Track your intake daily. Use an app like MyFitnessPal, Lose it, or Baritastic, or good old fashion pen and paper.
Eat 3 meals and 1-2 snacks per day.
Swap out fast carbs for slow carbs and start eating more vegetables.
Sleep! 8 hours a night is best.
Eliminate a trigger food. If there is a food you know triggers you to eat more and more then eliminate it from your diet. But before you do find something to replace it with. I traded my Reese's peanut butter cups (a ridiculous amount of them) for one Hershey kiss and tsp of peanut butter. (Baby steps to change is important! see commit to 1% below)
When you start making changes and creating new habits here are some things to help the habit stick.
Link the new habit to something you already do. For instance if you drink diet pop but you want to make drinking water a habit don't cut out the pop all together. Alternate drinking a diet pop then a bottle of water. Then slowly decrease the amount of pop while increasing the amount of water.
Don't link your habits to random times of the day. If you want to be better at taking your vitamin, link the habit to when you eat a specific meal or when you wake up or go to bed.
Set reminders in your phone. If you're forgetful like I am, little phone reminders are great to keep you on track throughout the day. In the same way these reminders can help you curb hunger as well. Personally, I have meal alarms, meaning I don't eat unless my alarm tells me it's time to do so. This helps me curb my snacking and grazing throughout the day.
Let other people know about your new habits and ask them to help hold you accountable. Better yet have them join you in creating healthy habits as well.
Commit to 1%. Getting just 1% better at something adds up over time. Start with one habit and see how big of a difference just one change can make.
Don't quit. Yes you may fail, you may forget your new habit all together, but don't quit trying!
Comments