Changing old habits is hard. And if you manage to get rid of an old habit, the chance of bumping into it again is pretty high. If changing old habits was easy, we would never be able to recognize our old friends. This resiliency of old habits is what makes weight loss so hard.
The main problem with getting rid of your old unhealthy habits is that you are left with a void. Filling that void is imperative if you want to keep your old habits dead and gone. And the best way to fill that void is with a healthy new habit.
Once you get rid of a habit you create a void. That habit used to take up a certain amount of time, keeping you busy day in and day out. Because you get rid of that habit you gain all that time. Basically you free up time. And what do we usually do with free time? Anything but something healthy. At least that is my first tendency.
By replacing your old unhealthy habit with a new healthy one, you keep yourself busy and less likely to invest your new found time in something unhealthy.
This doesn’t mean that you have to replace your old habit with the exact opposite of it. Say you want to get rid of your habit of eating too much candy. This doesn’t mean you have to replace it with eating celery or something healthy. You could, but you can also change it with 10 minutes of stretching or exercising.
For example each time you used to eat some candy you could do 15 ab crunches. Or any other physical exercise. Use your imagination and you will find the perfect way to fill up your free time. How about doing something you always wanted to do? That’s a great way to invest any new found time.
- How to Adapt Your Eating Habits To Your Day to Day Life
- Weight Management Is All About Having Good Eating Habits
- Get Good Eating Habits to Improve Your Health
- Healthy Eating Habits: Eat to Live Not Live To Eat
- Get Good Eating Habits and Set Good Weight Loss Goals
- How to lose weight by making simple changes to your dietary habits
September 22, 2010
Health & Motivation