How to make strong habits that last and minimise bad habits that stop you achieving your weight loss goals

No one ever loses weight by luck.  Although they may not know it, the most successful fat loss winners will have done it with consistent actions towards a leaner lifestyle.  One meal won’t make you fat, same as one gym session won’t suddenly make you shredded.  It’s the consistent, strong habits that are built through a network of systems inside the successful dieter’s brain that ultimately bring long term weight loss. Building a good habit is the result of thousands of repetitive actions  In the same way that the body needs hours of practice to learn complex movements to perform and action, the mind needs constant programming to make sure it learns how to behave in certain situations.

What are healthy eating habits?

Often this is mistaken for ‘eating clean’ but healthy eating habits aren’t about being the best Instagram influencer you can be with your plate of avocados and nuts.  Healthy eating habits in my view is having a positive relationship with food.   In that you don’t unnecessarily restrict yourself from foods that you like.  Many diets are promoted as ‘healthy’ but actually promote unhealthy eating behaviour in that they force the dieters to eat kale, spinach, lots of green veg, nuts etc while banning chocolate and doughnuts.While this may be ‘eating healthy’ in a pure form of the word it’s not a healthy eating habit if you hate those foods.In fact, this behaviour will more than likely start you down the road of an eating disorder.Healthy eating in my book means that you do incorporateLean Meats (or a veggie/vegan protein source)Green or leafy vegComplex carbohydratesUnsaturated fats such as fish or plant oilsFruit and VegBut also look to have a reasonable amount of ‘junk food’ to give you some soul food when you’re relaxing in front of the TV.  If you don’t like ‘junk food’ and prefer to eat ‘clean’ because that’s what you like then of course that’s totally fine.  My experience is that the majority of people I work with like a bit of trash food every now and again.

Healthy Lifestyle Habits

Similar to healthy eating habits, healthy lifestyle habits should be a blend of good and ‘bad’ behaviour.For example, I like to train with weights and I go for a 20 minute walk most days to clear my head. However I also like a nice sloth in front of the TV in the evening a few nights a week.Only for a short time and most of that time it’s to play Mario Kart but I also snack when I do this.  Most people would interpret that as a bad habit but it really isn’t.  It helps me relax after a busy day and I’ve also exercised that day. Healthy Lifestyle means that you do things that enrich your Physical, Mental and Inner health.   * Physical is from exercise and weights* Mental is from reading books and listening to podcasts/audible while doing my 20 minute walk and in the car.* Inner Health is having the right vitamins in my life to keep my body in top shape with a strong immune system. However,These 3 things are also enriched from the ‘bad’ habits I do.Physical – sloth in front of the TV a few times a week, which also enriches my Mental as it allows my mind to wander and move away from work.