DEVELOPING HEALTHY HABITS FOR LIFE

The holidays are over and all the treats have been eaten. A pound or more has been gained by some of us. We are well into the new year. Now, how do we get back on track with our health goals? Is the new year going to be one of new resolutions which fall by the wayside after a while, or are we going to build healthy habits for a lifetime? Healthy habits are the infrastructure of a healthy lifestyle. They will bring us back time and again when we splurge on treats or indulge in other unhealthy activities. So, why not start now, and build them one by one?

Developing Healthy Habits requires:

1. Caring for yourself and others
2. Courage to make a change
3. Choosing actions that benefit your health as opposed to being detrimental.
4. Confidence in your ability to make this change

I will attempt this discourse with relation to 5 topics in 2 different posts.

1. Water
2. Food
3. Exercise
4. Stress
5. Sleep

I. Water

1. Drinking the recommended amount of water is not only a healthy habit, it is also essential for many body functions. A good calculation of how much to consume is to halve your weight in pounds, and drink that much weight in ounces. So if you weigh 200lb, drink 100 oz of water in a day. Adding another 32 ounces will be beneficial especially if you want to lose weight. As with anything that needs adapting to, a specific plan is essential. 
2. Maybe you need to buy a gallon bottle, or a couple of 32 oz water bottles. You don’t need a name brand bottle, just make sure it is BPA free. 
3. Make a reminder on your phone to drink every hour.
4. Check out my post on Hydration to see why and how much water you should drink and how much is too much.

II.  Food

We need to look at this in 2 ways:

1. Our eating behavior 
2. Our diet or what we put into our bodies

Eating behavior

1. What is your reason for adopting healthy habits? Write it down. Have one or more specific goals. 
2. Tell your family and friends about it. Have accountability partners.
3. Try to avoid following the latest fad. Your diet should be something you can sustain for life.
4. Avoid very restrictive diets that will cause a lot of hunger or cravings and subsequent binge eating.
5. Your eating plan/diet should be something you can follow with your budget, your cooking skills and your family schedule.
6. Start with small changes. Adopt one change. After you have mastered it for several weeks, add another change.
7. Be flexible and creative.
8. Keep healthy foods and snacks on hand, at home, and at work.
9. Avoid keeping unhealthy snacks and foods in the house and at work. If you do make or buy some treats, freeze some for a later time so you don’t consume them all in one go.
10. Pack your weekday lunches during the weekend.
11. Try not to snack all day long. Limit eating and snacking to set times. 
12. Keep a food diary. Use an app like My Fitness Pal or Lose it. These will make you accountable. You enter your current weight and what your desired weight is as well as how much you want to lose every week. Don’t aim for more than 2 pounds per week. Remember slow and steady wins the race.
13. Try out new foods. Maybe you haven’t tried a different cuisine that you might really enjoy.
14. Eat regular meals and healthy snacks between meals.
15. Don’t skip meals, unless you are adopting intermittent fasting. If you want to know more about that, check out my post
    Intermittent Fasting: Is it right for you?
16. Eating healthy requires planning—of meals and of grocery shopping.
17. Limit eating to one place such as the dining room or kitchen. Stay there for the duration of the meal.
18. Use smaller dinner plates. 
19. For some it might help to not be watching TV while eating, as it might cause mindless overeating.
20. Go easy on yourself if you slip up sometimes. Just try to be as consistent as possible.
21. Congratulate yourself on taking this step and whenever you feel you’ve developed a healthy habit.

What you put into your body

Carbohydrates

1. Consume whole-grains like brown rice, amaranth, farro, quinoa, millet, bulgur or whole wheat flour, etc.
2. Avoid white flour, white potatoes and white rice.  Save those for special occasions.
3. Reduce portion sizes.     
4. Eat fewer carbs at dinnertime or your last meal of the day.

Fruits and Vegetables

Technically, fruits and vegetables are generally included in carbohydrates, but for our purposes, I’ve put them in a different category.

1. Aim for 6-9 servings per day.
2. Keep chopped veggies in your fridge to eat as a snack or add to your meal.
3. Aim for a colorful palette.

Protein

1. Eat grilled or broiled fish or chicken without skin instead of fried chicken and other meat.
2. Eat fish a couple of times a week. Canned salmon and sardines are great choices when fresh is not readily available. Try to eat fish that is low in mercury.
3. Reduce your intake of red meat. 
4. Try to have meatless meals a few times a week. 
5. Legumes like lentils and beans are protein rich along with being good for your overall health. Consume them with whole wheat or brown rice to get a complete protein.
6. Quinoa is a complete protein and a good option not just for vegans and vegetarians, but for the rest of us who are trying to adopt healthier patterns.

Fats

1. Try to use healthy mono or polyunsaturated fats. These are good for your overall health.
2. Avoid or limit unhealthy fats such as saturated fats and trans fats. 
3. Trans fats in particular are detrimental to your health. Trans Fats are often found in processed food. ‘Regular’ peanut butter, which doesn’t need to be stirred, has trans fats. So skip that, and go for natural peanut butter that only has peanuts and salt or no salt in it. You will need to stir it once, and then place in your fridge and it will remain homogeneous. 
   Saturated fats may be consumed up to 10% of total calories. 
4. Replace bad fats with good fats and not with refined carbs.

Developing healthy habits can start small, but over time change your whole lifestyle and outlook on life, and in turn benefit you and those around you.

Comment below if you learned something new, or are encouraged to adopt one or more healthy habits from this post. Share with someone who needs to read this.

Need help developing the habits that will help you reach your health goals?

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Resources

Snacks and drinks guide
Grocery Shopping Handout

Sources
Eat smart, move more
Healthy Fats
Harvard Health

I linked this post at:

 “Journey to Health with Priya” provides general educational information on various topics on this website as a public service, which should not be construed as professional medical advice.