Happy New Year! A new start into a new year with new goals and opportunities. One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is improving health. A lot of people try to lose some weight or want to exercise more. While the former approach focuses on the goal, the latter approach is process oriented. The change of the process, your habits, will lead you to better results. Healthy habits keep you healthy. Also, you don’t need to be perfect. For changing your habits, you must be persistent. Your goal should focus less on how many pounds you want to lose. Your goal should focus on changing your habits about physical activity, diet, and mental well-being. In this way, you will stay healthy long-term.
Why should I change my habits?
Healthy habits are the foundation of longevity and well-being. You will not stay healthy if you only follow a balanced diet for 30 days. It may benefit your health short-term, but you will not be able to maintain your results. If you want to stay healthy, you need to implement sustainable healthy habits for physical activity, mental well-being, and your diet.
3 Key Factors How to Build Habits
Doing something out of habit. You do something out of habit because you are used to doing so. This can be traditions and routines. You can say to yourself, “every Thursday after work I…”, or “every year for Thanksgiving we…” or “always when I get home, I…”. Contrary to traditions, habits are more comparable to subconsciously trained reactions to certain impulses. Habits are the reason why you might have a hard time doing sports persistently or following a healthy diet. Your further well-being is also impacted by other habits, such as sleeping habits, stress management, and usage of substances like tobacco or alcohol.
“I need to go to the gym.” Some people really go, some do not. Here are the 3 key factors how to build healthy habits:
1. Context
The context describes the circumstances under which you must make a decision. These obstacles are called friction. The more friction, the more unlikely you will do it. You may tell yourself: “I am already home and it’s raining.” “Do I have my gym bag with me?” “Not today, because x,y, and z are more important than working out.” “What would my gym partner say?”
The great news is that you can increase and reduce friction in your environment towards the habits you want to implement. The solution is to set up your context favorable to the habits you want to create. If you want to exercise more, set up your environment so it becomes more likely for you to really workout. Bring your gym bag already to work. You’ll be able to avoid the trap of thinking “now, I’m on the couch and it’s raining outside.” Put ‘workout’ in your calendar and give your health the importance it deserves. Workout with a personal trainer to have long-term guidance and social support on your health journey.
Context also influences dietary decisions. Which foods should I buy? What food do I have available at home right now? Do I cook at home, do I go to a restaurant, or do I get food delivered?
A great way to change your dietary habits can be by cooking at home. Take the time and pre-cook. In this way you reduce friction to make unhealthy meal decisions and you know exactly what you eat. Also, prepare healthy foods and snacks for school or work to avoid junk food for lunch. If you want to avoid certain snacks like cookies or chips, try to simply not buy them. Instead, substitute sweets with fruits and salty snacks with vegetables. Now, you can still pleasure your munchies, but in a healthy way. Stick to your healthy shopping list while in the supermarket. Get your social support by family and friends. Adapt the friction in your environment to implement healthy habits.
2. Reward
The reward of changing your habits is long-term health and well-being. It is so important to not only follow a healthy lifestyle for just 30 days, but to implement healthy habits into your daily and weekly routines. Keep this long-term view and you will live happily and healthy. Persistence is for your body more important than perfection. If you have a perfect workout routine or diet for 30 days, you may reach short-term goals. However, you may not be able to sustain certain exercise or diet regiments, quit after x days, and go back to your old exercise and diet habits. Therefore, have realistic expectations, give yourself space for imperfections, and do it because you want to do it. Don’t do it for anybody else. Your intrinsic motivation is the biggest driver to success.
3. Repetition
Persistence beats perfection. Repetition is almost the definition of behavioral habits. Only a repeated behavior can be a habit. Behavioral science says implementing a new habit takes about two to three months. The interesting thing about it, it must not be every single day. You can even break the sequence. This means you do not have to be perfect to build up new habits. But you need to be persistent and repeat them. Just keep it up next time. It is not the end of the world. Change your habits by repeating your desired behaviors as often as you can.
How do I change my habits?
Health and well-being are the results of long practiced habits. Setting up your personal context will make it easier to repeat your desired behaviors and lead you to your long-term reward. The final question is, ‘which habits do I need to change to stay healthy and what do I need to do?’
Extensive studies show the positive effects of physical activity for health and longevity. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week and two sessions of strength training. A mix of strength and cardiovascular training is critical to maintain your health. As a personal trainer, it’s important for me to plan my clients’ individual fitness program. One size doesn’t fit all because everyone is different.
A Mediterranean diet with fish, vegetables, and fruits provide your body with protein, healthy fats, and vitamins. According to the Harvard Medical School this sort of diet also shows anti-inflammatory effect on your body cells. Furthermore, stay hydrated with water. Try to cook at home with family or friends. Try to write a healthy shopping list. Stick to the shopping list. Substitute sweets and salty snacks with fruits and vegetables. Don’t expect perfection and just keep doing.
Your well-being is the product of body and mind. If you need mental support, there are wonderful counselors and therapists out there. Reach out to them! 😊 As a personal trainer, I can help you with relaxation and body awareness exercises. To further reduce your stress, you can try implementing regular sleeping hours, phone/(social) media offline times, and time with family and friends.
How Do I Start Changing My Habits?
There are several ways how you can start changing your habits. The great thing about changing your habits is you can start anytime. It’s not only about your New Year’s resolution. Pick a thing you want to change. If you want to quit something, try to avoid situations where you’d usually show this certain kind of behavior. Avoid purchasing these products and reduce situations you could purchase them. If you want to do something more, make it easier for you to do so. Either way, do not expect perfection. Instead, just repeat the next time. Continue. Over time, changes will become your new normal. You have changed your habits. As a personal trainer I would love to support your habit change.