Your road to health and wellness isn’t one without its bumps. Afterall, you have a lifetime of unhealthy habits to recover from.
Whether you’re like me and you love to overeat and binge on junk food while watching Netflix or you just fail to exercise, your unhealthy habits will hinder you. You need to be aware of what your unhealthy habits are and how you can recover from them.
Photo by Holly Mandarich
By indulging in unhealthy habits, you put yourself in a position to have an unhealthy life. Your energy is zapped. You feel like lounging around the house rather than be active. And you begin to hate the way your body looks and feels.
The good news is you can change this. You can get rid of the unhealthy habits that are destroying your life and zapping the energy you need to lead well. Let’s take a look at some unhealthy habits you need to get rid of and how to recover from those unhealthy habits.
Unhealthy Habits You Need To Get Rid Of
You need to recognize the unhealthy habits holding you back from a healthy life. These habits will keep pulling you back into a life you don’t enjoy because you no longer have the energy to do what you love or feel comfortable in your body.
Binging on junk food:
Can you relate to this one? You’re getting ready for a nice evening of Netflix so you grab a bag of your favorite chips (mine would be sour cream and onion potato chips). You rip open the bag and reach your hand in.
Before you know it, the potato chip bag is gone. Your hand is scratching the bottom of the bag and you’ve raised the bag to your lips to pour the crumbs into your mouth. Or is that only me?!?
But binging on junk food will cripple your ability to get healthy. It’s a bad habit you need to get rid of.
Overindulging at mealtimes:
You go out to a restaurant and the waiter brings you a big, juicy 16-ounce steak with a heaping helping of french fries and a large Coca-Cola. The food is before you and you feel like you have to clear the plate in front of you. So you do…
Only you know you shouldn’t have. You know you need to eat healthy portions instead of what’s placed in front of you. That 16-ounce steak, french fries, and Coca-Cola meal set you back over 2,000 calories. Uh oh, that’s almost your daily calorie intake in one meal.
Photo by Jason Leung
Overindulging at mealtimes really hurts you if you are striving to become healthy.
Being inactive:
After a long day of work at the office, all you want to do is go home, sit in your favorite recliner, and kick up your feet. It’s a great way to spend the evening but it’s also an unhealthy habit.
That long day at work, you were sitting behind a desk. You failed to walk more than 1,000 steps. You were pretty lethargic at work. Only to come home and repeat the same unhealthy behavior.
Inactivity will take its toll.
How To Recover From Unhealthy Habits
I’ve shared 3 unhealthy habits you may face. I know I do. But I also know there are ways to recover from unhealthy habits.
Instead of binging on junk food, create snack-size portions:
It’s easy to get to the bottom of a bag of potato chips or to eat a whole bag of M&Ms. This is why you have to set yourself up for success. You have to create portion control.
When you open the bag of potato chips, separate the chips into snack containers where there’s a limited number of chips. Or put the M&Ms into smaller containers. Don’t bring the whole bag with you.
This will create a new habit. This habit will of portion control will help you realize you don’t need to eat a whole bag of chips or M&Ms or whatever your favorite candy is. You can control your eating and feel like you had a great snack.
Instead of overindulging at mealtime, set some aside for tomorrow’s lunch:
Restaurants will give you more food than you should eat. What you do with that food is up to you.
A healthy habit I’ve discovered is to separate the food so you can bring leftovers to the office the next day. This does two things:
Limits the amount of food you eat.
Gives you food for the next day so you don’t spend more money eating out.
By creating this healthy habit, you’ll limit your calorie intake and increase the size of your wallet. Two wins in one!
Instead of being inactive, get moving:
It’s amazing how inactive you can be after work. Sometimes the motivation just isn’t there to get moving yet it’s something your body needs.
You weren’t created to be inactive and sit around the house. Your body was created to move and burn the calories you consume.
Photo by Stephen Cook
Choose to get active. To get moving.
Set scheduled times after work to go for walks with your spouse, runs with your dog, or disc golf with your friends. Find activities that will get you out of your house and on your feet.
By shifting from inactivity to activity, you’ll create a healthy habit you won’t want to stop.
Question: What are some of the ways you’re recovering from unhealthy habits? Let me know in the comment section below.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.