You Can Change Your Life Habits

You Can Change Your Life Habits  – This is the time of year when we think about changing our habits. You can look around and see the evidence of it everywhere. More people sign up at the gym for an exercise program. Advertising money is spent like crazy as companies make a profit from our desire to turn over a new leaf. Weight loss programs and diet foods are all placed strategically in stores. We bust our money saving resolution to buy something else that we might not use.  How do habits really work? Can we form new ones? How long does it take? Read on…

Most New Year resolutions are geared around starting something. You may be thinking of starting an exercise program or setting a budget to save more money. Perhaps your goal is to spend more time with your family talking and playing games instead of watching television. Maybe you want to start cooking more and eating out less, which will help you lose weight, feel better, and create more family time!

On the other hand, your resolution may have to do with quitting something. You decide that you want to use less swear words or cut out the sweets like cupcake snacks. Then there are the really hard things to quit, like an addiction to drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes.

We all have those little habits that we want to get rid of. Maybe you do not smoke, but you are struggling with a few stubborn pounds that just will not come off. Your habit may not even be that detrimental to your health. Maybe you are a nail biter and would love to stop nibbling. Perhaps you sit down in front of the television and tune out your family for hours. Maybe you charge into a store and literally get charged up til your credit card is at it’s limit. You want to stop it. You know you can. It is just so hard to get rid of a habit!

You CAN change your life habits however.

Most of us think that getting rid of a habit involves will power. We use the same strategies over and over. We tell ourselves that we will not go to the fridge until 2 hours have passed. Then if we have not gone insane, we can go get a favorite snack. The problem is that we might find ourselves giving in and eating the entire carton of ice cream at the end of 2 hours.  It’s almost like we reward ourselves for good behavior. Same goes for the credit card spending or driving through for fast food instead of cooking. We think our brain will explode from will power exertion if we do not feed everyone some burgers and fries and pay for it next month.

Will power can backfire. That is because one tactic that is used a lot is to guilt ourselves into making a change.  We believe that if we spend money on something, we will work harder on changing our habit. So we go sign up for that gym membership, newest workout contraption for our home, or a pair of yoga pants that makes us look slimmer. Our reasoning is that the amount of money invested will give us more will power to change our exercise habits. Maybe you purchased an e cigarette or a month supply of nicotine gum to jump start your change of habit. Or you think that if you can just get everyone dinner quick at a drive through, then you can relax and have a happy meal family time. You know that line of thinking: Money spent now helps you accomplish your goal. That works unless you spend the money and then find you run out of will power.

Before you get down on yourself for not making quick changes, let’s look at some thoughts I have about habits.

Habits can be ignored. One of the ways of dealing with a habit is to ignore it. If it is not life threatening or immoral you may want to leave it alone. Unless it is destructive, you could always tackle another habit to work on first. I mean, if you have a habit of cheating on your spouse, or yelling at your kids – it is not going to kill you or send you to prison. That is, unless you really kill someone. But there may be a root habit you can change that will help you to eventually break the habit of screaming or sneaking around playing hanky panky.

Perhaps you could begin to look at how to change the habit of thinking negative thoughts about yourself. Maybe you can change the habit of dwelling on others’ weaknesses. In other words, start a gratitude habit that can lead you to looking for ways to praise your children or spouse. Maybe you need a self esteem boost that will help you to say good things about yourself instead of looking for praise in the arms of another. By changing your thought habit and ignoring your bigger habit, you may find that the bigger habit gets a little bit easier to overcome.

Habits can be changed. The human mind loves habits. The little groove in our brain thrives on repetition. The more we think and act a certain way, the easier it is to think and act a certain way. It is an efficient way of getting things done. Our brain is very efficient. It is busy keeping our body temperature regulated and our digestive system going. It automatically causes your eyes to blink and your heart to beat. It knows which hand to use when brushing your teeth. No top level thinking is required!

One of the reasons it can do all of these things so effectively is because most of our thoughts and actions are habitual. Our shoes go to a certain spot by our chair. The milk always goes in the fridge. (Unless you are having a brain fog moment – then it goes in the cabinet and the coffee filters land in the fridge) Most of the time our brain does not even register it. These habits make our brain happy. It frees it up to do really important stuff like breathing, growing toe nails, or making blood cells.

