Why Is It So Hard To Build Healthy Habits?

How To Build Healthy Habits

As a species, humans are resistant to change by nature. Because of that resistance, it takes us a while to break a bad habit or implement a new one – up to as long as a month. During this transition period, it’s easy to fall back into our old ways, unless we consciously keep ourselves on track until our new change has taken hold as a habit.

When we build healthy habits, not only can introducing them increase our resistance to disease now, but they also improve life later down the road. That means taking fewer prescribed drugs in the future, maintaining independent living longer and more longevity as we age. But the road to change can be bumpy if not done correctly.

Why Is It So Hard to Build Healthy Habits?

We all want to make changes to our lives and build healthy habits to be happier and live longer. But for some of us, this can seem impossible. It sometimes seems like we can’t alter our lives in a positive way. But we fail to realize just how many things you can do without putting in more effort than needed.

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Healthy Eating

Do you like food that isn’t good for you? Food that is high in calories and fat? If so, you’re not alone. And it’s not your fault! We are genetically engineered to gravitate toward that kind of food from our ancestral days. Hunting, gathering and exploring the surrounding area took a lot of energy and so food with a lot of calories and fat provided the energy.

But the food today is different than it was back in the stone age. Today processed and fast food lurks around on every corner, inviting you to come in. And while you’re there, super-size everything making for even more fat and calories. But that isn’t the end of the story. Food is addictive. So, if you succumb to eating a lot of processed and fast food, that’s what your body becomes accustomed to eating, what it prefers, and in fact, what it craves.

Small Steps. Better Results

However, the opposite side of the coin is true and can also help you build healthy habits. If you start eating healthy, it too over time will become addictive also. The trick is to make small incremental changes over time and not a big change all at once. That way your body will slowly change and adapt to your new way of eating. What gets people into trouble and they fail is they try to make too much of a change in too short a time. Don’t quit eating bad food ‘cold turkey’.  Slowly start eating less bad food and more good food over the course of say a month.

This is usually the number one factor that will help you to build healthy habits. You should avoid eating sugary and fatty foods, although it’s okay to enjoy treats every once in a while. If you’re trying to lose weight, a better diet is the key to shedding pounds, which will lead to you feeling healthier and happier.

Healthy Fitness

The same rationale of change also applies to exercising.  You always see at the start of a New Year, people making all-or-nothing commitments to build healthy habits where they’re going to conquer the world fitness-wise.  They plan to exercise five days a week, run a marathon in a month, etc. But after the first time or two in the gym, they’re so sore they can hardly move. They take a few days to heal up and never return to the gym again.

Instead, they should have started slowly by doing some short easy workouts a day or two the first week and gradually increase the frequency, workout time and type of workout over the course of the first month.

You don’t have to hit the gym every day in order to live longer and be healthier. You can mix up your exercise regime in order to make it more interesting and help you to stick to it longer. You can play sports such as tennis or soccer, go swimming with friends and family or even go to a local bar and play ping-pong for an hour or two. Gardening, tidying the house and going for a jog in the evening are all great way to increase your fitness levels, decrease the risk of heart diseases and high blood pressure and live a better life.

Build Healthy Habits And Live Longer (Free Report)

To build healthy habits you need a process of setting an attainable and realistic end goal with several milestones of mini-goals along the way. Be sure to reward yourself in a positive way after reaching each milestone as it provides the mental boost to continue forging ahead to the next one.

Download my free report, 9 Heathy Things To Help You Live Longer  and discover how the choices you make about your lifestyle, diet and exercise choices, you help you live well into your 80s and beyond.