Have you ever stopped stopping the week to ask yourself how to stick to healthy habits?
It starts: You have prepared your weekend meal. That is your Week to finally “get back on the track”. You put protein in your Breakfast oatsShow your training clothes to meet this early morning – everything clicks.
Then life happens. A curve ball beats two weeks later … The children get sick, the daycare center closes or something unexpected derails their routine. Before you know it, old habits sneak back into it.
We were all there. Building new habits is difficultAnd it requires flexibility. No matter how strong your willpower is, real life does not follow a perfect schedule. The waste from the trail is not a failure. It is only part of being human.
Here is the good news: Your brain is actually your best friend in the formation of new habits.
The secret is not to learn to work with your brain. By moving your way of thinking, creating the right environment and focusing on positive reinforcements, you can re -wire your way of thinking to use healthy habits.
In this article, I will be strategies that I used as a nutritionist to help people pass from Couch potatoes to 5K runners, from snacking to potato chips to carrots -everything by approaching the power of the habit change.
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Wired your way of thinking for long -term success
Your brain continues to develop. This ability to change and adapt consistently is referred to as neuroplasticity (1). The good news is that it is possible to love a new habit.
But that won’t happen overnight. Despite the popular theory that a new habit takes about 3 weeks, science shows that this is not the case. On average, it takes 66 days (or a little more than 2 months) for a new habit to feel like the norm (2).
That may feel discouraging. However, the use of these strategies supported by scientifically supported can help you to re -wire your way of thinking and love new healthy habits.
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Trick 1: Become the person you want to be
Imagine yourself as the person you want to be and the habits help you get there. Do you want to run more? See yourself as a runner you become, not where you are now.
If you try to eat less packaged snacks, see yourself as someone who is a diet full of diet Fruit, vegetables and whole grain products.
Trick 2: Combine a treat with a task
Difficulties to find the time (and energy) to commit to the preparation of meals? Here is a trick that you appreciate: Tempation bundling (3). “Combine the reward with The task is to turn the reward system. They do a not so fun activity and something you enjoy and bundle them together, ”says Katherine Basbaum, a myfitness noise nutrition consultant (dietician (3).
Here you can find out how to do it: choose something really fun for you, like a new episode of a favorite podcast or a TV show, and do it while preparing or sweating on the treadmill.
About the experts
Elizabeth Shaw, MS, RDN, CPT is a nutrition expert, four -time cookbook author and Early Nutrition Pioneer in the field of fertility diet. She is the president and owner of the Nutrition Communications and Consulting company Shaw Simple Swaps based in the USA.
Katherine Basbaum, MS, RD is food data curator at myfitnespal. She received her master in nutritional communication from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University and completed her dietary internship at UVA Health, where she also works as a nutritionist for cardiology patients.
Trick 3: Create a room in which you drove your goals
Use visual information in your kitchen, your work area and your bedroom to trigger your desired habits. Think of tiny nudges that help to achieve your goals.
Are you trying to eat more fruit? Place it in a bowl in the middle of your counter or in a glass container cut in your fridge, cut at the front and in the middle (4). Will Go more? The evening before, make your hiking clothes and shoes so that you are ready to go first in the morning.
These small shifts can help achieve their goals.
Trick 4: Create your support network
Research shows that the people with whom they surround themselves can help them achieve and achieve their goals (5). Do you have a friend who is constantly talking about the gym to go to Happy Hour? Rethink who your support network is. It can be helpful to support people who share their passion for healthy habits.
“Share your goal of making a new healthy habit with someone you trust to support your goal,” says Basbaum. “If you have problems, your encouragement will drive you forward.”
Trick 5: Celebrate victories, big and small
Celebrate these victories (6). Put yourself on your back, mark this as a victory in your diary or just tell a friend and let him right away.
When you celebrate your victories, dopamine will be published, a feel-good neurotransmitter that is directly connected to your reward system (7). Dopamine reinforces the habit.
Trick 6: Anchor new habits of existing routines
Adding new habits to one that you have already made can help this new habit. Indeed published research in the British Journal of Health Psychology The participants found, which adhered to the behavior of nutritional behavior to an established daily routine or a certain time of day8).
So are you finally ready to end and log your food in the MyFitnespal app? Great, plan to do it after cleaning your teeth at night.
Trick 7: Build impulse with microbods
You don’t have to revise your diet and lifestyle overnight. “Start with a microhbitis you can build on,” says Basbaum. For example, if you want to create the habit of eating 5 products a day per day, add a portion of fruit or vegetables for breakfast every morning. As soon as this routine is set, you can add products to a different daily meal or another snack.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
How long does it take to build a new habit?
It can take between 18 and 254 days to form a new habit, the average is around 66 days (2).
What is the best way to stay motivated, to eat or train healthy?
Celebration of victories, young and old, is a good beginning to stay motivated. When you wait for you to achieve this target weight, your motivation can bubble. Celebrate the miles you have just registered or the hour you have prepared with the food.
How can I make healthy habits so easier or automatically?
Anchor your habit to something that you are already doing consistently. For example, do you try to drink more water? Then pour in a glass and drink it before diving into your coffee (or tea).
What should I do if I fall from the route or break a habit?
Lean into your support network and remember your “Why?” Let these two help you to get back on the right track. Myfitnespal is here to help not just offer Support for the menu but a Weekly habitualization function Now too.
How do I create a routine that helps to capture healthy habits?
Concentrate on changes that you can easily add to your day. In the long run, this makes it easier for them To glue healthy habits. Do you have no time for a joint training? Don’t sweat it. Also count for 10 minutes.
The end result
It is possible to adopt your mind and learn to love a new habit. The neuroplasticity or the ability of your brain to change and adapt over time is a big factor in it (1). Plan in advance, the structure of your support network, concentrating on micromoves and the single celebrations of your victories can strengthen all healthy habits in a way to which your brain reacts. ((5Present 6Present 7Present 8).
Download the Myfitnespal App today and start building habits that take away!
The contribution How you can exercise your brain in loving healthy habits appeared first Myfitnespal Blog.
