TWO week check in !! New Habits Day : 2 weeks into new habits is the hardest time to hang in….keep on going
Renew your motivation and the art of making habits stick:
Did you just give up on your New Years Resolutions? Its been 2 weeks right? Now we need to work on changing those goals, create new habits and keep going !!! You get to decide what you do next….keep reading below for some motivation and ideas.
1/17 is Ditch Day for New years resolutions - 2 weeks into the new year and many have ditched their grand plans. Some stats: 25% ditch the first week, 64% hang in first month, 46% for the 6 month mark and only 8-10% make it to the end of the year. Why do so many people give up on their health goals by the end of January? This failure of new habits sticking really applies to any new changes. They usually stick around for 2 weeks and then we ditch them for the old habits. If this has happened to you and your family, lets work on changing that.
Use this time to reset some goals for this year or just the next 2 weeks(baby steps). First review why the first one didn’t make it. What can you change? Break it down into smaller pieces or was it the wrong choice at this time? Use the 2 week mark as a check in, instead of completely giving up your new changes. Huddle as a family and get some more ideas together- what worked? what didn’t?
Keep working on that healthy diet, its worth it. 80% of weight management comes from the food we eat and changing bad habits associated with eating. Tune in to emotional eating which applies all of the emotions - it works the same when stressed, angry, happy and sad. Mindfulness around eating can help with these behaviors. It helps you figure out if you are hungry, thirsty, bored or just emotional.
Start with asking yourself a few questions at each meal for a few days: Why am I eating this now? Am I full ?(try to stop at 80% full). You may be surprised how often you were not actually hungry.
Stop making excuses to yourself, you need to plan and schedule it and do it now!! Take out that new planner you got for this year and write some stuff in it, then stick to it!
Prepare ahead - Meal prep and exercise prep for the week. Look at your schedule while meal planning and making note of what days you might be able to cook bigger meals or meal prep for other days and when you can fit in some exercise.
Pre-schedule to hold yourself accountable.
Meal Prep: If you need help with Meal prep ideas and saving money in the process, my friend Riannan wrote the book on it (literally) - check it out here.
Exercise goals: make them specific and schedule them! In the planner (yes this planner thing is really helpful), get ready to go! Some more ideas:
Morning routines usually last longer due to obstacles later in the day for parents and after school exercise for the kids especially before homework (helps them actually get through homework faster…more on that later). As you add this habit, consider this in your planning.
Finding an exercise that you actually enjoy doing can be harder especially if you are not a fan in the first place. It may take trying out some new things- classes, routines, equipment.
Accountability partners are really very helpful to help you show up especially in the first place. Making it a family or work affair a few days a week will help make this time even more special - physically and mentally.
If your goal was to read more books then try the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. It gives some great advice about creating new habits. Read it or audio book it. Some helpful cues that stuck with me are:
1. habit stacking where you add a new habit right after an older habit- so you have a cue built in already.
2. the 2 minute rule- this is where you do your new habit but only for 2 minutes -workout for 2 minutes, food prep for 2 minutes, get your gear on and stop at 2 minutes, but you need to do this every day.
These tiny changes will get you going and add a guiding step in your routine to help your desired change stick.
Hope that Helps a bit- Be well !! Dr. B
