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Making changes to our routines is hard – even when it’s for the sake of our long-term health and well-being.
Many of us use the turn of the year and New Year’s resolutions to commit to major lifestyle changes. Obviously, you can create steps and develop the habits needed to make a lifestyle change any time of the year. But sticking to those healthy habits while trying to break bad ones can be a major challenge.
But why is changing our behavior to create new healthy habits so hard? What does it take to actually change, and how long does it take to form a habit? We dive into those questions below, with the help of an expert.
Unhealthy habits and chronic conditions
The importance of healthy habits is well documented. Some of the biggest chronic conditions in the U.S. are directly linked to behaviors and lifestyle choices.
Over the years, lifestyle factors like not being active enough, not getting enough sleep, not eating a balanced, nutritious diet, using tobacco products and excessive alcohol use can lead to life-long health issues, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These can include some chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
Along the way, there may be warning signs: obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and elevated blood sugar levels, which can be signs of prediabetes.
Prediabetes can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes – yet, it can be reversed with small lifestyle changes; like losing 5% to 7% of your body weight, according to the CDC. That’s 10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person. Additional lifestyle changes can lower your risk of type 2 diabetes by 58%.
Overcoming ourselves
What gets in the way of healthy behaviors? What gets in the way of change?
Often, commitments adults accumulate in their lives can often take precedence over their own health. For others, their lifestyle habits and behaviors stem from what they learned as children. If processed foods and fast foods were the norm growing up, it’s more likely that those behaviors will continue into adulthood. Unlearning these ingrained habits is difficult.
Additionally, for some adults, there are more pressing concerns to provide for themselves and their families, including socioeconomic factors; some people can’t afford to make these lifestyle changes.
In addition to these factors, the hurdles we set for ourselves as we seek to make healthy changes are often so tall it seems often impossible to even begin. Our goals are too big; too intense.
Many people start making lifestyle changes for a short-term goal, like losing weight for a big event. But the short-term goal often comes with a short-term mindset of restricted diet habits and intense exercise – which can’t be sustained for a long period of time.
“We set ourselves up for failure,” said Angela Moore, NASM Master Trainer, Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES), Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES) and Fitness Nutrition Specialist (FNS) through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, as well as a Limited License Professional Counselor. She works with people looking to make healthy lifestyle changes for a living.
“When we first start exercising or restart an exercise program that we stopped, we often do too much which leads to extreme soreness and excessive fatigue which makes exercise extremely uncomfortable. Exercise can at times be uncomfortable but should never be unsafe,” Moore said. “Any exercise program that you choose should be something that you can safely do now and as you move forward in your health journey.”
Moore said people seeking a change need to change their mindset to – “how should I exercise and eat healthy now and for the rest of my life, so I can be healthy always?”
“Until you’re willing to do that, you’re only going to get short-term results,” Moore said.
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