Tell me if this sounds familiar- you decide you want to get healthy so you make a plan. You're going to exercise every day and eat healthy. No more snacks and junk. You start on Monday and you do great. Tuesday someone brings donuts into the office so you have one but the rest of the day you're great. Wednesday comes around and you get your own donut, then decide you can have some icecream with your daughter as a "treat" but other than that you're doing great. Thursday get's crazy and you forget to pack your healthy food so you snack all day, skip your workout because you got no sleep last night and then order a pizza for dinner. Then Friday hits and you're so over your tough work week you eat out and order something greasy, have a few drinks and by Saturday you're back to your old habits.
If it does sound familiar, well then you're not alone! This seems to be my pattern. I have great intentions and I want to be healthy for myself and to be a good example to my daughter but I always seem to end up with the same result- I fail. If you feel the same way it's ok. Most diets rely on a combination of external motivators like "I want to look great in a swimsuit by July" with new habit formation " I will eat just protein and veggies every day". The problem is it is really hard to form new habits just based on those external motivators.
Every habit you have was formed by the same 3 step process: Trigger-Action-Reward.
This pattern is hardwired into your brain so to make your diet succeed, you have to do more than increase your willpower….you have to reset your brain to form new habits.
It's not easy but there are 5 mind tricks you can use to do it.
1. Find your Triggers
2. Use If-Then Planning
3. Piggyback off existing habits
4. Set Micro Quotas
5. Use Abstract Thinking
It sounds kind of long and complicated but it's not…in fact it's really do-able. Check out the details here and decide for yourself….and good luck!!
