Overcoming Bad Habits
By Christine Hovhannessian
As humans, we are predestined to become creatures of habit. Personally, I am not immune to compulsions that may not be the very best for me. Whether it’s reaching for a quick, unhealthy snack or leaving the dishes in the sink longer than I would like, it is often very difficult to manage our lives when we have busy schedules. If you’ve read up to this point, then you may be facing some of these problems yourself and have sought out help. I’m here to let you know you are not alone and there are a lot of us out here just trying to survive the day-to-day.
The first step is to identify why a habit is a habit. What drives us to repeatedly do these things that aren’t productive to our success? The answer is simple, it’s the pleasure receptors in your brain! The release of neurotransmitters like dopamine when we indulge in these activities is incredibly gratifying and make us happy. Ignoring chores to partake in more gratifying tasks like playing a game on your phone or going out to have a drink with your friends are not uncommon in the realm of habitual compulsions that lead to negative repercussions.
Let’s use one of my negative habits as an example. If you present me with the option of boiling spaghetti and chopping up vegetables to the convenience of microwaving a hot pocket, I’m going to choose the latter and spend the rest of my time crushing that next level of solitaire on my phone. I am conscious of this being a bad habit because the hot pocket lacks the nutrients I would be getting from my veggie-rich pasta recipe and is loaded with much more sodium and preservatives.
Remove the Sources of Destruction
Since I know that one reason that I reach for the convenience of frozen food is so that I can play games on my phone, the first obvious step would be to DELETE THE GAME. Yes, I said it. Delete the game off your phone and you will have an abundance of free time to do tasks that will help you lead a more successful life. Sadly, this also means no longer buying quick and easy to reach for junk foods. Removing temptation from your periphery will help deter you from making bad food choices. Instead, keep some healthy snacks on hand. You don’t have to jump into veggie sticks and dip right away, instead opt for baked chips instead of the traditional kind.
Weighing the Benefits (no pun intended)
It’s important to recognize how a bad habit may be affecting our lives to make the necessary changes. For me, all that junk food was doing a number on my physical and emotional well-being. Depriving your body of essential nutrients has been linked to mood disorders and illnesses. Once I took charge of what I put into my body and got rid of my distractions, I had more time to think about my health and wellbeing.
Replacing bad habits with better ones is a great start to breaking the vicious cycle of self-sabotage. We all know what we should be doing, and we just need a little push (Or in my case, a hard SHOVE)!