The problem arises when we try to change a habit. Our brain is so conditioned to doing the same thing in the exact same way that it stubbornly remembers the path to our habits. Even if the habit is destructive, our brain is not aware of it. In fact, our brain will look for ways to get the reward of doing the same thing over and over. Like eating the whole bag of chips, or smoking a pack of cigarettes in front of the television with a box of donuts on our lap.

Why does our brain love these habits? There are reward centers in our brain that actually give off all kinds of electrical impulses and nice soothing chemicals when we even think about those habits. You do not actually have to pour that drink, or take those drugs to begin to feel calmer. Your brain is getting a chemical bath just thinking about it. The trick then, is to interrupt the habit. Easier said than done, right?

Habits can be changed. What if you began to think of replacing a habit with another one? For example, you decide to do beginners yoga or some chair exercises instead of following another other habit. Now you are watching a youtube or reading exercise directions from my blog instead of watching television with your donuts, cigarettes, and your lover while screaming at your kids to get the hell out. Ok. Maybe you won’t do them all at once, but just suppose. Then you decide to make the change.

Your brain will oppose you like an unruly child throwing a kaniption fit. Your mind will flutter in a million directions. Your temper will flare. Why? Your brain is insisting on its ritual chemical bath. It wants it’s reward of the same old habit. IF you continue to stick with the new habit on a consistent basis for several days, it does get easier. Within a few weeks, YOUR brain will begin to get it’s chemical bath just from thinking about getting the weights out or beginning to stretch in preparation for exercise.

I promise you this is true. Cross my heart. When I roll out that yoga mat and stand on the edge of it, something wonderful comes over me. I feel like a Princess Ninja Warrior who can do anything. I take in a deep breath and all of the peace from the entire planet is inhaled. I exhale all the fear, anxiety, tension, and pain. Sometimes it takes several breaths. Sometimes I hyperventilate to tell you the truth.

A lot of this was learned concerning budgets and money when I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. I had one credit card with nothing on it. I had some savings. My retirement account was growing. Then I was unable to work, lost my Cobra, and trying to pay for MRI’s, Telaprevir, and blood transfusions. What a mess. All of a sudden, nothing mattered more than living. Getting well enough to be accepted for treatment and medical expenses were my top priority for a full year. By the time treatment began, I was back at work AND had learned to live on pennies a day. My chemical bath? Life.

Every low fat, low sodium bit that passed my lips meant that I might not die. Every yoga pose held or 10 minute walk meant that I was getting strong enough to treat. I was not a castoff waiting to die. My former shopaholic self even changed habits. The only shopping for me was 2 pair of pants on discount for $15.00 at The Gap in size 2. My pants were falling off of me. The new chemical high was from my habit changing reward – I got to go back into the classroom to teach – and then the news: SVR or Sustained Viral Response. No more Hepatitis C!

Habits changed. I no longer find any real incentive to bust my budget. Eating unhealthy lands this girl in bed for a few days. It also leaves me with NO thinking skills. I still have habits to break. My New Year’s resolutions are written out. I am looking for new ways to approach them.  I can either ignore them, replace then, or change them.

A few habits I have ignored for a while. Sigh. I have some work to do. I did replace sitting all the time with exercise even when it hurt. I replaced shopping for paying the mail order RX company. I changed my eating habits for good.

I don’t even have to tell you this but I will: We’re in it together. I always love hearing how you are changing and improving your quality of life. I rejoice in your victories and cry with your defeats.

I am going to make it a habit to post on the blog at least every 10 days. There are more tips to changing habits that will have to be utilized to make this work. One thing is for sure – if I don’t make it, YOU will know.

Change. Yep, that is is our story. We share it. You CAN change your life habits. I can too. Let’s do it. I love you with all my heart. Happy Every Year! Xoxoxo Karen:)

What habits do you have that you want to change or replace? Are there any you should ignore for now?

Pics via wantmylife.com, deviantart.com,