Turn small nutrition goals into healthy habits! A habit is a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition. It’s an action associated with a cue that’s associated with a performance. For example, Service Members always cover their heads before stepping outside. The cue is “going outside,” and the action that follows is “putting on your cover.”
Once you form a habit, you do the action without thinking. And if you don’t do it, you likely will realize that something isn’t quite right. These same principles can be linked to changing healthy eating behaviors. So, use these tips to make a new “healthy eating habit.”
- Set a small goal. You might think, “I’ll eat an apple every day.”
- Plan a simple action you can do daily. You might think, “Every time I work out, I’ll eat an apple afterwards.”
- Choose a time and place to perform the action. You might think, “I’ll go to the gym every afternoon.”
- Do the action during the designated time. The cue is “working out,” and the action that follows is “eating an apple.”
- Write it down. Sometimes it helps to keep a written record while you’re working on a new goal. Doing so can help you track progress and celebrate successes.
It’s commonly thought that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. However, recent evidence suggests it actually takes 66 days to 10 weeks before the habit’s yours for good. Remember: It gets easier each day that you do it. Before long, you won’t be thinking about it at all. The more you tie your actions to cues and make the actions automatic, the easier it will be to include the habit into your daily life.
Still, you might experience setbacks along the way. Don’t get discouraged. Try again the next day. Take the time to make one new eating habit, which will give you confidence to make other healthy changes!