The Force of Habit

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Laurie Bagley, One of Thousands of Health and Fitness Coaches on Noomii.

As we move swiftly and fully into 2014 many people create goals, resolutions or intentions to change, break or create new habits. Breaking old patterns is what I term the force of habit. I believe that as powerful as this process can be what can be even more helpful in regards to ensuring success is to understand why we have certain habits and what has been proven to support lasting change. Research on people who have successfully lost weight supports the idea that modifying lifestyle is a crucial component of these efforts. Data on successful lifestyle-modification practices come from Rena Wing, James O.Hill and colleagues at the National Weight Control Regency(NWCR). Their findings showed that the following lifestyle-modifications where most successful in weight management efforts (Wing & Phelan, 2005)

• Engaging in high levels of physical activity, at least one hour each day
• Eating a low-calorie, low fat diet
• Eating breakfast daily
• Self-monitoring body weight regularly
• Maintaining a consistent eating pattern everyday including weekends.

As a health coach I see how simple yet challenging it can be for people to make lifestyle changes. Creating a force of habit can take 16-24 weeks which is a long time to be on track, on target and consistent. There are lots of other tools that can support creating habits that last which I will address in future blogs. Just know that if you currently wanting to engage in
health/fitness and diet changes put some basic’s into place right from the start. Support, feedback, tracking progress, fine tuning, fun and sustainability are key components as well. The five action steps above form the foundation and the other key elements keep you focused for the long haul. For the next 6 weeks I will go into more detail on the additional tools and strategies that can support your “One step at a time” journey to success. Don’t forget to have fun and if it supports your goals getting in nature to move your body. Changing our old force of habit can be challenging and also very rewarding.
Namaste,
Laurie