What does summer mean to you? For me it means vacations, lazy evenings, and delectable fruits and veggies. Summer lifts our spirits, giving us new energy like no other time of year. Why not use this to your advantage? It’s the perfect time to start a new season of healthy living. Here are five quick tips to help make necessary changes and incorporate healthy habits into your life that will pay big dividends in the months and years to come.
1. Give yourself time. Creating a new habit takes about 30 days. Why? Because that’s how long our brains need to lay down new neural pathways. Performing your new action (whether it’s exercising more, eating healthier, or taking your vitamins regularly, etc.) for 30 consecutive days is needed in order to create an actual habit. Use Post-it notes, place a reminder on your computer, or ask a friend to text or call you daily. Tie a pretty ribbon on your finger if you have to!
2. Work on one habit at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself or you’ll be tempted to quit. This works out great over a year’s time. Learning one new habit per month times 12 month equals 12 new healthy habits. Not bad.
3. Keep yourself accountable. Tell trusted friends and family about the new habits you’re working on so they can help and encourage you on your way. Maybe they’ll join you in your effort.
4. Focus on your progress. Nobody’s perfect and we all occasionally mess up. When this happens counter the negative self-talk immediately by replacing it with a positive version. Then focus on the progress you’ve made instead.
5. Make a big deal when you accomplish your goal. Your goal is to put your new habit into action daily, right? So, everyday you do that successfully, and your goal has been met, place a big gold star or happy face on your calendar as a reminder. You could even place a dollar in a jar every time you meet your goal and at the end of the month treat yourself to a relaxing massage or something you’ve been eyeing at the mall.
Take advantage of the summer and do something wonderful for yourself. Let Women’s Health Advantage help propel you into to vibrant health.
For more information, please call Women’s Health Advantage at 661-310-7373 or e-mail: womenshealthadvantage@msn.com.