Are you struggling to break your bad habits in order to adopt a healthier lifestyle?
Habits are settled tendencies that are difficult to give up. Willpower gives out relatively easily when you’re out of training.
It’s important to be aware that willpower alone is unlikely to help you break bad habits and form healthier ones.
Read on for our top four tips to break unhealthy habits.
Don’t rush things
If you live an unhealthy lifestyle it’s unlikely that you’ll enjoy success by trying to change everything at once.
For the first dew days try and make one change you can stick to. Try a single goal and see how you go about achieving it.
Once you’re settled with that change add another, then another and so on. The more specific you can be in making a plan to achieve your goal – stating where, when and how you will do it – the more chance you have being successful.
Reward yourself
It’s important to ensure that you reward yourself for the hard work you put into trying to break your unhealthy habits.
That doesn’t mean celebrating a week eating salads with a trip to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, but could involve treating yourself to a new pair of jeans or booking a weekend away.
Remove temptation
Your surroundings can lead you astray when you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle.
Remove temptation and try to identify barriers to eating healthily, being active or getting a good night’s sleep.
Don’t keep treats at home where you can access them anytime you have a craving. Make shopping lists and plan your route around the supermarket to avoid aisles where the ‘danger’ products are kept.
Don’t wait until you’re hungry to buy food – pack something healthy.
Get friends and family to help
Involve your friends and family about your goals and ask them to help you. Make sure they keep pushing you in the right direction.
If your new lifestyle involves signing up for the gym, join with someone who you know will keep you motivated to attend and help both of you achieve your fitness goals.
As the old saying goes, two heads are better than one and using friends and family can really help to break your unhealthy habits.
