If there is one positive thing to have come out of the pandemic, it is a global health kick. We all want a better immune system and a healthier body to give us the strength to fight off this nasty virus.
Many people have finally focused on neglected health goals as the pandemic has given a renewed sense of worth and zest for a better quality of life. Whatever your reason for getting healthy, the fact remains that good habits can be so hard to make stick. It’s not impossible though.
For a good shot at sticking to your new healthy eating habits, take a look at these five handy tips:
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Make It As Easy As Possible For Yourself
The easier it is to eat healthily, the more likely you will be to avoid convenience foods. Subscribe to a meal delivery service, or switch to healthier food brands from the supermarket.
If you’re cooking from scratch, keep it simple by using high-quality cookware that makes the process as easy as possible. Make that jump from unhealthy foods to healthy foods as small as possible for the best chance of success.
Understand Why
With any new habit, it can help to understand why you want to make the change. That way, you can remind yourself of these deeper reasons when things get tough.
Have you had a health scare? Are you one of the nearly 50% of Americans with an obesity problem? Are you sick of struggling to play with the kids because you’re unfit?
Write these reasons down and revisit them every time you feel your motivation dipping. Even better, write them on huge pieces of paper and stick them on the fridge.
Don’t Force A ‘Forever’ Commitment
According to studies, it takes an average of 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic. Rather than telling yourself you will change your eating habits forever, why not just do 6-8 weeks of being healthy? Then you get a treat day. By then you are likely to have formed new habits, and you may well not even feel a need to ‘cheat’ on your new healthy habit by then anyway.
Keep It Tasty
Eating healthily will not be a habit you stick to if you feel like it is boring, drab, and leaves you starving all the time. Experiment with healthy versions of your favorite dishes, and get new healthy favorite snacks to rely on when you’re craving comfort foods.
The more normal your new favorites become, the more likely you are to keep going with eating healthily. Settle in for some web-based research and save the most delicious looking healthy dinner ideas you can find. This will keep you on the nutritious eating straight and narrow.
Move More
Studies tell us that the more we exercise, the more likely we are to crave healthy food. This is thought to be because we naturally align exercise with healthy eating goals, and because making exercise a habit enables us to have more mental space to plan healthy adjustments elsewhere in our lives.
Whether you go for a walk, swim, or workout in your local gym, once you make better choices when it comes to exercise, you should hopefully start making better choices with your diet too.
“Take care of your body, it’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn
By following the tips above, you should be able to make your new healthy habits stick for a worthwhile investment in a better quality of life for you now, and well into the future.
