Habits That Guarantee Maintenance

by Linda Spangle, RN, MA

Like many people, you may have gained weight because you “slipped back into old habits” such as skipping breakfast or eating ice cream every night at bedtime. But ditching your old habits is only one part of the solution. You also need to create some new habits, the healthy kind that keep moving you toward your goals.

Here’s a funny thing—in the same way that it’s easy to slip back into OLD habits, you can also slip AWAY from your healthy ones. For example, how many times have you resolved to floss your teeth every day? Have you been able to make that into a habit? Personally, I’ve had to re-create that one every couple of months!

Permanent habits

Once you build new habits, you need to make them so strong that you can’t imagine life without them. One of the best ways to do this is through repetition—doing the habit over and over until it feels permanent.

A couple years ago, my neighbor invited me to join her when she walked her dog every morning. Heading out the door at 6:00am didn’t sound real fun, but I decided it would help me stick with my own exercise goals.

The dog loves to run, so we keep a brisk pace during most of the 45-minute trek. After two years of walking with my friend nearly every day, it’s become a habit! In fact, when she’s busy or out of town, I usually get up early and head out for a walk by myself. (Or I drag my reluctant but sweet husband along.)

When you stick with habits long enough, they can become second nature, like using the clutch on a manual transmission or locking the door when you leave home. And once your healthy patterns reach that point, managing your weight will become a lot easier.

Invent Your Own Success

Today, I want you to write a list called “New Habits in My Life.” Include some of the things you’re already doing such as eating breakfast every day, not skipping meals and carrying a water bottle with you.

Then add a few challenging ones. For example, develop new habits around what you stock in your cupboards or refrigerator. If you vow to not have potato chips in your house, replace them with a supply of light popcorn or pretzels. With your favorite foods, determine what is a healthy portion, then build a habit around not exceeding that amount.

Now take this a step further and create a set of habits that you can use every year to manage holidays, birthdays or vacations. Remember, repetition will eventually make these habits routine enough that you’ll do them without even thinking about it.

Keep track of the new habits you create, then refer to your list often to see how well you’re doing. Build them stronger through repetition, then make these wonderful habits part of your life forever.

©2007 Weight Loss for Life, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted with permission from Linda Spangle, RN, MA, Weight Loss for Life.
http://www.WeightLossJoy.com/
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