Changing behavior

Debeison

Changing behavior is making room for new habits. Recently a friend shared a story with me about her dog. Her dog went out on a breakfast date. It’s always fun for me to hear a “dog story.” My husband and I used to have dogs and as kids we had a dog. My husband and I had a lovely Rottweiler and Doberman Pinschers, so I decided it would be a good idea for us to learn obedience training. We attended classes with the dogs to learn how to teach them basic commands to change their behavior. The first lesson actually centered around paying attention. We had to do certain exercises and repeat them over and over until our pets “got it” without fail. Yes, our dogs learned how to pay attention to us. So back to basics for me, I’m going to pay attention to what I’m doing in terms of healthy living. Okay, I’m tracking my food intake. I’ve found this tool to be quite helpful. The hardest part, at first, is making this a habit. Right? Tracking food (calories), fat, water, exercise and sleep are key components for me at this stage. So, what are your thoughts about tracking? Hey, if I was able to change my dogs behavior by changing habits and it worked, I can certainly change my behavior for success. Tracking gives me data for what works. Once I track, I find that making healthy choices becomes a habit and that’s part of the goal. I don’t have to think about “dieting” and my norm becomes healthy living. I think this can be fun. Maybe not as much fun as dog-training, but fun.