![]() ![]() ![]() Relapse is common, but it doesn’t have to be a major setback. Maintenance and relapse preventionĪt this point, you have developed a healthy lifestyle habit and the key is to focus on maintaining that way of life. This is the stage when you get to proudly pat yourself on the back for taking up running, quitting smoking, or turning into a meditation yogi. Once you see that you can do that, it’s easier to add on new healthy actions. It helps to start small with simple, concrete habits. This is the big one, the stage that involves real change in an area of your life. If you know that chocolate fudge ice cream is your ultimate downfall, you might resolve to stop buying it. It’s helpful to think about the barriers to success you might face and to come up with concrete ways to help address those barriers. If you’re focusing on eating healthier foods, you might clear out time on Sundays to do meal-prep for the week. If your goal is to exercise more, you might purchase workout gear or learn all about a new sport. This is where you start mentally and physically preparing for larger changes. (For example, “I know smoking is bad for me, but I just love how relaxed I feel when I light up a cigarette.”) Preparation This stage might also involve focusing on the barriers to change or resistance to giving up something that you love. For example, a person who wants to exercise more might think, “I’d love to eat healthier foods, but I don’t know where I’d find the time to cook regularly.” For example, a person who drinks more than two alcoholic beverages daily might say, “I’m just unwinding after a day of work - there’s nothing wrong with a few drinks at the end of the day!” Contemplationĭuring this stage, you start thinking about making a change and assessing the pros and cons. PrecontemplationĪt this stage, you don’t recognize that there’s a problem, and you have no intention to change. Turns out, most of us go through five stages when working on lifestyle modifications. Thankfully, we can learn from a common approach used in healthcare, called the Stages of Change model. How do I start building healthy habits?Ĭhanging your habits doesn’t happen overnight. ![]() HEALTHY HABITS TO START HOW TORead on for tips on how to create a healthy lifestyle, one habit at a time, by yourself and with others. So how do you translate a desire for healthier habits into a healthy lifestyle? And is it better to change our habits on our own or with a support group? It’s so much easier to spend a few minutes longer scrolling on our phones than to go for a jog. You may have had the experience of vowing to eat more nutritious foods, or to start exercising regularly, or to meditate daily. Most of us know that making healthy choices in life can lead to a happier, healthier life. ![]()
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