How long til it becomes habit?
Mommypeanut
Posts: 34
Just wondering how long it takes before u felt your new lifestyle was just habit now, doesnt take much thought or willpower to eat good and exercise?
Right now it will be entirely willpower for me. Maybe so e tears. When will it become natural?
Right now it will be entirely willpower for me. Maybe so e tears. When will it become natural?
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Mine was almost instant. The second I saw the numbers on the scale go down, I knew this was a lifestyle change I had to stick with. It's been 2/5 months and 26 pounds, and I really haven't had any cravings or anything. I am speaking for the diet part. The exercise part has not become a habit yet. That is still taking a lot of work... Good luck!
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"They" say it takes 14 day consitantly to make anything a habbit. I never formed a habbit with exercise. Diet takes time and build up of logging and what food to eat before it became easier.0
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I have to agree with Goeke. There are 2 components of maintaining a healthy lifestyle (diet and exercise). For me, the exercise portion took 2 months to become a habit. I hadn't excercised since my college days (20+ years ago) and therefore I've had many years to develop the habit of not working out. Given that, it took me a while to change a habit that I've lived with for so long.
As for the "Diet" component, for me, I just had to change the types of foods I was eating. Instead of the convenient, mostly fat, fast food items, changing to a healthy alternative wasn't difficult. You'll find, as you cut out the beer, pizza, fast food, cookies, ice cream, potato chips, etc and replace them with healthy foods (replace that diet soda with water), you wont miss that food. For me, converting to these healthier choices became a habit within a couple of weeks.
Early on, you'll wake up and your mind will try to make excuses for not exercising (too tired, not enough free time, you can begin tomorrow, etc). That's when you have to tell yourself that is the old you talking and your old habits are still trying to run your life. Each time you push yourself to go exercise, the less frequent that old habit's voice will chime in.
Regarding developing an exercise routine, please remember to start slowly. If you are going to be on the treadmill, start off walking for a mile, then gradually increase that by 1/4 mile (every week, every other week). As your body gets used to exercising, you'll be able to push yourself to go a little further. The key to remember regarding exercise, is to not set too lofty a goal (walking 10 miles to start, etc). Set a goal that is realistic, as your body gets used to that goal, then push yourself a little further.
Here's a link to help you restart your exercise routine:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/15-tips-to-restart-the-exercise-habit-and-how-to-keep-it.html
Good luck with changing your lifestyle (as many here will attest, that is the hardest thing to do)0 -
I agree, it took me about 2 - 3 weeks until the healthier food choices became natural. My boyfriend was chowing down some pizza yesterday (Health reason require a high fat/high caloric diet for him) and it didn't appeal to me at all.
I can't say about going to the gym, though. I was already pretty active before I started working on healthier food. I cycle and play tennis, which avoids having to force myself to go to the gym (which I hate).
I hope it gets easier for you soon!0 -
I've had a healthy lifestyle for decades, but a rare illness messed it all up for me. I've spent 6 years trying to figure out what will work for me and this place has helped.
Right now I am juicing (not steroids) - and fasting 4-5 days a week and only solid food on the weekends. It is working great for me, but I'll admit it was not easy at first. The first 2 weeks were tough but the results were so rapid that it was motivation to keep going. I have changed some habits too, like watching too much TV because of it.
Any new routine will take about 2-4 weeks to adjust. Keep going!0 -
As soon as I had my house emptied of unclean food, the diet was easy. Nothing to eat, nothing to cheat.
The exercise is still a daily effort. I force myself into my sneakers. I can't stand how sore I feel most of the time. THEY tell me that part passes. I am waiting for it to pass.0 -
Although habits can begin to form quickly, the real test comes when your goal has been and/or the weight has been off for a couple months. This is when you'll truly begin to see how strong the habits you've formed during your transformation really are. For everyone's sake on here, I hope the habits you've built are strong and can withstand any cravings, but speaking from experience, I still struggle daily with the diet portion. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but for some reason I just love to eat. Good food, bad food, I don't discriminate. Some days/weeks are better than others, but having things like this site and the app really help.0
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I think it truly depends on your motivation for adopting the new habit. If your only motivation is seeing the number on the scale go down, then your choices/decisions will be based on that and may never truly become a habit. I think this is the reason so many people regain the weight. We like to say "I'm making a lifestyle change" but the second the weightloss stops (either at goal, a plateau, or a momentary stall) people tend to revert back to their old ways, which tells you it wasn't really a lifstyle change.
It took me about 6 months to really get into an exercise routine. During that time I hid my scale and really tried to focus on how I was feeling. I set fitness goals and revised them as I got better. Now if I don't workout I miss it. I knew exercise was a part of my life when I was trying to figure out the best way to run in the rain (I hated running before...and still hate running on a treadmill).
