Healthy Start to the Year

Let’s make a healthy start to the new year by cultivating health promoting habits

Why is it easier to make resolutions than to keep them?? What derails our attempts to change??

And why can’t we maintain the commitment when the outcome is something we truly desire??

Yet why are some people highly successful in achieving their goals??

To move from desire to consistent action, we need to create a healthy habit. But first what is a habit? It is actions that are maintained over time, or skills learned through repetition.

Intelligence, motivation and willpower are NOT the problem to establishing good habits. Making a decision every day to eat well, exercise, go to bed early, etc is exhausting. It is the equivalent of constant heavy mental lifting. Good habits start with an initial decision but once the decision is made persistence is the key word for 60 days to establish a habit. No mental debate!

Persistence creates change. People under-estimate the power of persistence. Motivation wanes but persistence wins.

Brain scans show when people initially learn a task, the frontal lobe (the executive decision making part of the brain) shows marked activity. As the activity is repeated, strong neurological pathways are established, freeing up the frontal lobe, and allowing people to not have to consciously attend to the task. Neurological pathways start like cotton thread which doubles, then trebles, they become like string which doubles, then trebles and grows into light rope which doubles and trebles and then becomes like strong ropes.

The more the details of daily life that are governed by good habits, the more energy and brain power you will have for other things.

A gentle reminder to those creating a new habit.

“A slip up does not mean you are back to where you started,

or that you should throw in the towel.

It means you are human.

So start again - you get unlimited tries.

Look for signs of progress as you go.

The smallest gains are signs of hope.”

- Rachel Macy Stafford

Other key factors to maintain a new habit are changing the environment, making a plan, gaining reward and accountability. If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got. Today is as good as the 1st of January to set goals. Be supported in your journey to making healthier habits and reaching your wellness goals, book a naturopathic consult with Sheryl through the contact page.