Are you looking for a way to make health changes that last long-term? Then, making it part of your daily routine is the most important thing you can do, says dietitian and exercise physiologist Caitlin Reid.
When it comes to changing your lifestyle for the better, the biggest mistake many of us make is to go in with an all-or-nothing mentality. We up the exercise routine, ban ourselves from eating the foods we love and restrict ourselves to nothing but lettuce leaves and skinless chicken breasts all in the name of health.
If we dare succumb to a piece of chocolate or two we brand ourselves failures and immediately resort back to our old ways. This process is anything but healthy!
To create the healthier lifestyle you crave, you must commit to making small, sustainable changes that fit nicely into your daily routine. Everything doesn’t need to be changed at once and short-term pleasures should not be the motivator for your decision to change.
Drastic changes with overnight improvements are hard to maintain long-term and this is not what you are trying to achieve. Taking control of your daily routine, being organising and planning the healthy changes you wish to make will give you the healthy lifestyle success you crave.
Begin by making a list of the healthy changes you wish to make to your lifestyle, as well as the unhealthy habits you wish to break. Instead of trying to make all the changes at once, choose the easiest change to make and then turn it into a daily commitment. Maybe you find it easiest to limit takeaway food to weekends only or maybe your motivation lies in increasing your exercise levels. Whatever it is, plan the actions you need to take to make it part of your daily routine and then commit to the process.
For instance, to ensure you’re exercising daily, you may need to get up 30 minutes earlier each day. To limit your takeaway consumption to weekends, you may need to go grocery shopping weekly so that you always have healthy food at hand. Whatever it is, plan it into your week, choose the action you need to take and then actively partake in the healthy behaviour.
Track your progress and evaluate your performance regularly so that you keep on track. Once you have confidently made the first change (this should take about one month), you can then work on the next healthy change. Remember, making it part of your daily routine is the key to making health changes that last long term. Consistency is the key!
Your say: What tricks do you use to stick to health regime?
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
