Your Habits Define You – are you proud of your habits?

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.” ― Lao Tzu

Our habits really do define us.  What we do, what we eat, day in day out, not only shape our bodies, but our confidence, self esteem, self identity, and much more.

In a recent popular blog post “How to get superfocused on your diet” we discuss how “Motivation gets you started, and habit keeps you going”.  Forming healthy empowering habits into your lifestyle is critical to your success both on the diet but even more so with maintenance.  You need to be aware of what you eat, drink, think, do on a daily basis.

Having time on total food replacement, gives you the opportunity to build in positive empowering habits that will help you to move more, think more positive, deal with stress more effectively and drink more water.  Use this time on total food replacement wisely and build these habits into your life, so that when it comes to refeed all you need to focus on is making the healthy food choices.

Let’s compare 2 people’s habits, who both have exactly the same amount of time each day and the same job.  

Read the DAILY HABITS of Person A and Person B and if one person was overweight, I am sure you can guess which one.

PERSON A

• Wake up
• Eat sausage sandwich for breakfast
• Drive to work
• Grab a Latte Coffee on the way to office
• Meet a friend for an hour lunch in local cafe – have a burger and chips
• Get something from work vending machine for afternook snack
• Drive home from work
• Make the tea – frozen pizza and chips
• Do some housework
• Watch the soaps with a couple of cups of tea and packet of biscuits
• Go to bed

PERSON B

• Wake up
• Complete 20 minute home work out
• Have egg white mushroom omelette for breakfast
• Prepare a healthy chicken curry meal to cook in slow cooker all day
• Drive to work
• Grab an Americano coffee on the way to office
• Have a water bottle on desk and sip water throughout the day
• Go for a 30 minutes brisk walk at lunch time – have a pack lunch tuna salad & wrap
• Have an apple and some nuts for an afternoon snack (that was in pack lunch box)
• Drive home from work
• Have tea – healthy curry that has been cooking all day in slow cooker
• Do some housework
• Prepare pack lunch for tomorrow
• Have a relaxing bath
• Write in Journal
• Go to bed

Just by the habits of these two people you will create a picture in your mind of what the two people look like and feel like on a daily basis.

Person A, if they are not already overweight is on the road to piling on the pounds.  They probably feel quite tired and lethargic and maybe a bit down about life in general.

Person B, if they are not already slim, they are on the road to getting there.  They probably feel quite light on their feet, with good energy levels and a sense of achievement and contentment.  They have good self esteem and generally feel happy.

[box type=”note” size=”large” style=”rounded”]Why not write out your habits and get clear on how you spend your days.  Look at your list of what you eat and drink, how much you move, and how you think and relax.  Are you more like person A or person B?[/box]

Here are some of the key habits you want to build into your lifestyle to be able to maintain with ease:-

1. Exercise – if you don’t like gyms or you don’t have the time for gyms then work on developing your own exercise plan.  Incorporate squats, lunges, press ups, sit ups, and some yoga and Pilates into a simple routine that you can do every morning.  Never underestimate the power of consistency when it comes to your health and well being.
2. Eating healthy – Lean protein, lots of vegetable, some fruit, nuts, seeds and healthy low GI carbs.  You need to be committed to eating healthy, clean foods, avoiding processed foods and ready made meals.  Cooking simple meals from fresh.  Cook your own healthy meals and have them in the freezer for times when you are short on time, or use a slow cooker.  Many healthy meals can be cooked quickly in the oven, grill or microwave.
3. Being Prepared – eating healthy, exercising, all take organisation.  Menu planning, buying groceries, having your gym gear ready or your walking shoes with you so you can go for a walk.  You need to form the habit of thinking ahead and being prepared to be healthy.
4. Keep Hydrated – when you become dehydrated you can eat unnecessarily, drinking water throughout the day will keep hunger abay, make you feel alert and healthy.
5. Relax – life can be busy and stressful and it can be easy to think that lying in front of the TV with a packet of biscuits can solve your problems, but it really will make you feel worse.  You are much better to have a relaxing bath, or go for a nice walk or swim to relax.  It sounds like harder work, but when you do it, you will feel so much better.
6. Keep a Journal – when you start refeed and maintenance it is very important to keep a food diary, this will help you to see what you are eating.  It gives you a good reference point for the future if you find that you are gaining weight, you can look back on the week’s you did really well and see what you where eating, exercising and how you where thinking.  What gets measured always improves.

[box type=”download” size=”large” style=”rounded”]How many of these habits do you have in your life now?? Leave a comment below and let me know how many you have and what you are going to work on improving![/box]

If you are total food replacement now then start to incorporate these healthy habits into your life while you are on your transformation.  Remember that the new you plan means working on your mindset and lifestyle if you want long lasting change!

• Develop your morning exercise routine or go to the gym
• Start walking or an exercise class
• Drink 3-5 litres of water everyday
• Find ways to relax in the evening so you don’t spend the whole night in front of the TV (hobbies, crafts, home study courses, volunteering, walking, exercising, meeting friends etc.)
• Keep a journal about your weight loss journey, record your feelings and accomplishments while on total food replacement, this will give you a great review of your transformation for you to look back on and learn from.

[quote]Make it your mission to work on your habits, your habits form your character, and your character defines your destiny.  Live a healthy vibrant lifestyle and you will reep the rewards in all areas of your life.[/quote]

Leave a comment below and let me know what healthy habits you have and what you are going to work on.