There is never going to be a shortage of opportunities for the diet, wellness and beauty industries to find new customers in this world. We all have spells when we feel we have fallen a little behind where we would like to be, and need a course correction. For some of us, this is worrying - what’s going wrong, if we keep needing to be redirected back to the correct path?
The truth is, nothing is wrong per se. As humans, we have innumerable forces leaning on us that cause us to get sidetracked sometimes. We tend to not even notice when it is happening, because, like the straws on a camel’s back, you don’t notice when they’re laid on there one-by-one. It’s only when they get too numerous that we eventually acknowledge that it’s become too much. And so, we need a little help every once in a while - and perhaps some tips on how to implement long-term healthy habits. Below, we’ll look into ways you can make sure your best practices get to be as deep-rooted as you need them to be.
First, start with a proper clean slate
It’s common to say goodbye to a bad habit by engaging in that habit one last time, whether it’s a last night out before stopping drinking alcohol or finishing the packet before we give up smoking. The idea is that you’re taking things gently: I mean, you’ve bought the cigarettes, so you might as well not waste money, right?
Wrong. If you’re stopping something, you’re stopping it for a reason - and that reason applies right now, as much as it will in three days’ time. If it’s a more high-stakes addiction issue, you should consult with a doctor before going “cold turkey”, but in general, right now is the best time to change.
Also, if you’re taking a step like implementing a skincare regime, you’ll give it the best chance of taking hold if you go back to basics before implementing a daily regime. Have a day of facial treatments like chemical peels and strip down to a blank slate before adopting a daily maintenance routine. Symbolically, it is important to start on the right foot, but in practice it is even more important to give your efforts the best chance of a maximal impact.
Make it easy to keep it up
One of the primary reasons for getting out of healthy habits is that they become too hard, or inconvenient, to maintain. If you’re running late for work one day, it’s easy to forego the morning cup of matcha. If you’re dead tired at night, then moisturizing won’t be the first thing on your mind.
It pays to make sure you can’t ignore the right choice when it’s there to be made. Set up your cup the night before, so even if you’re running late in the morning it’s still there to be made and drunk. Keep a tube of moisturizer and other lotions by your chair, so if all you want to do in the evening is sit and watch TV, you can keep your skincare regime up even if you’re barely thinking about it.
Once you’ve kept up a habit for long enough, it becomes second nature and you’ll be able to stick to it without even needing to lay aside time. The key is to be insistent about it for the early days; studies show that within eight to ten weeks, you’ll be maintaining good habits without needing to remind yourself.
One misstep is not a disaster
Shame is a powerful emotion which is responsible for a lot of bad in this world. People who have been clean from drugs for a year or more can relapse once, and feel like they have undone all their good work. The same is true of alcohol, clean eating, and any other lifestyle change a person adopts. The resulting shame spiral can see someone really undo their good work by reverting to the bad old days for a longer term, but it doesn’t need to be so.
One day of not eating the right things won’t reverse the effects of weeks or months of dieting. One cigarette won’t take away the lung power you’ve gained back, and one missed gym session won’t see your body fall apart. You need to remember that because it’s easy to think that - seeing as everything’s broken anyway - you might as well get back in those bad habits.
We all have setbacks from time to time - as we mentioned at the beginning, there are a lot of forces affecting our lives - but doing the right thing in the long term pays dividends. Remember that you’re doing it for a reason, and that reason doesn’t go away if we have a misstep. See it as looking temptation in the eye and turning away, and you might even be stronger as a result of your isolated faux pas.
Give your body the best chance
Whether it’s a bad habit you want to break, or a good habit you’d like to encourage, remember that you make a decision with your mind - but your body will take a lot of the toll. Beating cravings is a test. Getting yourself to the gym is an effort. These things will be easier if you give your body what it needs.
Consider the fact that part of the reason alcohol causes hangovers is what it does to our sleeping patterns - so without alcohol in the picture, aim for a healthier sleep routine. Drink water as and when you can, because your body will be crying out for that too. The kinder you are to your body, the better you will feel, and your mind will associate that higher level of comfort with the healthy decision you have made - and you’ll be more likely to stick to it.
Sticking to a healthy routine means making the right decision every day. On some days, that will be easier than others - but keep doing it, and it will become just the way you do things, a long-term change for the better.
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