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15. One Habit at a Time

one habit

ONE HABIT AT A TIME

The turning point in my life happened when I finally started to address one habit at a time. I am a voracious reader and collected 100s of new habits to try. I must have spent about 10 years trying to change my life and habits all at once. Like the novice juggler, one ball is easy, two much harder and three? Well they just drop them all. Repeatedly.


Make a pact to change just one thing alone and don’t move on to the next one until you are ready. Another great reason to do one thing at a time is so you know what works and what doesn’t. Carry on doing what works and ditch what doesn’t work.

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17. When Does a Habit Become a Habit?

when does a habit become a habit

WHEN DOES A HABIT BECOME A HABIT?

When does a habit become a habit? There is no one answer to this, simply put though is you have a new habit if you perform the activity without having to remind yourself to do it.

21 days

In popular self-help literature a lot of authors recommend doing something for 21 consecutive days, for it to be a habit. This comes from Maxwell Moltz and his book Pyscho-cybernetics. This is a good start and the way I do this is that I set myself a reminder for 21 consecutive days to perform a certain task. At the end of that time if I have done the 21 days, I am happy that I can move on to the next habit.


Keep on keeping on

What would happen if you fail at the 21-day exercise. Try again. Start again from day one, but this time tweak something. If this doesn’t work tweak it again. You can now see that you cannot fail. Just keep trying and tweaking.

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19. THE BEST TIME TO PERFORM A NEW HABIT

new habit

THE BEST TIME TO PERFORM AN NEW HABIT

One thing people ask me is when is the best time to perform a new habit?
What time is best to exercise, or when should I do my breathing and meditation practice? The simple answer to this is that the best time to do a new habit, is the time you can do it. If the only time you can fit in the exercise is, realistically, 9pm at night, I would rather you did it then than not at all or only intermittently.




Once you get started, you will get momentum and you will form a habit. Your body will crave the exercise. Once you have the habit, then you can play about with the timing.

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21. Carbohydrates

CARBOHYDRATES

Carbohydrates are one of the three main ways of getting energy into the body, with fats and protein. These carbohydrates can be sugars or starch. The simplest sugar is glucose which, when it reacts with oxygen in the cell, releases energy. The body will ultimately break down all carbohydrates into glucose. This energy is the life force that keeps us alive and we need it constantly. Thankfully nature has provided us with a way of having a constant supply of it – by storing it as fat. That is so it is ready for those times when you need it. When you eat a meal rich in sugar there is a spike in the levels of blood sugar. This can be dangerous, so the body produces Insulin in the pancreas, then converts the glucose into glycogen. It then turns it into fats. When blood sugar drops too low, this glycogen is converted by glucagon (also from the pancreas) back into glucose.
This is the crux of all weight control: if you can control this glucose-glycogen-glucose cycle you can stop weight gain and promote healthy fat metabolism.


Sugars

Sugars are the simplest Carbohydrates– there are many different sugars, which are different combinations of the basic sugar glucose. Sucrose (table sugar), maltose (malt sugar)and lactose (milk sugar) being the most simple. The problem with simple sugars is that they break down to glucose very quickly. There is more than the body needs in too short a space of time. As we saw before too much blood sugar is dangerous. So it’s stored for later use i.e. as fat. Fructose, from fruit, is more complex and so is harder to break down into its constituent glucose parts. This ironically is good because it means it is broken down to glucose slowly. This slow release means that there is less of a spike and so less is stored as fat. That’s why it’s healthier to get your sugar fix from fruit rather than sweets.

Starch

Starches are even more complex types of carbohydrates, such as those found in potatoes and grain products. They are even slower to break down as so, again, slower to convert into fats.
Please do note though that not only are carbohydrates are great source of energy, they also act as appetite controllers.

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24. Water

water

WATER

You are 70% water. You can live for weeks without food, but only a few days without water. Water is used to transport things around the body, for instance, nutrients into cells and waste products out. Healthy hydration is essential for maintaining health. It will also help you to lose fat.

Kidney and liver function

These organs both have an essential role in the expulsion of toxins in the body. A good steady supply of fresh water (containing no stimulants) is therefore needed to help cleanse the liver and kidneys.


Hydration and nutrition

Good nutrition is simply getting the right materials to right place in the body at the right time. Water is the universal solvent, which helps to transport these nutrients around the body and forms part of the chemical reactions, necessary to keep you alive.

Suppressing appetite

Hunger pangs are often signs that the body is dehydrated. The early signs of dehydration are similar to hunger signals, such as light-headedness and stomach rumblings. Often it’s a good idea if you feel peckish to drink some water to see if this helps. Physically if you drink water 30 minutes before a meal, this will act to fill you up and stop you over eating.

Caffeine and alcohol

Both caffeine and alcohol drinks are diuretic stimulants. This means that any drink that contains either of these will suppress anti diuretic hormone. This means you will produce more urine and therefore become dehydrated. That is why it is a good practice to drink an equal amount of water to every diuretic drink, in addition to the 2 L per day. It might just be easier to go for caffeine free drinks and cut down alcohol.