Spotlight on Building Healthy Habits

Many of us are always looking for new ways to build healthier habits, and what better time of year to do this, during the summer months—a season that naturally lends itself to feeling more energized and motivated. With longer, lighter days and (hopefully!) a bit more sunshine, this is an ideal time to reflect on our winter routines, reassess our lifestyle, and begin making small, sustainable changes that support our well-being.

When changing or improving our health it’s not just about modifying the way we eat, exercise or sleep. It’s also about looking at the way we live our lives and rethinking our daily habits. A habit is simply a learned behaviour that has been repeated so many times, it has become something we do without thinking - whether it is good or bad. We can make significant progress in our journey to improve health and wellness or lose weight by making a conscious effort to retrain ourselves to think and behave in new ways.

A common phrase in our modern society is ‘work/life balance’ but do you practice it? Where is your life out of balance? Do you spend too much time at work? Are you constantly checking emails and messages? Is your social life unfulfilling? Do you find you have little time for the things you really enjoy? Do you have no time for family, or hobbies and interests? Does exercise feature at the bottom of your priority list? Consider these questions, and start to note where your life is out of balance. Which areas need to change in order to optimize your health and happiness?

Rewards

Many people use food (or sometimes alcohol) as a way to reward themselves after a tough day’s work or when feeling tired or stressed. However, this can easily become a habit, and a natural reaction to adverse situations. When we think of rewards, we think of things that give us joy. Perhaps consider alternatives to food and drink such as 10 minutes of reading your favourite book, listening to an interesting podcast, spending time outdoors, walking the dog, chatting to a friend etc. Or perhaps it could be a bigger reward like booking a massage or an exciting day out. Building in daily rewards and breaks from routine have been shown to improve mood and lessen the temptation of using food inappropriately.

Sweet Habits

Many people have formed a habit of eating sweet foods for comfort or distraction. This can lead to imbalanced blood sugars, which is followed by more cravings for sweet foods, giving you an instant short-term boost quickly followed by an energy slump. Often you are left feeling tired and irritable, reaching out for something sweet again, thus creating a vicious circle. Think of other ways you can take care of your ‘real’ needs, for example replacing sugary snacks with healthy fruit or perhaps you are using a sugar fix as a way to deal with difficult situations to provide you with comfort.

Me Time

When life is busy it’s common to give up what little time we may have set aside for ourselves. Time for ourselves, is essential for our mental wellbeing and ability to stick to a healthy life plan. Time off allows you the space to consider what you really want and to be in control of your life rather than outside influences being in control of you. Some of the world’s most successful people plan their time off first. Look at the week ahead and consider when you can take time for yourself, and then consider what you would most like to do with this time. When improving our health, it’s essential we have time to plan our week and get everything we need in place so we can stick to our health goals, allowing time for healthy meal prep and regular exercise that we enjoy.

TV & Social Media

The average person spends the equivalent of 17 years in front of the TV in their lifetime and 2 hours per day on social media! There is little benefit with either and certainly neither contributes to our health and wellbeing. Consider what you could do if you reclaim this time back. You could have more time with people you love, for activities you enjoy, to take up hobbies and interests that enrich your life.

Exercise

Many people say they don’t like exercise or can’t find time for it. In reality, we can find time for what we want to do. So the key is increasing our desire to exercise.

Exercise, as we know, has many benefits to our physical and emotional health and is a great way to maintain a healthy weight. What exercise do you really enjoy? What did you enjoy when you were younger? Start slowly and build up, even if you are currently very unfit, start with a short walk and build up slowly.

Support & Connection

Do you have a strong support network around you? Family, friends, community? As humans we need other people to feel connected, and this in turn is essential for our mental health.

In recent times it has become more and more common for people to spend huge amounts of time on their computers and working from home. This can leave us feeling disconnected and unsupported leading to unhealthy eating habits. For example, during Covid almost half of women and a quarter of men gained weight and this was in part because of the reduction in human connection.

Consider whether you feel sufficiently connected to, and supported by, others around you and build in more time to be in the physical presence of others. We are social beings, not social media beings!

Need support to re-address unhealthy habits, create a new healthy lifestyle and improve your level of happiness? Health Coaches work with clients to inspire, motivate and support them to rethink their lifestyle habits, unpick old behaviours and develop healthier goals to work towards.