Time to Ditch Your Unhealthy Habits!! | Miki's Hope

Time to Ditch Your Unhealthy Habits!!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012


We all have them, even tiny little secret ones, those bad habits we wish we could beat once and for all. After the debauchery of the holiday season, it can feel as though our unhealthy habits have gatecrashed our party and are refusing to leave. If you want to reclaim your body again, it’s time to follow some simple steps. I can’t claim your body will be a temple afterwards, but it will certainly be less like a squat.

Change your environment. Making unhealthy choices can be linked to environment. Do you go past a bakery on the way to lunch? Do you mix with smokers during a break period? Changing where you lunch or what you do with your spare time can be enough to break a habit. Think about the circumstances when you make an unhealthy choice. Are you often with the same person or group of people? A friend I knew who was trying to reduce drinking alcohol found her attempts scuppered by the group she socialised with who encourage her to drink and proclaimed her ‘boring’ when she tried to make a positive change.

Set realistic goals. Just take a week at a time. Setting a huge goal when you are feeling positive will have you feeling like you have a mountain to climb when willpower fails you. Follow the ‘SMART’ rule; ‘small’, ‘measurable’, ‘achievable’, ‘realistic’ and ‘targetable’ when setting your goals and you will reach them every time.

Be well supported. Trying to quit a bad habit all on your own can be daunting. If your goal is weight loss, think about joining a weight loss club where you can get help with nutrition, exercise and gain support from other members. If quitting smoking is your goal, make sure that you have back up. If you haven’t thought about how you are going to control those cravings or nicotine patches or gum have not quite done the job, take a look at electronic cigarettes as a way of helping your body wean off tobacco cigarettes. There are some great online retailers who sell starter kits for newbies to the e-cig experience. Try ecig wizard starter kits for a range of great value kits.

Get more than 40 winks. Many of our bad habits are a reaction to stress. Comfort eating, smoking, having a drink of alcohol, have you noticed how these things are tougher to avoid when you’re tired? We turn to our bad habit as a way of de-stressing and underestimate the amount of sleep we need and the effect that a lack of it has on our wellbeing. If you are going to be fit to fight the bad habit cravings, you are going to need your rest.

Eye on the target. Sometimes when the going gets tough, it can be difficult to remember why on earth we started on this journey, my bad habit isn’t that bad, is it? To help remember your goal, write yourself a letter. Make it detailed, why you want to stop and what makes you sad about your habit. It just might give you the extra strength you needed.








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20 comments :

Lolo @ Crazy About My Baybah said...

I really need to work on getting sleep. I am always up way to late working.

TerinAleah said...

Ugh, let's not even talk about my bad habits! I never get enough sleep... and I eat horribly. :( Really need to fix that!

Allyson Bossie said...

My husband lives in chronic pain, working with pain doctors, and at the first of the year we are going on an anti-inflammatory diet which is akin to the Paleo diet. It's as close to what people at before processed foods as possible. They say it's brutal the first 2 weeks, but I hope it helps his pain!

Just Short said...

I think the 'setting realistic goals' is the most important. so many times we set ourselves up for failure. great tips. thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

We are trying to cut back on having tons of goodies in the house during the holidays.

Marina@EBMR said...

We've been trying to eat better...and yes exercising is on my list of must-dos. Sleep is another must!

Mama to 5 said...

Sweets is my struggle. If I didn't have a sweet tooth I would weigh 100 lbs! It's something I plan on working thru and praying about after baby 5 is born in April.

Alicia said...

Oh my gosh, I need to bookmark this and stick to it. I start everyday thinking these things, but I end up going for the bad stuff throughout the day!

LOVE MELISSA:) said...

I have been trying to eat better. It is so hard especially around the holidays but trying is important, right:)

Happy Gardening, Kim said...

Bad habits stress me out!!! I love my three C's....cheese, chocolate, and cereal at night...but found an awesome protein drink that I drink every morning!!!

Kelly R. said...

I have been trying to eat better but, it is difficult during the holidays with all the wonderful food around. I try not to keep sweets at home, I figure out of sight, out of mind.
Great tips.

jennyatdapperhouse said...

Perfect tips. I think the One about Setting Goals is KEY! Last night I was talking to a mom who said that her daughter will be starting preschool in January. The mom has goals of organizing her home, working out, eating healthier , etc...but she said that she is giving herself one project at a time and a month to get it done so that she has realistic goals, room for "life" to disrupt her efforts and still be able to keep focused and reach her goals.

Honey + Lime said...

This has got to be the hardest thing to do! Sweets are my absolute love and JOY.

Kelly said...

I need to start eating better. Thank you for this information..

Christy Maurer said...

I know I get so overwhelmed when I look at the big picture. I know I need to set small, achievable goals!

Paige said...

This is very helpful with starting the new year, I am going to bookmark these tips for after the holdiays!

jheylo said...

great tips and i will keep this in mind since my husband and i wanted some change in our lifestyle health wise.

Krystle said...

I need to make some chances in the new year. Thanks for the tips, I really need to work on making realistic goals not sky high never achievable ones!

Pam said...

Great tips to get one motivated. Setting obtainable goals is really a key point.

Sherryl Wilson said...

Oh it IS that time of the year again isn't it!

You have great talking points...it is hard to stay motivated especially when goals are set too high.

 
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