Changing a habit
Friday, June 27, 2014Is there a habit you want to change? Of course there is. Let's be serious we all have habits some big, and small that we want to change but for whatever reason we just can't. I'd like to offer up a possible solution that recently worked for me.
I'm doing this 3 day cleanse and for the most part it's pretty easy. It mixes shakes and real food so that you're not feeling constantly hungry or worn out but also getting all your nutrition in. It's a really good pick-me-up lose some quick weight program. My problem is night time. My day typically ends by getting in bed, putting on a TV series and snacking until I fall asleep. This is my habit, this is what I do. Obviously this doesn't go well with my cleanse.
In order to battle this I've decided to plan my last meal as late as I could so that I won't be hungry while I watch TV and go to sleep. In being 100% honest with myself, I knew this wouldn't work. Even after HUGE meals at night I still jump into bed snack and watch TV. Clearly something is wrong with me.
Then I remembered some advice I got from a book called Switch by Chip & Dan Heath which is all about changing your habits when change is hard. I've learned that just saying, "stop snacking" doesn't work. I've tried not thinking about it which only seems to lead me to thinking about it more. Instead I decided to change my environment.
What does that even mean? Instead of trying to change the habit or attempt to break free from it, I changed the environment in which the habit took place. I still jumped into bed but this time I decided to read a book. This not only took my mind away from the problem but also changed up my routine so that new habits can form. Essentially I tricked my body. It wasn't craving the snacking because it was doing something different and really didn't know what was going on.
Conclusion
Conclusion
My point is this, sometimes when trying to change old or potentially bad habits look towards your environment as the problem and make changes there.
You don't always have to battle your urges or seek out crazy forms of change. If you're overweight, stop going down the chip & soda aisle; if you're broke, stop going to the mall and if you party to much stop going to the bar. These simple changes in environment can easily put you on the right path until you can control these urges from happening.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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