A habit can be hard to break because it is a routine you’ve created that’s easy to follow each day. To evaluate your unhealthy habits, start by writing out the events of your day. Next, carefully review your schedule and see what actions you can take to break a bad habit and create a new one.
Think of a bad habit as a chain that’s holding you back. Ask yourself, where can you break the chain and start a new healthy habit?
For example, do you find yourself not making it to the gym after work because you’re famished? Why not set your smart phone alarm to ring 2 hours before leaving work so you remember to eat a healthy snack. Or let’s say you tend to eat late at night and want to break this habit – identify what actions you can change. Write out your typical day, maybe you are stressed about your long to-do-list for the next day so you decide to veg out for an hour of TV while snacking on less than optimal food choices. Where could you break this chain? It could be attending a yoga class after work or before dinner. If you have kids, make it a habit to put on a yoga DVD after the kids go to bed a couple nights a week. A small change can lead to big results.
See our example of behavioral chains on Pinterest; then write out your own to free yourself of habits you want to break: https://pinterest.com/melissaHLiang/creating-healthy-habits/
