5 ways to create healthy habits
It's so easy to get caught up in fast paced lifestyles and spend most of your time ticking off to do lists, not getting enough sleep. Incorporating healthy habits can feel like the impossible and often require changing your mindset which can seem daunting! But if you’re willing to make sacrifices to better your health, the impact can be far-reaching, regardless of your age, sex, or physical ability.
We've put together a list of 5 ways you can carve out more time in your day to create healthy habits, sustain a healthy lifestyle and most importantly get your mind, body and soul feeing good inside out.
1. PLAN
Identify unhealthy patterns and triggers for example going to the vending machine on your break for junk food, needing that coffee and biscuit before you can start work in the morning or going on your phone first thing when you wake up in the morning. Once you've identified these, write down ways to stop these habits e.g. swapping coffee for green juice, showering when you wake up etc.
If you've made New Years resolutions or created goals, write these down again once you've identified your unhealthy habits so you can make changes to support and achieve your goals.
It's also important to plan for obstacles that may derail you from sticking to these healthy habits such as unplanned events and dinners out, parties etc so you can still plan to make healthy choices during unexpected situations.
2. ENVIRONMENT
Once you've identified your unhealthy habits, note down where these take place. Do you eat unhealthy at work most because you're bored or stressed? If so, go for a walk or step outside on your breaks to change the scenery and get some fresh air and steps in. Are you surrounding yourself with the wrong crowd who have a negative influence on you? Then cut down time spent with them and focus on surrounding yourself with those who have a positive impact on you and promote the healthy lifestyle you wish you live and support your new habits.
3. SUPPORT SYSTEM
It's not always easy to stick to it with so many temptations around you so asking for support from your work colleagues, friends and family is a great way to let people know you're working on some new goals and use your peers to help keep you on track. This is also a great way to ask people to hold you accountable e.g. find a gym buddy at work or friend who's positive and uplifting who can check in on you and who you can talk to if you're finding it hard at times and keep you motivated!
4. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS
Journalling is a great way to do this! Ever heard of the 5 minute bullet journal? It's a great way to check in on how you're feeling each day, note down any thoughts/ frustrations/ keep goals for the day and week. Journalling is a great way to see your progress and self reflect on how far you've come. It's also a great way help you if you're feeling overwhelmed by writing everything down on paper and clearing your mind ready for the day ahead.
5. REWARD YOURSELF
Once you've journaled your healthy habits to do list for the week and achieved these new healthy habits e.g. doing yoga each morning or simply getting up at 6.30am to be more productive, give yourself a nice reward like getting a massage or scheduling some 'me' time where you have an evening of pampering yourself or binging your favourite Netflix show.
CONCLUSION
It takes 21 days to create a healthy habit so most importantly be patient with yourself. Know you can do anything you put your mind to and remember improvement takes time and it's normal to fall off track now and again. But the key to winning and achieving your goals is consistency, so when you feel like you can't do one of your new habits, stop, take a breather, be kind to yourself and know you can do it!
