Not the outfit of a nun, but the things we do each day without having to think about them: brushing our teeth, walking the dogs, drinking a cup of coffee, stepping on the scale, eating breakfast. These are a few of my own daily habits, and possibly yours, too. If there is something you would like to add to your routine, to enhance your health or fitness, it is very helpful if you can make it into a daily habit.
For example, every morning, my husband and I walk our two dogs together. This, in itself, is a great habit for both of us and for our dogs! Everyone gets a fairly long walk early in the day. We get some gentle exercise. We get outside in nature. (We walk in the park next door to our house.) We get a chance to chat about the upcoming day. And the dogs get to do their business. In addition, I always carry a liter of water which I drink over the course of the walk. Often, I would forget to drink my water while I ate breakfast and checked my email, looked at Facebook, or wrote this blog. So I developed the habit of bringing my water on the walk. Linking a new habit to an existing habit (piggy-back style) is a great way to ingrain something new into something already established.
Every morning for breakfast I have some berries with either cottage cheese or Greek yogurt. When I take the spoon out of the drawer, this action reminds me to take my fish oil. I use the spoon first to take my dose of fish oil, then to scoop out my cottage cheese. When I occasionally have a shake for breakfast (and no spoon) I have to work harder to remember to take my fish oil. I always found it ironic that fish oil is supposed to boost your brain power and help with memory, but I could never remember to take it! Ha ha! Hence the spoon habit.
A new habit I have recently instituted is the stretching habit. You all know that I work out plenty. I manage to get in my strength training and my aerobics with no problem. I make these a priority in my life, so it's not as though I might forget them. But stretching was another matter. Sure, I end each class or bootcamp session that I teach with at least 5-10 minutes of stretching. But this meager amount is not nearly enough! So, I have added a stretching session to my evening television watching habit. In case you don't know me well, I am a total TV addict. This is, of course, not the healthiest habit on earth, but once you add 30 minutes of stretching, it becomes a pretty healthy and positive use of my time! And in order for me to stretch in front of the TV, I first have to vacuum all the dog hair off the rug. Another win-win! The room ends up cleaner, my gluts are not quite as tight, AND I get to watch the latest British detective show on DVD from the library.
Think about it today and see if you can come up with one new habit you would like to add to your life. It can be something very simple, that takes almost no time at all, like including a teaspoon of fish oil with one meal each day. Or perhaps you need to remember to drink more water. Or add a brisk walk to your morning or evening routine. Or 5 minutes of deep breathing to help you get to sleep each night. Whatever healthy habit you want to add, try to use the piggy-back principle to get your habit to quickly and easily become ingrained. Let me know how it goes!
For example, every morning, my husband and I walk our two dogs together. This, in itself, is a great habit for both of us and for our dogs! Everyone gets a fairly long walk early in the day. We get some gentle exercise. We get outside in nature. (We walk in the park next door to our house.) We get a chance to chat about the upcoming day. And the dogs get to do their business. In addition, I always carry a liter of water which I drink over the course of the walk. Often, I would forget to drink my water while I ate breakfast and checked my email, looked at Facebook, or wrote this blog. So I developed the habit of bringing my water on the walk. Linking a new habit to an existing habit (piggy-back style) is a great way to ingrain something new into something already established.
Every morning for breakfast I have some berries with either cottage cheese or Greek yogurt. When I take the spoon out of the drawer, this action reminds me to take my fish oil. I use the spoon first to take my dose of fish oil, then to scoop out my cottage cheese. When I occasionally have a shake for breakfast (and no spoon) I have to work harder to remember to take my fish oil. I always found it ironic that fish oil is supposed to boost your brain power and help with memory, but I could never remember to take it! Ha ha! Hence the spoon habit.
A new habit I have recently instituted is the stretching habit. You all know that I work out plenty. I manage to get in my strength training and my aerobics with no problem. I make these a priority in my life, so it's not as though I might forget them. But stretching was another matter. Sure, I end each class or bootcamp session that I teach with at least 5-10 minutes of stretching. But this meager amount is not nearly enough! So, I have added a stretching session to my evening television watching habit. In case you don't know me well, I am a total TV addict. This is, of course, not the healthiest habit on earth, but once you add 30 minutes of stretching, it becomes a pretty healthy and positive use of my time! And in order for me to stretch in front of the TV, I first have to vacuum all the dog hair off the rug. Another win-win! The room ends up cleaner, my gluts are not quite as tight, AND I get to watch the latest British detective show on DVD from the library.
Think about it today and see if you can come up with one new habit you would like to add to your life. It can be something very simple, that takes almost no time at all, like including a teaspoon of fish oil with one meal each day. Or perhaps you need to remember to drink more water. Or add a brisk walk to your morning or evening routine. Or 5 minutes of deep breathing to help you get to sleep each night. Whatever healthy habit you want to add, try to use the piggy-back principle to get your habit to quickly and easily become ingrained. Let me know how it goes!
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