Hello everyone! Wow it’s been a very long time since my last post. Between my kids, pets, work and after school activities the months have just flown by. I can’t believe its fall already and that the days are markedly shorter. Unfortunately with shorter days and cooler nights it becomes harder to stay motivated to exercise and make healthy decisions. That’s why I think fall is the perfect time to adopt a new healthy habit to help ward off the dreariness of winter, and kick start those New Year’s Resolutions we all want to keep.
I’m sure you are thinking – ugh, new healthy habit?? What on earth can I take on extra; my life is so busy already! Honestly, I believe if you start small you are more likely to adopt any changes you make. We see amazing transformations on reality TV shows like the Biggest Loser, but overwhelmingly the contestants on shows of that nature fail to maintain that success once they return to real life. Similarly, many times when we try to change our habits we set goals that are too lofty to maintain. Why try to cut out soda for one day a week when I can quit cold turkey instead? Why cut out dessert when I can cut all sugar out of my diet? Better yet, why don’t I cut all sugar and soda and work out an hour a day and get more sleep? All of these are great life changes to implement, but too much at once leads to failure. Especially when you don’t have a huge support team in place to monitor everything you eat and your activity like extreme weight loss shows provide.
So what can the average non-reality show contestant do to spark habit change? Start small with the things you can easily control. We all need to go to the grocery store, why not park a few extra spaces away from the front door and increase the amount of walking you do in a day? Or if you use an elevator on your way into the office, set a goal of taking the stairs once a week instead. When you have that habit formed, make another positive change. Most importantly, be proud of your accomplishments! It’s not easy to make a change, it takes work and dedication and determination. You can do it, and we would love to hear your success stories!