Why Your Mind Seems to Struggle with Healthy Habits

Why does it feel as though the struggle with healthy habits is between us and our own minds? If these behaviors are so good for us, why does the brain seem to want to go a different route? Many of us would love to be able to change the way we live our lives to give ourselves a healthy body. However, it can feel like as soon as we try to make a positive change, our own minds work against us

We often struggle with healthy habits that cause us to change from more convenient portions of our lives. For example, a to-go breakfast that is high in sugar, salt and bad fats is quick and easy and likely tastes great, too. Therefore, having to prepare a breakfast with more healthful ingredients can demand more time and effort and can make us feel as though it isn’t right for us. Similarly, trying to jam a workout session into our daily lives might mean having to wake up earlier in the morning, costing us precious sleep time. Again, it can feel much easier not to stick to it.

The key is to look at our efforts not only in terms of short term goals but also in those over the long term. Research has shown that when people visualize both short and long term benefits to an effort, they don’t tend to struggle with healthy habits as much. After all, this strategy helps you to realize that taking the time to walk every morning or eat steel cut oats with berries instead of a fast food breakfast burrito will have an impact on the rest of your life, not just on your morning. There’s far more motivation in knowing you’ll live longer and more healthfully than that you’ll have slightly more energy or you may move the number on the scale a tiny amount. Eating healthy is worth it when the bigger picture is consulted.

It’s also important to realize that you can’t overhaul your entire life at once and think it will stick. Changing your lifestyle to include more healthy habits is something you need to do gradually. Start by having one more vegetarian meal per week, for example. Join a weekly yoga class. Then, as these efforts become the norm, add to them in a way that makes sense for you. In this way, things won’t be as jarring and you won’t feel as though your mind is continually tempting you to skip your workout or grab a donut instead of something more nutritious.

Still struggling? Consider giving yourself an advantage, particularly at the beginning. 3G Burn can help to give you more energy as it boosts your fat burning and shrinks your appetite. This can make it easier to develop healthier habits in your daily life.