themedalist wrote: »

Hello Habit Builders!

As we let go of summer and transition to fall, now is a great time to reassess where we are, how our goals are progressing, and what we need to do to wrap up 2023 as we intended back in January.

Summers have a glorious way of meandering us off track. And in some sense, that's what summers should do! But off track suggests getting back "on track" and sometimes new (bad) habits develop real momentum. They are like snowballs!

They all start innocently enough.

You join in your family’s nightly ritual of snacking while watching TV at night, despite a pledge to yourself that you’ll close your food diary and stop eating at 7pm. Or your schedule gets thrown for a loop one day causing you to skip your workout and before you know it, you haven’t exercised in 3 weeks. Or maybe wine just on the weekends has morphed into a nightly event?

Arghh! You’ve got a bad habit brewing and it needs to stop. This is the month!

Bad habits, just like good habits, are formed by repetition. We do something once, then a few more times, and before we know it, it’s become part of our daily routine, and often something we do without being consciously aware that we are doing it. As with good habits, bad habits are triggered by a cue, such as nightly TV watching, and cemented by the enjoyment or benefits we get from doing the habit. But unlike good habits, the pleasure we get from bad habits is usually immediate, which makes them especially sticky and easy to pick up. Sure, we know that regular exercise gives us lots of health benefits, but a plate of homemade cookies is delicious NOW.

So this September, if you’ve started doing something recently that is working against the health and fitness goals that you’ve set for yourself, step in and break the cycle. Let's stop those habit snowballs!

Looking forward to hearing what you'll be working on this month!


🌷Denise & 🌸Maddie
@themedalist & @MadisonMolly2017


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77tes wrote: »

@donna25trinity , you have been so steadfast in your September goals.

My rise and shine goal has gone very well, and I hope that I’m getting out of that habit of staying in my pjs and wasting the morning hours. This habit is leading into another good habit - riding my spin bike each morning (or most mornings). On to October.

My September goal of sewing every day, which wasn’t an unqualified success has led me to get some projects accomplished although not the Civil War era skirt. I made some elf ears for my granddaughter and also a pair of lace embellished gloves.