Tuesday Tip: Making Habits Stick 🤗
Creating new habits is key to maintaining weight and fat loss. Recent studies have shown it takes an average of 2 -3 months for new habits to stick. So how can you help new healthy lifestyle changes become habits?
#1 Identify your obstacles
There will always be things that make some things harder to change so start by identifying them. If you can identify a bad habit, and what triggers it, you can start to change it e.g. if you tend to indulge in snacks in front of the tv at night then maybe try less tv time, doing something with your hands (adult colouring books, knitting, puzzles, online games etc) or find alternative lower calorie snacks.
# 2 Make new habits easier
How can you avoid the triggers altogether and make the healthier choice the easy one? So if walking past the chip shop is your trigger, change your route home. If you’re trying to avoid chocolate binges on the sofa ensure you don’t buy any on the weekly shop. If you’re trying to workout more then book yourself in to classes, or workout with a friend and have your workout kit in the car or by the door so it’s easy to go and do it!
#3 Set goals
You need goals and the most likely to help you succeed are SMART ones (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based). Tonnes of studies support this so rather than setting a vague goal of ‘eating healthier’ set yourself a goal of eating a proper lunch so you don’t end up snacking on cake mid afternoon. Instead of saying you’ll ‘exercise more’ set the goal of doing two 45 min workouts a week, or walking 20 mins a day etc.
#4 Accountabilibuddy
It helps to know someone else is keeping tabs on your progress. Find yourself an accountability buddy to give you a kick if you start slipping. Also hold yourself accountable by posting your goals publicly on social media or to friends/family, set phone reminders to go to the gym/have lunch/avoid pizza etc. Try writing a list of new habits on a planner and tick off the days you achieve them; visually seeing the progress really helps.
Soon those new habits will become the norm and it won’t seem like an effort anymore!
Happy Tuesday 🤗
Xx
Every Step Fitness 