Making new habits

Welcome back to my blog and welcome to another instalment of Sexy Monday. In today's post I wanted to talk about habits. In my view, people who seem to have this whole 'healthy lifestyle' thing sussed have this one thing in common:

Their healthy lifestyle is made up of lots of different healthy habits.

So in order to sustainably move towards our best, healthiest selves, we need to take a long, hard look at our habits, and see if there's just one little thing we can change for the better. By tackling little habits one by one over a large amount of time, we slip and slide our way to where we want to be. This is sustainable, enjoyable, and realistic. Hurray!

Just remember, tackle one habit at a time - this keeps things manageable and leaves you with a sense of achievement, rather than overwhelm.

Let's take some examples of habits we might want to tweak or change:

Fizzy Drinks

Oh, hi Satan! Carbonated drinks like Coco-cola and pepsi are the absolute devil when it comes to our health. The sugar in the full-fat versions is addictive and terrible for us, and the artificial sweeteners in the diet stuff aren't much better. Add caffeine and you have a recipe for a health disaster. 

They are addictive, they are unnecessary and they are really unhealthy. 

Not sexy. We want sexy.

Replace with ... Water

If you are seriously addicted to full-fat fizzy drinks then maybe have a week or two on the diet version first. Then, the following week, replace every other glass with a glass of water. The next week, stick to water. Add a slice of lemon or lime if you need to jazz it up but we want you to learn to love the taste of good old fashioned tap-water. Get in the habit of always having a bottle of water with you to sip on while you go about your day. I'm thinking of investing in a Chilly's bottle that keeps liquids cold for over 12 hours apparently. Perfect for summer. 

Alcohol

If you are interested in hearing more of my thoughts on alcohol, you can check out the Sober Wednesday series here on the blog. Like sugar, alcohol is an addictive drug and damages our bodies, both internally and externally. If you are serious about your health, quitting the booze will just propel you into a new realm of health, both physical and mental.

Replace with ... anything you fancy!

Ok, I know I was just going on about fizzy drinks, and if you are out at the pub there may not be quite the assortment of non-alcoholic options available, so get what you need to in order to stay away from booze (one habit at a time, remember?).

As my sweet-tooth has lessened over time, I have gone from sugary non-alcoholic drinks (orange juice and lemonade) to plainer, healthier options (water or soda water with ice and lime). If booze is the habit you are going to start with, just get whatever you fancy when you're out and about - try mocktails, get a hot chocolate, or just keep it simple and cheap with water.

Junk Food

A massive genre of food that probably deserves it's own blog post. We all have our weaknesses. The aim here is to pick one thing and replace it with something else, or just gradually reduce over time. Here are some ideas to start you off:

• Having one sugar in your coffee instead of two
• If you usually have two takeaway meals a week, try just having one per week for a while
• Cut an apple into slices and have that instead of an unhealthy snack mid-afternoon
• Invest in a book of healthy recipes (I've been loving Deliciously Ella) and challenge yourself to try a new, healthy recipe once a week. 
• Watch some documentaries like 'Hungry for Change' or 'Forks over Knives' for plant-based inspiration

Cleaning up our diets is probably about 90% of the way to living our healthiest lives. Exercise can be seen as the cherry on top. We're talking about adding good stuff and crowding out the bad, rather than quitting the bad and feeling like there's nothing left to eat.

Exercise

Ah yes, the aforementioned cherry on top of the healthy lifestyle cake. Again, the key is to keep it realistic and enjoyable. Find something you love, it doesn't have to be crazy intense, if you love walking, do that, if you love yoga, do it. Maybe you get a kick out of strength training and want to build some muscle, whatever you fancy, just make a start. Yoga is what I enjoy the most, along with walking and running. I also like strength training once in a while too. 

Others may prefer team sports, in which case there is probably something going on in your area, whether it's netball or rowing, it can be a fab way to meet new people and a combination of social and physical activity is never a bad thing.

Remember that diet is 90% of the battle, so as long as you are moving your body in some way, it doesn't matter too much what you choose.

Some people find it helpful to wear a fitness tracker and to try to hit their activity goal each day - this is the one I wear currently.

Like anything, it's all about balance, go in too hard, too fast, too soon, and chances are you'll pick up a nasty injury or just burn out and lose enthusiasm. So take your pick and let me know how you get on.

So that's it for this week's Sexy Monday, let me know in the comments which habit you are trying to change on the road to living your best life?

Chat soon,
SSV x

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