How long til it becomes habit?

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  • wrbiii
    wrbiii Posts: 151
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    http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/09/how-long-to-form-a-habit.php


    I feel like it is already a habit for me... I feel better than I have since junior high school, but that link supports that it takes about 66 days for almost anyone.

    Different strokes I suppose, but I know I can't stop!
  • Mommypeanut
    Mommypeanut Posts: 34
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    Thanks for the links. I know I can make it habit again. Just will have a more challenging time this go round. And I don't really have a choice. This extra weight is affecting everything!
  • arcticfox04
    arcticfox04 Posts: 1,011 Member
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    Took me 3-4 days. Though I'm more of a left brain type person I enjoy looking at numbers.
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
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    Guess I'm on track with what's been said. Jillian Michaels DVDs started me off, two years ago.

    I think at 3 weeks in I decided it felt so much better to move my body than not. The change in mood & energy was irrefutable, and my body started feeling like it was tightening up (subjectively, doubt much happened really).

    The first week & 1/2, I remember, were torture :)
  • NCchar130
    NCchar130 Posts: 955 Member
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    Logging in the diary became a habit from day one.

    Making better food choices has been a work in progress and I'm doing much better now (after 6 weeks) than I was at first.

    I've slowly increased my exercise since I got started and it's become easier and easier to motivate myself to go. One of the biggest motivators is getting to eat more! :bigsmile:
  • redhousecat
    redhousecat Posts: 584 Member
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    the eating part was nearly instantaneous for me. The exercise part...not so much. I have always been fit and athletic. Now that I am older, mandatory fitness is not fun. I miss the days where I could just get out and GO! Nowadays my body tells me otherwise, so making it a habit is harder.
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
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    For a collection of ideas about how to deal with cravings, see http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Robin_Bin/view/cravings-282817 (please give it a thumbs up if you like it).

    There are many Web sites that say research has shown that it takes "21 days to form a habit". This comes from some research done by Dr. Maxwell Maltz. In fact, further research shows the time it takes is far more variable (as the OP and some other posters suggested). Research by Lally et al shows a range from 18 to 254 days with an average of 66 days. This research looked at habits that people chose -- similar to the ones we have here -- drink more water, exercise, etc.

    Remember, just as a new habit can be formed, it can be broken. So, even if it only took 10 days to form a new habit, it would probably take even less time to break it while it's still fresh.

    (See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5857845/It-takes-66-days-to-form-a-habit.html for an interview with one of the researchers. And for other articles on forming habits, see http://lifequality.wikia.com/wiki/Good_habit)

    Good luck!
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
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    Logging in the diary became a habit from day one.

    Making better food choices has been a work in progress and I'm doing much better now (after 6 weeks) than I was at first.

    I've slowly increased my exercise since I got started and it's become easier and easier to motivate myself to go. One of the biggest motivators is getting to eat more! :bigsmile:
    Similar for me. Logging had been difficult for me before, but MFP worked well for me. I started exercise at just a minimum of 10 minutes a day, occasionally I add a minute. I'm now up to 21 minutes a day and allow myself one day a week off, if I want it. I think it's habit now (after about 8 months), but I wouldn't want to test it yet. It does help my motivation to exercise when I want to eat a bit more or a special treat.
  • Kimberbuzz
    Kimberbuzz Posts: 7
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    Everyone seems so positive. This eating healthy and exercising is a CHORE and a CHALLENGE. I struggle every day. I just started on this website yesterday and I'm hoping logging my food will help me be accountable to myself. I forced myself to go to the gym yesterday and today with the trade off being that I wouldn't try to push myself too hard. Two days, 2 miles, slow pace on the treadmill (set at 2.0), for 30 minutes + a 5 minute cool down. I have struggled with my weight all my life. I hope this tool will help me conquer it this time.
  • Substances
    Substances Posts: 120 Member
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    Mine was fairly quick.
    I was already used to jotting down what I ate and exercising, but doing it daily kicked in after the third day. I just feel WRONG if I don't get thirty minutes of exercise a day, at very least, and I feel pretty guilty if I don't get sixty minutes OR burn over my goal.
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
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    I still want stuff that's "bad" for you. It's easier to resist it especially feeling sick when I eat it. Most of the time I don't resist, I give into the craving for it and just have a little. Less than half of what I used to. Exercising though, I do that every day now. I've just taken it as part of my daily routine, kids are in bed, I go in my room and do my 30 day shred, shower, relax and watch tv.
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
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    Heard somewhere that a habit takes 30 days to begin. I think from experience I would agree. Then of course the longer you stick with the behavior the stronger the habit becomes :-)

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