Now I am focused on the diet part of the equation. I tried counting calories but it makes me slightly obsessive and I tend to eat when I'm not hungry just because I have the calories for it, or will finish a meal after I'm full because I have already entered the nutrition info. I experimented with Intermittent Fasting which actually lead me to more of an intuitive eating approach. I have lost 3 lbs in the last month, where previously I had only lost 4 lbs in 6 months. I'm not bashing calorie counting. It actually taught me quite a bit, but it wasn't something I want to do forever and ... well that is part of forming a habit (the willingness to do it forever).0 -
I must be in a worse place than u all were/ are. Today I really listened to my thoughts , and realized how much I think about foods or chocolate. I am probably an addict. Still struggling on cutting things out entirely, or moderation... I have always had an easier time with the exercise than the diet. This whole process is frustrating!
Thanks so much for everyones advice/ support0 -
I became (and still am) addicted to working out around 3 weeks in to my dedicated lifestyle change... Ugh I need to run now (j/k it's not That bad- I'm not actually gonna go run right now... Maybe in a few though...)0
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I've been doing this 70 days I think it said...it's not a habit yet. I log in every day that is a habit, as for exercising..pfffffft.....not a habit yet. I could leave it in a heart beat, but it's probably because I never was an athletic person to begin with. The smaller calories, that is a bit more of a habit, but agian you put a pint of ice cream in front of me..I still have a hard time going ummm...no..no ice cream lol.0
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Exercise became a habit as soon as my skinny frame put on an extra 8 pounds. I did dancing and weights. That was in 1987. I've been up on that habit even now, and I'm loaded with arthritis. BUT making a habit of eating decent never happened, and I kept getting bigger and bigger, regardless how I worked out. Went through many weight loss programs but cardboard doesnt taste good. I've lost 24 pounds on MFP - took a year!! but if I had developed a HABIT of choosing better foods, I'd be down and maintaining by now. The loss will be slower if you still eat crap within the desired daily calories - just what I've been doing. I'm working on it slowly but its sooo hard. I need that habit.0
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I've been losing weight for 20 months now and been COMMITTED to losing weight and trying to eat as clean as I can afford for about a year, and every single day is a battle. Everything I do or don't put in my mouth is a battle.0
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its lot lot harder than anyone says but when it does become a habit try and not let it become a addiction every thing in moderation that will be the key.0
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it took me a month or two, probably.0
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To be honest, with MFP, it felt like a habit pretty quickly. I think that's because I didn't really change what I ate in the beginning, I just made sure I only ate enough to fit into my calorie goal. As time went on, I made tweaks to it to fit more easily into my calorie goal. As more time went on, I started making other small changes here and there to get a better nutritional balance. I haven't cut anything out completely - no particular food or food group. I still eat all my favourites. The ones that are very high in calorie, I eat in smaller portions and less often, but I don't deprive myself of food that I? like. I don't feel like I'm "on a diet", so I'm not constantly worrying about caving in.
I do sometimes struggle with emotional eating, and that hasn't completely gone away. When that happens, there still has to be an element of "will power", and just distracting myself until the feelings subside. Worst case scenario - I use food to make myself feel better, but I always log it, and logging it stops it from going out of control. Still an unheatlhy coping mechanism, but at least it doesn't result in gaining a ridiculous amount of weight. (Not saying it's that easy for everyone.) But those days happen less and less, and now I eat more to properly fuel and nourish my body and the exercise that I do.
Based on all that, my advice would be to not make any drastic changes to your diet, at least not yet. Cutting things out completely is likely to make you feel deprived, and that increases the risk of a binge, or just stopping altogether. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with going low-carb, or cutting down on sugar, or cutting out the sodas or whatever, but for me, it's been much easier to focus on the calories first. Get portion sizes under control, learn to practise moderation, and then focus on what other nutritional changes you want to make. You don't have to do it all at once. You could try to increase your water consumption for a while, and then try and get more protein, or less sugar, or whatever's important to you.
Bottom line: losing weight is not easy. It doesn't have to be torture though. Try to create a diet that doesn't feel like a diet, that you can stick with indefinitely. Then, the rest will fall into place.0 -
I think it truly depends on your motivation for adopting the new habit. If your only motivation is seeing the number on the scale go down, then your choices/decisions will be based on that and may never truly become a habit. I think this is the reason so many people regain the weight. We like to say "I'm making a lifestyle change" but the second the weightloss stops (either at goal, a plateau, or a momentary stall) people tend to revert back to their old ways, which tells you it wasn't really a lifstyle change.
