How to Break Those Habits

So, what habits do you have? Snack too much? Dine out too much? Not enough fruits and veggies? Too much alcohol? Nearly everybody has a habit they would like to kick, but most have no idea how to or lack the will power to do so.

I say it's not too hard to kick the habits. But you do need a couple of things:

• Attack Plan
• Motivation
• Help

So first, get an attack plan. Write out or just think about how you can accomplish a task. This could be buying more fruits and veggies when you go to the grocery store or trying 1 new recipe per week. Make sure to start slow. We aren't trying to kick habits cold turkey. It's a very difficult method to try. For example, if you want to try going vegetarian, try first having meat at only one meal per day. Then, transfer to being a pescatarian (eating only fish meat when eating meat). Then, from there you can decide to go full blown vegetarian or not. Another example would be to dining out not more than 5 times per week, then decrease that slowly by week until you are comfortable. As long as you are thinking this plan through and starting slow, your plan will work.

It's really hard to accomplish any  task without motivation. So think of what motivates you to change your habits. This could be to improve health, gain/lose weight, compete at a higher level, reduce headaches, save money, etc. What's important here is finding out what's most important to you! A good trick to use if the habit is a real tough one is to tack a post it note in key places like the fridge, car, or other problem place that says your motivation. For example: writing "championship effort" on a note and tacking it right next to the fridge or pantry door will remind you to take the extra step to eat or drink healthy.

Finally, get help! It's proven that working together on a goal is much easier than tackling it alone. So use your teammates or roommates to either help you accomplish your goal or let them on the bus and you can both tackle the habit you both have. If they don't want in on the habit-breaking, then explain to them what you are trying to accomplish so that they know how to help you or not tease you with your goal. Remember! Don't force your new strategies on anyone else...that's not nice.

I believe that these three things can help anyone kick any habit. It's tough! But having an attack plan, motivation, and help will be the best method for accomplishing your new healthy life choice!