Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Have you ever started to feel unstoppable the week to end up wondering how to stick to healthy habits?
It starts like this: you have crushed your preparation for weekend meals. It is your Week to finally “put back on the right track”. You wrap proteins in your Breakfast oatsDefine your training clothes to hit this race early in the morning – everything is in place.
So life arrives. Two weeks later, a curve ball strikes … The children fall sick, the daycare closes or something other unexpected derails your routine. Before knowing, old habits are starting to go up.
We were all there. Building new habits is difficultAnd he requires flexibility. No matter the strength of your will, real life does not follow a perfect schedule. Falling off track is not a failure; It’s just part of the human being.
Here is the good news: your brain is actually your best friend to train new habits.
The secret is to learn to work with your brain, not against that. By changing your state of mind, by creating the right environment and focusing on a positive strengthening, you can reclaim your state of mind to adopt healthy habits.
In this article, I will share strategies that I used as a dietitian to help people spend potatoes with 5 km runners, to snack on carrots, all by explaining the power of the change of habit.
You might also love
How to use myfitnesspal to cultivate conscious eating habits
Rewire your state of mind for long -term success
Your brain is constantly evolving. This ability to change and adapt in a coherent way is called neuroplasticity (1). The good news is that it is possible to learn to love a new habit.
But that will not happen overnight. Despite the popular theory that a new habit takes about 3 weeks to build, science shows that this is not the case. On average, it takes 66 days (or a little more than 2 months) for a new habit to look like the standard (2).
It may seem intimidating. But the use of these strategies supported by science can help you reclassify your state of mind and love new healthy habits.
You might also love
TRICK 1: become the person you want to be
Imagine yourself as a person you want to be and habits will help you get there. Do you want to run more? You see as the runner you will become, not where you are now.
Regarding nutrition, if you try to eat less packaged snacks, you see like someone who follows a diet full of Fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
TRICK 2: Combine a treat with a task
Do you have trouble finding the time (and energy) to get involved in the preparation of meals? Here is a tip that you may appreciate: the temptation of temptation (3). “Associate the award with The task is a twist on the award system. You take an activity not so fun and something you like and group them together, ”explains Katherine Basbaum, a dietitian Myfitnesspal (3).
Here’s how to do it: choose something really fun for you, like a new episode of a favorite podcast or a television show, and do it while you prepare or sweat on the treadmill.
On experts
Elizabeth Shaw, MS, RDN, CPT is a nutrition expert, an author of cooking books four times and a first pioneer in nutrition in the field of fertility nutrition. She is president and owner of the communications and nutrition consulting company based in the United States, Shaw Simple Swaps.
Katherine Basbaum, MS, RD is preservative of food data at MyFitnessPal. She obtained her master’s degree in nutritional communication from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy from Tufts University and completed her dietary internship in Uva Health, where she also works as a nutrition advisor for patients in cardiology.
Trick 3: Develop a space that supplies your goals
Use visual clues in your kitchen, workspace and bedroom to trigger the desired habits. Think of tiny elbows that will help achieve your goals.
Are you trying to eat more fruit? Place it in a bowl in the center of your counter, or in a cut glass container, before and center in your refrigerator (4). To want walk more? Define your clothes and walking shoes the day before so that you are ready to go there in the morning.
These small changes can help achieve your goals.
TRICK 4: Create your support network
Research shows that the people you surround yourself with can help you get away with it and reach your goals (5). Do you have a friend who is constantly talking to you about the gymnasium to go to the happy hour? Repending which is your support network. It may be useful to have the support of people who share your passion for healthy habits.
“Share your goal of taking a new healthy habit with someone you trust to support your goal,” says Basbaum. “When you find yourself in difficulty, their encouragement will make you move forward.”
Trick 5: Celebrate the victories, large and small
Whether you have achieved your weekly fiber goal or go for the lateral salad for lunch, celebrate these victories (6). Give yourself a tape in your back, mark it like a victory in your newspaper, or just tell a friend and let them get back up.
The celebration of your victories releases Dopamine, a neurotransmitter of well-being directly linked to your reward system (7). Dopamine helps strengthen the habit.
Trick 6: Anchor of new habits with existing routines
The addition of new habits to the one you have already established can help make this new habit sticks. In fact, research published in the British Health Psychology Journal found that participants who attached nutritional behaviors to a established daily routine or a specific day period have been able to cook these behaviors (8).
So, are you finally ready to complete and record your food in the MyfitnessPal application? Great, plan to do it after brushing your teeth at night.
TRICK 7: Present the momentum with micro-movements
You don’t have to revise your diet and your lifestyle overnight. “Start with a microhabit you can build,” explains Basbaum. For example, if you want to create the habit of eating 5 portions of products per day, start by adding a portion of fruit or vegetables to breakfast every morning. Once this routine is fixed, you are ready to add products to another meal or daily snack.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
How long does it take to build a new habit?
This can take between 18 and 254 days to form a new habit, the average being about 66 days (2).
What is the best way to stay motivated to eat healthy or exercise?
Celebrating victories, large and small, is a good start to stay motivated. If you are waiting to have reached this objective weight, your motivation can penetrate. Celebrate these miles that you have just saved yourself or the time you spent preparing the meal.
How can I make healthy or more automatic healthy habits?
Anchors your habit to something you are already doing. For example, try to drink more water? Then pay a drink and drink it before diving into your coffee (or tea).
What should I do when I fall from the track or break a habit?
Press your support network and remember your “why?” Let these two help you get back on the right track. Myfitnesspal is there to help, offering not only Meal plan support But a Weekly function for monitoring habits Now too.
How to create a routine that helps healthy habits to stay?
Focus on the changes you can easily add to your day; In the long term, this will facilitate the task of those Healthy habits to stick. Don’t have time for a training session of hours? Do not sweat. Even 10 minutes count.
The bottom line
It is possible to recycle your mind and learn to love a new habit. Neuroplasticity, or the ability of your brain to change and adapt over time, is an important factor in this (1). Planning in advance, building your support network, focusing on micro-movements and simply celebrating your victories, can all help strengthen healthy habits in a way to which your brain reacts. (5,, 6,, 7,, 8).
Download the Myfitnesspal Application today and start creating habits that last!
The post How to encourage your brain to love healthy habits appeared first on Myfitnesspal blog.
