Yesterday we talked about drinking more water and while that is an important part of becoming healthier there was an alternative motive. So how did you do?
Small actions are better than good intentions
Everyone good intentions when they are starting a new diet or exercise plan – but how many actually stick to it after the first week or two? Not that many!
You start to think that eating right or exercising is hard and you’ll just skip today. It’s not that big of a deal. One day isn’t going to make that big of a difference.
After two or three months your diet or exercise plan has been replaced by your old ways. This time instead of jumping right in and going full board into either of those pursuits – you need to create small daily habits that won’t overwhelm you with the sheer thought of them.
Don’t obsess about the big picture
Whenever you start something new you look at the whole picture – this is normal. So when you start a new diet you’ll think of forever instead of one day at a time. When you do this you brain gets overwhelmed and will eventually burn out.
Maybe you make the same resolution every single year – lose weight and get fit. You’ve tried all the buzz word diets out there – paleo, gluten-free, no carbs.
Photo: fourpointgo/flickr
You’ve lost weight on these diets. Pounds seemed to slip off you pretty easy too – 10 pounds, 20 pounds. But there is one major problem? You stop doing the diet. Those 10 or 20 pounds come back in a flash and they bring their partner in crime which happens to be another 10 pounds.
You’ve been like this your whole life. After you’ve stopped a diet or exercise plan you beat yourself up. You should have tried harder; other people are having success doing the same diet, what is wrong with me.
Newsflash, you are normal
You do what we’ve all done. You’ve jumped into something that you didn’t want to continue – people eat bread from time to time. Or you start with good intentions, but no substance to back it up.
How do you get substance? You create small habits that work towards eating a healthier diet and exercising regularly. You might think that doing something small every day isn’t going to make much of a difference – but that’s not true!
Small habits that become part of your life and ingrained into your subconscious are the glue of creating changes in any aspect of your life that will continue way after good intentions slip away.
A common struggle people have is with sugar. You might think that one way to get healthy is to cut it out, but is that realistic?
The answer is no and so it is common to quit your new healthy habit because you forever without sugar feels impossible. There are hundreds of cakes, cookies and desserts that you haven’t tried yet. Why would you give up such a wonderful treat?
As you can see the brain starts creating problems. But, what if you don’t give up sugar – not today at any rate. Today you are going to eat one less piece of candy, cookie or treat. That’s it. That is easy to do.
The next day you control your sugar craving just one time throughout the day. Pretty soon you go to two sugar cravings. Then you notice you’ve not craving sugar or treats nearly as much throughout the day. With habits you’ve replaced the donut hole for an apple, orange or banana.
Creating a habit that will gradually eliminate your sweet tooth or you’ll be able to only have one treat a day instead of grabbing a small piece of candy every time you walk past the candy bowl.
You’ll also notice you don’t have that urge to grab a piece. You’ll enjoy the one piece that you are eating so much more. You’re not mindlessly popping them in your mouth and eating them as quickly as you can.
Know that small habits will impact your life drastically. During this challenge you might not think that any small habits you start will make a difference. But establishing the habit is much more important than the size of the habit. They snowball into a much better result than good intentions.
Today’s assignment – what are your unhealthy habits?
Today think about your unhealthy habits. Not measuring the coffee creamer for your coffee, eating three or four pieces of pizza, or drinking five energy drinks a day. Pick one and create a small habit to control it. Start measuring your coffee creamer, eat only two or three pieces of pizza, or drink one less energy drink.
That’s all for today. Pick a habit and make a small change. Nothing that will be too drastic, but that you might have to think to make sure you get it done. Also, drink your water from yesterday’s challenge.
P.S. Tomorrow will be great if you really don’t like to exercise.
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