Many individuals find that there are times in their lives where they will want to make improvements in their health and fitness. To do so will require creating a plan to change certain behaviors in order to develop new habits. It is during times like this that many of us will want to “make changes fast” and try to implement a plan to turn things around as quickly as possible. But many times, these plans include too many changes that are very drastic, are most likely unsustainable and usually will set us up for failure.
Habits, whether we deem them as positive or negative, get ingrained over time. Actions we take regularly can build habits that yield a very specific result, even if that result is not what we might prefer. Based on this, developing new habits takes time and comes from repeatedly ingraining new behaviors. Rather than looking for quick results using unrealistic plans, focus on the long-term process of moving toward your health and fitness goals using simple, realistic and attainable steps along the way.
One way to start building a new habit is to select one thing to work on at a time and decide on simple actions that you can take toward that goal. These actions should be something that you can easily manage and implement into your life. Stick with this one thing to work on for at least 30 days. After which, you can decide to continue your actions longer if you feel it still needs work or decide on what the next step would be to build on your success of accomplishing it.
For example, if you are sedentary and want to start moving more, try to find a simple way of becoming more active. Any activity beyond what you are doing now will make a difference. Maybe take a very short walk for a few minutes a few times a week. Create a simple regime that you feel confident you can maintain. Each time you accomplish your walk, celebrate it as a win! Once this new habit starts to form, you can then begin to increase the time or frequency incrementally over time.
As you work toward developing these new habits, it is important to leave room for lapses and obstacles as you implement new steps for change. When these lapses do occur, get back on track quickly and use them as an opportunity to learn. Progress toward change and creating new habits generally is not a straight line toward success, but rather a one-step back, two-steps forward scenario.
Think of simple and realistic changes that you can begin to make today toward improving your overall health and fitness goals. Start small and stay consistent, even if you get off track temporarily. Over time, building on these small changes will move you toward the habits that will benefit your life.
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