Three Great Ways to Make Those Healthy Habits Stick

Habits are easy to form and hard to break, but healthy habits are tough to form and easy to break. This is because healthy habits, especially healthy diets, are demanding and require a lot of work. You know in general what a healthy, balanced diet is, but you find it hard to maintain that healthy diet long term. Here are three great ways to help you acquire healthy habits for life.

Think Long-Term

Resolutions are made in an instant to be forgotten the next. Avoid this by carefully thinking through your goal and plan of action before starting. Short-term fitness and weight loss programmes, crash diets, and vigorous workouts start with a bang and burn out soon. To prevent this, think and plan long-term. A sustainable change is possible only in increments. Start with a reasonable short-term goal and work towards gradually increasing to reach your long-term goal. The adage ‘Slow and steady wins the race’ is true because when you are slow, you have the energy for steady, sustained effort that is necessary to reach your goal.

Set Reasonable Short-Term Goals

When you try to change your habits, be reasonable. Everyone wants that perfect weight, the best health, etc. That may not be immediately possible. Instead, assess the distance between where you are and where you wish to be in a year and set periodic goals. Identify a point you should be at in three months, six months, and nine months’ time. When you break it down to periods, the goal will be manageable to achieve, and each accomplishment will give you satisfaction to work towards the next.

Choose Actionable Activities 

Having set your goal, you will have to work towards it. Choose activities that are simple and easy to practice, and take you closer to your goal. If you are aiming to lose weight, then choose to take the stairs instead of taking the elevator, or walk to the market instead of driving to it. If you are aiming to adopt a healthy diet, plan a few meals in advance to keep the necessary ingredients ready. Make preparations for the next day’s meal the previous night. Whatever your goal, there will be small and simple actions to work towards it. Instead of grand, ambitious plans that are hard to keep up, choose actionable activities that are easy to follow through with.

Building healthy habits doesn’t happen overnight. When you take small steps, stay patient, and stick with it, real change happens. Focus on what you can keep up with, your future self will be glad you did.