Sunday, April 13, 2014

Breaking Up with Bad Habits

I find that through my journey of living a healthy lifestyle it is all about breaking bad habits and starting to develop good ones. No matter who you are you have at least one bad habit.  I know I have or have had several. One bad habit that's not really weight loss related is I bite my nails. I try and try not to and do well for awhile but then I look down and have no nails and it starts all over. Maybe that's more of a stress thing related issue I'm not to sure. Probably one of my worst and biggest bad habits is actually something that is a bit hard to admit. But I have to come clean and tell to you what it is... I used to smoke. I am so very happy that I quit too! It has been 3 years today since I quit, yay me! Quitting was actually easier then I thought mainly because I was dealing with being really sick at the time. I had a chest infection (probably due to smoking)  and I had realized I hadn't smoked in a week I was ok with that so why not see how long I could go for.  I now do not even understand how I smoked, it smells so gross.
 
Some of my other bad habits include, skipping breakfast, not drinking enough water, not exercising, eating junk food, and snacking late at night.  So once I became aware of these bad habits I could work on figuring out how I was going to fix them.  Sometimes to do this you need to take baby steps. I've said it before because it's so true, one small change can make a big difference in the end! So here are a few steps I took to break these bad habits. 
 
I was never a real big breakfast fan I decided I would start by having smoothies for breakfast. The main reason was because they are quick and easy to make and I don't have to sit down to consume it. My favorite lately had been Chocolate Shakeology with half a frozen banana, a spoonful of almond butter, cold water and blend!  Now for drinking water that is still something I do struggle with, I just hate plain water.  I never really realized before how little I did actually drink throughout the day.  Coffee, juice boxes and iced tea is what I lived on.  Don't kid yourself I still live on coffee in the morning but I do try to drink at least 1-2 litres of water everyday.  One way I make it easier for me to drink water is by brewing up green tea with lemon and drinking that cold through out the day. Its' refreshing and green tea has wonderful benefits check them out. 
 
 

Not exercising seems to be an easy bad habit to break. One thing I did when I first started working out was to keep track of my workouts on my calendar. It was rewarding to see all those little checkmarks.  Whether it's going for a walk, doing a Zumba class or pushing play on a DVD getting at least 3-5 workouts a week definitely makes me feel better and gives me more energy.  I wish it was that simple to give up junk food.  I have broken up with greasy, fatty fast food (Which being a former McDonalds Manager I certainly consumed enough of) but the things I have the most trouble with are Chips and Chocolate.  Chips also seem to go hand in hand with late night eating.  One thing I turned to instead of chips are roasted unsalted almonds and instead of devouring a candy bar I make my Shakeology balls and munch on them instead.  Once in awhile though I do cave in and treat myself to chips but instead of getting regular chips I turn to baked ones,  my fave are Kettle Brand Bakes in Hickory Honey Barbeque  Also to curb the late night eating and get a chocolate fix I have a Hot Chocolate.  I think Everyone deserves a treat, you have to live 80/20.  No one is perfect but anyone can change.