It’s 2010, a new decade, a time of reflection and resolutions. So let’s start at the beginning. It’s not that hard to change your habits. Really! In fact, the experts say it takes as little as ten days, depending on the repetition, to create a new habit. Repeating it after the habit is formed gives reinforcement, so that the habit becomes even stronger.
You might think that success in changing ingrained habits can happen to somebody else but is out of reach for you. In fact, it’s quite common to find that when we’re totally committed to a goal and focused on it, success happens in small chunks that we don’t usually notice until we look back to note that we’re no longer doing things the way we’ve always done them.
Sometimes, the reasons to change to healthy habits are startling. According to Ryan Whiteside’s article, “The #1 Reason Failure Is So Common,” he states that if eating a candy bar becomes a daily routine after lunch or as a mid-day snack, we probably won’t notice over a month’s time the decrease in our energy level or that we may have gained a couple of pounds. But what happens if our candy bar snack habit celebrates its one-year anniversary? We possibly could be sporting about ten pounds! Over five to ten years, Whiteside says, although we barely noticed it because it happened so slowly and gradually, we’re looking at about an extra 50-100 pounds!
You can give up that (fill in your favorite unhealthy snack here) every afternoon! But then the question becomes what to do when you’re feeling hungry and sleepy? For starters, substitute a good, long drink of water (which is most likely what your body is craving), or a more wholesome, protein-based snack, such as a handful of nuts (rather than refined carbs, such as soda, cookies, or candy, which lift you temporarily with a spike in your blood sugar – until you crash and are tired and starving again). Or maybe a short walk? Another trick is to tug on your ear lobes for a quick pick-me-up – your eyes will pop open and the fog will clear. Try it!
If there’s a reward associated with the new habit, even better for making the new habit stick. Picture in your mind an energetic, healthy you. Open your heart and mind to the idea of questioning the status quo as far as your values and your image of yourself. Make the conscious choice to change, and the changes you desire will happen…and can reinforce the fact that you are the captain of your own destiny. You don’t have to accept things as they have always been.
Now that the new year is upon us, it’s a good time to make the decision to enjoy more good health, have more energy, and generally live a good life. If that sounds appealing to you, keep an eye out for future “Healthy Is as Healthy Does” posts from CPTC’s Wellness Committee.
Life is good!
Wellness Committee
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