Weight Loss and Healthy Living

You've heard the cliché before: just twenty-one days to a new habit. Is that really all it takes? Wouldn't it be nice if 3 weeks really were the magic number? Think about how easy that would be.


If you want to start a new routine of jogging three days a week, you simply force yourself to hit the pavement each week for three weeks. By the fourth week, it's done: your new habit is locked and loaded. You're on auto-pilot. You do it without even thinking about it. Isn't it great?

Unfortunately, the truth is not so simple. It may be easier to follow a new habit after doing it for a certain amount of time, but is it guaranteed to become a lifestyle change? More importantly, how will you approach this new habit? Will it be something routine like taking a shower or brushing your teeth? Or will you dread the daily grind of dragging yourself outside and hitting the pavement for a few hours? Is this something you can imagine doing for the rest of your life?

I've been living a healthy lifestyle for over 5 years now. If that doesn't seem like a long time, it isn't. When I carried thirty extra kilos of fat, my food came from one of two places: the quick serve restaurant, or the vending machine. The only water I drank was buried beneath the mounds of sugar that hide in every soft drink, and I guzzled a six pack of beer every night. I was winded just walking up the stairs to my apartment.

I'm happy to say that my life is very different now. Because I've made living healthy a habit, I don't have to remind myself anymore to take a quality multivitamin or to exercise most days out of the week. Our family buys nothing but healthy foods and while we do enjoy the occasional 'forbidden fruits,' it is only once or twice a week. Some people find it hard to believe my waist was actually thirty centimeters larger. They cannot fathom that my lifestyle was so different.

I did not make it with a 21-day program. Here's the breaking news: it was actually a 5-year program that I'm still revising. I didn't create the new habits overnight, nor did they magically become automatic after a month. The reality is that having good habits isn't a destination, but a process.

One of the keys that I found was to learn to enjoy the process. I can't imagine doing something every day that I don't look forward to or even dread. So why should living healthy be any different? Most people are familiar with the idea of 'acquiring a taste' for foods. I've coached people who developed a taste for beer, coffee, wine, even cigarettes. If someone's preferences can change for these items, they can certainly change for healthy foods, too.

While my original exercise routines were rigid and something I just did because I had to, with time I learned to find activities that I enjoy. I like to jog, to do yoga, and prefer body weight exercises like push-ups and sit-ups over lifting heavy weights in the gym. By shifting my routine to reflect these preferences, I began to look forward to my workouts instead of dreading them every day.

The same thing happened with foods. Instead of going for dull, bland foods which is how most people perceive healthier fare, I learned to use spices and have fun with new recipes. Instead of focusing on what I didn't like, I focused on how great I felt living and eating healthy. With time, I began to really crave the healthier foods. When I began, I despised vegetables. Now, I look forward to my salads.

Here are 5 tips for developing a true habit that becomes part of your lifestyle and not just something you force yourself to do every day:

1. Start small.
Don't jump from pizza and ice cream to chicken breast and broccoli or go from sitting on the couch to running marathons. Making lots of little changes over time will result in a bigger, more permanent change over all.

2. Focus on what you enjoy.
Don't run on the treadmill just because an article you read said it was the best for burning fat. Find activities you enjoy. If you enjoy it, you're more likely to stick with it.

3. Remember that change can be painful.
Starting a new habit won't be easy, and sometimes you might forget or make excuses. Go easy on yourself and give yourself permission to slip, but remember that you must continue to change in order to see the results.

4. Be the 'glass is half full' person, not the 'glass is half empty' naysayer.
Consider the positive benefits of what you are doing, even if you don't like doing it at first. With time, you can grow to appreciate your lifestyle change and actually look forward to it. I used to hate doing cardio, for example, but when I turned it into a competition with myself I began to look forward to how much more I could push myself each workout.

5. Don't give yourself a time limit.
Forget 21 days, or 4 weeks, or anything else you've heard. Too many people put conditions ('I'll try this for a few weeks, but if I don't look like a competitive bodybuilder then I quit') on their habits. Instead, realize these are for your own good - you don't stop brushing your teeth just because they are clean, so don't stop your healthy habits just because you feel good. I've been working on my habits for 5 years and still have room to improve!

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