Tag: hydrate

Hijacking Habits

Published on by Liz1 Comment

It’s the age of both hustle culture and treat yourself culture. This may look great on Instagram, but in real life this combo is burnout-inducing. I know I’ve lived in this dichotomous space over the years and it’s left me with some dysfunctional habits. I’m ready to tackle them head on. With me?!

This afternoon I read an article on breaking bad habits. Interestingly thought, it said that the best way to break a bad habit is to take advantage of a habit you already have built… hijack that one and transform it. Genius right? You can read the whole thing here: How to Build New Habits by Taking Advantage of Old Ones

I am going to try this with two habits. In order to hijack a habit you need to identify the habit you want to break or start. Then identify the four phases of the habit: cue, craving, response and reward. After that you just give it a go!

SNACKING: The cue that sets off the urge to snack is when I feel my energy dip. My craving goes straight to something extra tasty – like brownies or chips. Here I can hijack this habit and instead of grabbing chips with my grocery order or whatever else, my response will be to drink 20 ounces of water. This will give me an energy boost just like a snack!.However, the dopamine release I’m used to from the fatty, salty, sugary snack will be absent so I need to add that in through a happy reward.

EXERCISE: This is a habit I don’t have yet, so I need to look for a habit I currently do have and hijack that one! How about driving the kids to school in the morning? So the cue will be when I get back home after dropping the kids at school. The craving here is usually to have a quiet moment with my coffee and a journal. Here I can hijack this habit and instead of going to the coffee pot, my response will be to get on the treadmill for 60 minutes. Again, the dopamine release I’m used to from the coffee and relation will be absent so I’ll need to add that in through a happy reward.

So this is a tool I plan to use in lots of areas and you might find it helpful too! Let me know if you give it a go. Also, I’d love to hear any rewards you love. I am still thinking about that part. Hugs beautiful friends!

2022 Healthy Weight Adventure

Published on by LizLeave a comment

It’s very popular these days to accept everything about yourself and I am certainly here for having realistic standards. But truth still matters and gravity is real so I have decided to get some of this extra weight off once and for all. If I don’t make a better effort to get to a healthier weight it will become harder to enjoy life. After all, we’re not talking about a few cosmetic pounds. I need to drop about FIFTY pounds. So I am going to make some plans!

What specifically will I do? I can think of six things I will need to figure out in order to reach my goal of losing fifty pounds by the end of the year. At least six things that is. Here are my ideas:

  • Food: Eat oatmeal for breakfast. Protein and vegetables for lunch and dinner. Sweet treat once a week.
  • Water: Drink lots of it. It will give me more energy and help me stay on track. Go for 100 ounces every day.
  • Mindfulness: Pay attention to what I’m doing. Eat with my goals in mind not just for fun or stress relief. Work out to reach my goals.
  • Exercise: Walk an hour each day + strength train three times a week.
  • Stress: Figure out ways to deal with stress that don’t involve eating. Use NOOM strategies for building resiliency.
  • Sleep: My sleep goal is to keep it regular. I also want to make efforts toward getting up at 6am and going to bed by 10pm.

In order to measure how I’m doing I will use the scale. I know there are lots of opinions about scales, but since I am working on reducing my weight I think it’s the best tool for me. I have created a WEIGHT CHART to keep track of my progress. It’s clearly no secret so take a peek and feel free to follow along.

Is it attainable to lose the weight in this time period? I think so. There are a little over nine months left in the year. I need to lose five to six pounds a month to reach my goal. That comes to less than a pound and a half each week. But it will require consistent effort, so I need to keep on track.

Keeping my weight loss relevant to my everyday life is going to be crucial to my success, because forgetfulness is my worst enemy. To keep this goal fresh in my mind I will keep a daily journal. When I see it I will remember my health goal is more relevant to my happiness than a brownie. I will use HABIT HIJACKS too!

The deadline for this goal is the end of 2022. Why? So I can be done! Why drag it out!! As a reward for reaching my goal I will [insert amazing reward tbd]. If I reach my goal I get the reward, I just have to figure out what it will be. Simple!

Alright! I am going to post this and get to bed (because that’s part of this healthy plan). Thanks for reading beautiful friend!