How many times have you told yourself that everything is starting a new life from today — only healthy food, sports, more books, less TV, etc., etc.? I think that on average we try to start a new life 10 times during the year. This is judging by the people around me. Someone manages to fit into a new life and stay in it until new ideas come to mind. But for the most part, it is very difficult for us to give up bad habits (smoking, alcohol, TV) and instill new and useful ones.
Why? Because very often « correctly» = «boring », and when we are bored, we very quickly quit this activity. But since we still want to live beautifully and healthy, we still have to turn a boring activity into a fun and exciting one.
We are so reluctant to give up bad habits because they help us cope with stress and boredom (alcohol, smoking, overeating). And most of the useful habits — occupation is not so fun and enjoyable. Agree, for those who are used to eating a lot of flour, fried and smoked, liberally flavoring it all with alcohol, it is quite difficult to switch to healthy salads, coarse bread and vegetables.
But the problem does exist and literally prevents us from living. And this means that it is impossible to leave everything as it is — you need to take measures.
Bad habits
Smoking
Internet procrastination
Junk food (junk food is the most appropriate word!)
Alcohol
Depression/rudeness/anger
Sticking in TV and video games
Uncontrolled shopping (drives into debt)
A mess in documents and finances
Inactive lifestyle
Nail biting, hair chewing
Have you read this far from complete list? Do you have at least one sin? Who doesn't have — share a secret ;)
But there are more interesting and useful habits that help in the fight against stress and boredom. I'm sure everyone has at least one. At the same time, they quite often and get along well with their not very positive neighbors — bad habits.
Good (useful) habits
Hiking/Running/swimming/Cycling
Push-ups, pull-ups, squats
Yoga and meditation
Games with friends and kids
Creativity, writing, music, reading
Enjoying solitude (you can't — it's time to learn)
Daily walks and admiring nature
Putting financial affairs and documents in order
Hot tub
Learn to enjoy healthy food
Learn to be «here and now»
, etc. — the list can also be very long.
Agree that from this list everyone can find something that will be interesting to him and will be able to replace some bad habits. For example, every time you want to smoke, you will do a little warm-up — the health benefits and figures will increase significantly.
And finally, the most difficult thing — replacing bad habits with good ones!
This process is quite complicated and painful, requires the application of efforts and the exit of their comfort zone. Old bad habits did not appear to us in one day, but developed over a rather impressive period of time. Accordingly, there will be no quick deliverance. It's like people who have accumulated extra kg over the years, come to the gym with the hope that all this will disappear in just a week. And this, of course, is simply unrealistic physically. It's the same with habits. At first, a strong crepature / withdrawal is possible, in places — the temptation to throw everything and leave it as it is. Therefore, full inclusion, patience and work on the result will be required.
The very first thing to do is to identify for yourself your triggers of stress and boredom, what exactly, what situations trigger them. After that, you need to realize that all this is easy to overcome with simple, pleasant and at the same time useful actions.
Choose one useful habit for yourself to start with and replace it with one bad one. For example, if you experience stress or boredom, instead of drinking, smoking or sticking to the TV, take a walk in the park, do a couple of push-ups, call friends and invite them for a walk, etc. Choose the most pleasant for yourself from the list and make a replacement.
Remember!
One habit at a time
Starting slowly — just a few minutes will be enough to secure.
Use social motivation — social networks, Twitter or email.
Follow the triggers (prerequisites) that trigger the system, and each time use the selected useful habit to repay them.
Learn to enjoy a useful habit.
And so gradually, in a quiet way, from a neurotic, biting his nails and experiencing problems with excess weight, you can turn into a contented life, moderately well-fed and happy person ;)
By the way, I recommend recent articles to those who want to start a healthy lifestyle Swole.me – service for automatic planning of your diet and 50 simple steps to health
