How to create Healthy Habits

Now that January is over, school is back and work is in full swing. It can be easy to find ourselves out of time and energy, with all those good intentions of getting more organised, getting fitter, or just being more active falling by the wayside with our busy life taking over. 

But making changes to our lives doesn’t need to be difficult or time consuming. In fact, small changes that you are able to consistently apply wil have a bigger effect on your life in the long term than the complete overhaul we have usually think of. 

Research has shown us that when we do something consistently for 6 weeks, this then can become our norm. So any changes you want to make will take about 6 weeks of conscious effort, before you don’t even realise you are doing them any more. 

So what is it you want to change? Think small, daily changes that will add up over time, for example, decreasing your sugar/coffee/soft drink intake, increasing your activity by walking to school or work, committing to 10 mins of reading before bed, eating one extra vegetable every day. As they say, ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’, so while you may have a lofty goal in your head, these small changes are the way to getting there. 

So here are the key steps to introducing habits to your lifestyle for long term changes. 

1. Make a plan. It is all well and good to say I will eat less processed foods starting tomorrow, but unless you have made some meal plans and been to the shops, you will just eat what you have at hand. Do a little research, make a plan and give yourself grace with when and how you start, no one gets it right straight away!
2. Track your change- how will you keep track of how you are progressing? Will you be marking off a whiteboard, keeping a list on your phone or in your calendar? Take the time each day to reflect on how your change is implemented and how it makes you feel when you have done it. 
3. Set yourself smaller goals with rewards- I have gone for a 10 min walk every day this week, now I can reward myself. Rewards solidify pathways in our brain, we associate doing the activity with the good feeling of the reward, so we are more likely to continue. 
4. Re-evaluate the changes you have made. Is your change working for you? Are you able to accomplish it easily each day? Or have you missed a few days when it was all too hard to find the time or motivation? Consider scaling back to a more sustainable change if you are not accomplishing the change you have chosen.

After your six weeks is up, check in and see how you went. Do you now do it without a second thought? Excellent, you are ready to add your next small sustainable change! When you are ready to add your next challenge, consider using habit stacking, doing the new change at the same time or just after the last change you introduced. This makes you more likely to complete the new change, and makes it easier to ‘find the time’ to complete the new change- for example, after your 10 minute walk, do 5 minutes of stretching. 

Each small change we introduce can help us to feel happier, healthier and more accomplished, and we don’t have to overhaul our lives to do it. We are much more likely to stick with small, sustainable changes, so what can you change to improve your life?