When you’ve made a change to a behavior, or you’ve broken a bad habit, after a time, it’s easy to forget how far you’ve come. Once you settle into the routine of a new way of living, boredom can set in. Be careful. This is when many people forget why they made a change in the first place, resorting to old behaviors.
This frequently happens with people who change their eating habits in order to lose weight. When you hit a plateau, this is a critical time to recognize that you WILL hit points where the scale doesn’t change. This can go on for days, causing incredible frustration.
The temptation is to throw in the towel and resort back to old eating behaviors. Don’t!
Your body is simply adjusting to the change. Healthy weight loss takes time. It’s slower than what you might think. Yet, slow will likely be more permanent than fast, unhealthy weight loss.
Remember Your Big Why!
It’s important to keep your big “why” at the forefront of why you made a change in the first place.
If you’ve let go of smoking, a few weeks into the process you may think, “I’ve got this thing licked. I can have one cigarette.” Don’t!
Take it from an ex-smoker who “quit” so many times I lost count before I finally gave them up for good nearly 25 years ago.
I would quit for a few days, tempt the hands of fate and before I knew it, I was back to smoking as much, if not more, than before.
One Day at a Time
In 12-step programs, people are encouraged to live their new way of life, “One day at a time.”
We can do anything one day at a time. If the temptation to go back to an old, destructive behavior comes up, commit to sticking with your healthier way of life, “Just for today.”
Tomorrow, if you still feel like resorting to the destructive behavior, recommit for one day to not give in.
Change is not always easy. But again, if you focus on your big “why” you will likely get through any bumps in the road.
After all, aren’t you worth the best quality of life you can create?
