Changing My Habits

It's that time of year again. But instead of going on a 'diet' or counting calories, I am going to focus on changing my habits. Hopefully focusing on 'behaviours' rather an 'outcome' will lead to long-term success.

Habits I need to work on
- eating at night when I'm not hungry
- doing less than four hours a week of structured exercise
- eating meals in less than 20 minutes
- regularly 'dieting'
- having irregular sleep patterns
- drinking my calories (flat whites, alcohol)
- eating processed/refined grains
- spending two or more hours a day on the computer and/or watching TV
- surrounding myself with unhealthy people
- eating while doing other tasks (TV, reading, computer etc)

This gives me an initial idea of how to structure my goals.

My top 3 priorities
- create food that's simple, healthy and tastes great, so that I look forward to eating each meal
- do exercise that I enjoy, and make it an integral part of my life
- take it slow and find a strategy that works for me

'All-or-none' thinking
My 'all-or-none' mentality hurts me. I need to remember that nutrition and exercise are not black and white, they're on a spectrum. Life is going to get in the way of my best intentions, but there's plenty of grey area to take advantage of (do the best I can in the situation - it doesn't have to be perfect).

Measures to help me reach my goals
The only measures I've been using lately are how my clothes are fitting. I know I'm moving away from my goals because my clothes are getting tighter in all the wrong places. I will try other types of measures (photos, bodyweight, girths, skinfolds) to help me reach my goals; however, the aim is to prioritise health, and let my body composition fall into place.

Outcome-based decision making
I've tried to use outcome-based decision making in the past, but I get distracted by other food and exercise plans instead of measuring if what I'm doing at the moment is actually working. I need to choose something and stick with it for a couple of weeks, then measure to see if it's working. If it is, keep going. If not, adjust the plan, try for a couple more weeks and measure again. And so on.

Success Transcends
Elsewhere in my life I have been successful at completing a university degree and a diploma. The qualities required to complete these were perseverance, dedication, planning and focus. I can take those qualities and apply them to nutrition and exercise. This will leave no room for anything but success.