I think this is an important point too. I have read recently that the people who are most successful at losing weight and maintaining weight loss are motivated by reasons such as health or fitness. I think most of us probably want to look better, but if that's the only motivation, I think it's easier to give up when the going gets tough and settle where we are. Finding other motivations can definitely help keep you going.0 -
I've read up on this and "Experts" agree it takes 21 days to break a bad habit and form a new one. Though I'm not really sure who these experts are or what kind of studies they've done so I guess just try to see what works best for you! LOL0
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It takes to weeks to form a habit0
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When you find what works and the scale goes down it' is highly motivating and addicting. Part of me sort of misses all the riding one victory to the next phase. Now it's just maintenance for me so the victories are just learning to be happy with your new life, and remembering how unhappy you were when you were obese.
If you find yourself floundering this is what worked for me, The Venus Index and the Anything Goes Diet. They are the reason I stopped floundering after 15 years and am now living my dream at age 50
blog bobbiesfitness.com0 -
As soon as I started seeing the lbs go away!0
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You're profile pic creeps me out, sorry.
They say it takes 21 days to form a habit
Good luck!0 -
I've read both 21 days and 30 days before it becomes a natural habit. Stick with it!0
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They say 21 days to make or break a habit. But you need to be continuous!! If you run for 3 days then take a break for 3 days it will take longer to get into the "habit".
Officially it took me about 3-4 months before I started to crave running and working out. Before I'd do it because I needed to - now I do it because I really want to. But again - I was not continuous so I'd run/work out 3-4x per week, so the habit took a little longer to become a habit. 0 -
I've been at it for about 4 months now. I was doing great at first because, like so many others, the weight was coming off and I loved seeing that number drop. But, I've hit a couple of rough spots along the way too. I've had those weeks where I could not stop thinking about food/chocolate and I ended up getting off track and gaining a couple of pounds back. I then have to get it together, remind myself why I started this journey, and get the train back on the track. This just happened to me again last week. I was attending a health seminar (a gift from a dear friend), and it included a delicious vegan meal each night, and it ate up my evening so that I had no time to work out. By the way, vegan can be quite nutritious and delicious, but it ain't necessarily low cal. Anyway, I gained 3 pounds last week!! I was frustrated. This week, I got back into the groove with eating light and working out and I've dropped 2 of those pounds back off. Then last night, someone offered me candy at work, and I turned them down without a second thought. My point is, don't beat yourself up if you're not feeling like it's a "habit" yet. And, even if you do start to feel like it's a habit, some of us just have hormonal weeks and lose our mojo for a minute. It's okay, just don't let it make you give up. It will pass.0
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I recently read "Weight Loss Boss", written by the CEO of Weight Watchers. He claimed 4-6 months depending on the habit.0
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It's a habit for me now, for almost 3 years. Like many who already posted, seeing the numbers go down was very motivating, and provided all the willpower I needed to develop the habits I needed.
Seeing the numbers is very good for me. Realizing that exercise "earned" calories for me is what helped me to make exercise a habit. I don't like being hungry, and the only way I could avoid that is by exercising.
That being said, I will always struggle with self control. It frustrates me that what I WANT to eat is more than my body NEEDS to function! And I will never be happy with that! And please don't tell me that since I am small now, my appetite is small, too. I will always have abig girl's appetitie. Now I have the knowledge of what my body truly needs, though, and I can make the right choice every day. . . .
Hang in there!0 -
As soon as I had my house emptied of unclean food, the diet was easy. Nothing to eat, nothing to cheat.
The exercise is still a daily effort. I force myself into my sneakers. I can't stand how sore I feel most of the time. THEY tell me that part passes. I am waiting for it to pass.
I'm sore every day, unless I take a couple of days off! And I've been at this for almost 3 years. THEY are wrong!!!!!0 -
I've been "dieting" since December of 2011 and it never became habit. Even now, when I'm 35 pounds lighter, it's a struggle to keep going, even when the scale and tape measurements look great! I seriously think I'm addicted to food. It's HARD to stay away from pizza and say NO to foods I love. It hasn't become habit to reach for lean proteins instead of fat. And I doubt it will. It depends on the person though.
As for exercise... that's the weird part. My body is programmed to get up early and head to the gym. If I skip a day of lifting, I feel TERRIBLE until I go back. Cardio I hate so it isn't a big deal.
So there's the answer. When you start to enjoy what you're doing, it becomes habit. 0 -
From a physiological standpoint, any time you make a change, it takes 21 days for the body to adapt to the change. This can be changing an exercise routine, adding exercise, nutritional makeup, job change, sleep patterns, etc. After the initial 21 days, you should be able to see measurable results within another 3 weeks. It does take time to change behaviors but if you can push thru the first 3 weeks, you will begin looking forward to doing your activities and watching what and how much you are eating. Just don't be in too much of a hurry to change your routines....go at least 8-12 weeks which gives the body time to adapt and get used to what you are doing. Most people who are serious about their physical training go thu a process called periodization which cycles different intensities within the same type of activity. Check your local or college library for more info on this topic.0
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