[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #71CCD5;”] O[/dropcap]ver the last 2 days, we’ve covered a lot about habit change.
But bad habits can be tricky.
They deserve a day on their own…
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN TODAY:
- 5 ways to break bad habits.
How to break bad habits
1. Remove the trigger.
If you want to stop snacking on chocolate at work but you have a jar of treats on your desk, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Instead remove the jar. Or replace it with something that you are happy to snack on.
If I’m in the kitchen and I feel the urge to snack on some leftovers or an ingredient I have out.
I notice that urge and then put a cover on the food or put it away so I’m not triggered again.
2. Make it unattractive.
One thing that really helped me cut down on my drinking is reframing how I think about a glass of wine.
In the past I saw it as something fun. A way to relax and socialize.
But then I had problems with my sleep. And I began to associate more than 2 glasses with waking up in the middle of the night.
Over time, my thoughts about wine shifted so it was no longer an attractive proposition.
I also did something similar with drinking 1 glass at lunch with my Dad on Wednesdays.
I noticed that if I wanted to do work in the afternoon, my mind was scattered and ineffective if I’d had the wine.
So if I want to focus, water a lunch is a much more attractive choice.
3. Make it difficult.
If you want to stop watching TV mindlessly in the evenings, removing the batteries from the remote so it’s difficult to change the channel can help.
Or if you want to stop over eating at dinner, leave seconds in the kitchen, instead of in the middle of the table so you have to get up to refill your plate.
May not seem like much but an extra step can mean the difference between more food or not.
4. Create a reward for not giving in.
If you’re trying to stop a habit, giving yourself a reward for staying strong is a brilliant strategy.
For example when I was trying to stop my bad habit of picking and snacking when I’m cooking I set up an urge jar. Basically I got out my jar of ceramic pastry weights that look a little like beads. And an empty jar.
Then when I felt an urge to snack on something and was able to allow the urge. ie. Not give in to it.
I moved one of the beads into the empty jar.
It may not seem like much but that little act of transferring the bead. And seeing my jar fill up has been strangely motivating.
5. Don’t fall prey to ‘all or nothing’ thinking.
If you fall of the wagon, remember it’s no big deal. Just get back on right now.
There’s a big difference between having one Tim Tam (chocolate cookie) and eating the whole pack.
Just because you’ve given in to temptation once doesn’t mean your efforts are completely doomed.
You’re human.
It’s normal.
Keep trying!
SUMMARY:
Here’s what we’ve covered:
- To break a bad habit remove the trigger, make it unattractive, make it difficult, setup a reward for not giving in and avoid all or nothing thinking.
ACTIVITY
Review your habit plan and see where you could possibly apply these concepts to any bad habits you want to break.
Have fun in the kitchen!
With love,
Jules x
ps. Remember from our mindset training – your health is a journey, not a destination.
Focus on making lasting changes that will stick with you for the long term.
I like the way you approached the glass of wine. My worst habit is having a glass of wine too early before dinner and then I lose my appetite and therefore the will to cook. I love my food and cooking so I need to make that glass of wine unattractive. I’ll work on it.
Try the thought ‘It’s better when I wait and have wine with my meal’ Leonie 🙂
Jules, your urge jar concept has been very, very effective for me. What I like about it, and why it is so rewarding for me, is that every time I put a token in it, I get the message that I’ve done something right. Or done it well. One of those messages I desperately needed while growing up, but never got. The other nice thing about it is that there is no punishment if I give in to the bad habit. Not getting a reward is a neutral response to messing up. I can remember many years ago coming across the concept of rewards for dieting. Back then, I thought my reward had to be a thing, an object. I may have enjoyed those rewards, but they were nowhere near as good as putting those little tokens in the urge jar. I find that I feel really proud of my achievements, as demonstrated by the urge jar. Most of the habits I need to work on are the bad ones I want to break, so I’m glad you have covered that topic. I would also add that the techniques for creating good habits seem to also work pretty well for breaking bad ones.
I’m so happy to read this Susan!
And you’re right – breaking bad habits is similar to forming new ones.
Keep up the amazing work!
Jx
ps. And thanks so much for always taking the time to leave your feedback for the lessons – I wish more of my students were as engaged as you are 🙂