The power of Habit!

ColeSlaw1234

Okay this might sound like rambling, but looking into the psychology of habits helped me a ton. I was surprised how much eating snacks or unhealthy food is more of a habit formed than an active choice. (While there are eating disorders that can affect this though) For me, making a habit of eating healthy was the first step. After about 30 days of eating "healthy" my body and mind automatically gravitate towards eating healthy foods. I practically ignore the "unhealthy isles" in stores. Anyways, I know this was a rant, but it really helped me. Old habits dont necessarily go away (this is why even the biggest health junkies can go on snacking away when sitting in front of a TV or at a social event) Definently look into habits and how they can really help reshape ur life!

Check out this link for the psychology of habits!

http://routineexcellence.com/psychology-of-habits-form-habits-make-stick/

jan110144

Very good point. The other aspect of a hanit is that it can, in and of itself, become a trigger. E.g., if you always sit down in your favorite chair and snack when you watch television in the evening, just sitting down in that chair in the evening will be a trigger to eat.

Part of changing habits like this involve pairing the trigger activity with an alternative action. (I.e., do something else while you are watching tv besides snacking.) Or, you can eliminate the activity, but few people want to do that.

33gail33

There is actually a book titled "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg. I thought that is what this thread was going to be about. I highly recommend it.

gallicinvasion

So much changed when I read that Duhigg book, which was suggested on one of these forums.

ColeSlaw1234

33gail33 wrote: »

There is actually a book titled "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg. I thought that is what this thread was going to be about. I highly recommend it.

Started reading it!

girlwithcurls2

And on the flipside... I started making my exercise routine a habit. I found something I enjoy, but there are still days, many days, when I would prefer to just go home. Instead, I made it a habit to show up for class every day after work. Now, on those days when motivation is fleeting, habit gets me there--literally. Some evenings, I find myself parking my car at the pool and realizing that I wanted to go home, but I was on autopilot and drove to my workout instead!