Do you wish you could break bad habits, once and for all?!
Throughout life we encounter moments of self-reflection and inspiration to make a change. Whether it’s breaking a bad habit of smoking, drinking soda, overeating, procrastinating, losing your temper, or hurrying your kids… there’s always something which needs to be remedied.
I recently decided to quit eating refined sugars. This was not a decision that was made lightly. A number of signs and life circumstances pointed me in the direction of quitting sugar. Of course, this life change took place not even a week before Easter, in the midst of Girl Guide cookie selling season, and two days after stocking up on Nutella.
I’m just three weeks into my no-sugar lifestyle and at the beginning of this journey I have come to several realizations on how to break bad habits… for good.
How to break bad habits... for good! Check out these tips! #breakingbadhabits #resolutions #goals Click To TweetWhat do you want to change and why?
The first thing is to decide what habit you want to break and why. Don’t try to change everything at once. For instance, if you’re wanting to be a more patient parent there may be a few bad habits you have to tackle; yelling at your children and rushing them are big issues which need to be approached separately.
Select one bad habit and tackle it. Once you’ve overcome that bad habit, move on to the next one.
Take the time to write your thoughts down. Your motives should be clear and specific.
Visualize your life without this habit.
The next thing to do is visualize what your life will be like without this bad habit. Once again, write everything down.
Things to consider when visualizing:
- What will you feel like?
- How will your home and work life be affected?
- What will you look like?
- How will your health be affected?
- What impact will this change have on your relationships with others?
Make a plan.
When you plan a trip, most likely you look at a map and plot out your journey. Do the same thing for breaking your bad habit. Create a timeline.
- When are you starting?
- Are you doing a gradual change? If so, plot out the points when your strategy shifts (i.e. Smoke only 5 cigarettes a day; in one week cut back to 4 cigarettes a day, etc.)
- At what date do you want to be free of this habit?
- At what points in your journey are you going to check in? Daily? Weekly?
Anticipate challenges.
Breaking a bad habit is challenging. Take some time to contemplate any difficulties you might have. Strategize about how you will cope with those difficulties.
When I quit sugar, I didn’t expect the detox/side effects. I had headaches, I was tired all the time, I couldn’t think clearly, I was emotional, and I was very irritable. I wish I had planned for this because it made my journey that much more frustrating.
Fortunately I quickly realized what was going on and I made a plan. When I was feeling tired, I drank a green tea. If I was feeling emotional, I listened to an uplifting song. When I was having cravings I ate a piece of cheese.
The way you react to these challenges will have an effect on your habit-breaking journey.
Find a support network.
Enlist the help of your spouse, a friend, or a colleague. Choose someone kind and encouraging to be your support network. Ask them to check in on you. Request that they pray for you. Ask them to challenge you if you’re making excuses about returning to your bad habit.
Be forgiving.
This one’s a biggie. You may slip up. You may stumble. However, assess why you caved in, plan for how you can avoid repeating that mistake, and forgive yourself. If you wallow in self-pity or beat yourself up long enough, you may not return to your original plan and intentions.
You’re breaking this habit for a reason. Dig up the notes you wrote about why you wanted this change and read them. Repeat the exercise of visualizing your life without this bad habit.
You can break bad habits… for good!
I hope these tips and suggestions encourage you in your journey to break the bad habits in your life.
Oh and one more thing… you can do it!
Great advice and love that last line, “You Can Do It!” Made me totally smile tonight, Jennifer xoxo ;)
Thanks Janine – I hope this encourages others to quit their bad habits too!
Such great tips! I am trying a push up and lunge challenge- these will be great for that!
Push ups and lunges?! You’re my hero! lol
Yes, you can definitely apply some of these strategies to establish good habits too!
I am so inspired by your elimination of sugar in your diet. I’m also super interested to hear how it’s affected your health and the changes you’ve noticed. I hope you do a follow up post on this! I really like you have the outline here on how to approach quitting a bad habit, especially using visualization to help bring it into reality.
I definitely plan on sharing more about quitting sugar once I’ve settled more into it. This was something I thought I would never be able to break but I’m delighted that I’ve done this well so far!
Great tips, as usual! I am awful when it comes to gradual change, I want it all immediately. Wrong approach, I know.
I typically anticipate challenges, but I have never developed a plan on how I will cope with these challenges. Great advice! Thank you.
I think plans on how to cope with the challenges are essential to success. We all have challenges when breaking a habit – it’s comforting to know that we have a grab bag of tools to fall back on!
This is literally the third post I’ve read this morning on quitting refined sugar. I am an addict, and I really think the universe is trying to tell me something!
Thanks for the tips, I don’t know if I can (want) to do it, but I know I should!!
I definitely sounds like your getting a message sent to you!
I didn’t think I could do it either – yet here I am… almost three weeks later… on the other side of Easter… with a house full of chocolate and jelly beans – and I haven’t caved yet!
These are wonderful tips, Jennifer! I have tried to quit sugar many times unsuccessfully. I feel so much better without it, but my addiction is strong. Congrats to you on your success! My favorite tip here is to be forgiving. I slip up and then quickly give up, which is really unnecessary :).
Forgiving ourselves is so important! Unforgiveness puts us in a rut of self-condemnation and defeat. We need to continue to forge ahead and defeat our bad habits.
I think the most important thing is being really committed from the start. If you’re changing a habit for another reason than for yourself, it won’t stick
What a wonderful point Jeremy. We’ll never have success ditching a bad habit if it’s not our own desire. However, if it’s something we really want, we’re more likely to be committed to it. That’s also why I recommended writing everything down. Those reflections and plans have a huge impact on success!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on how to break bad habits for good.
GREAT tips to set yourself up for success!
I am big on not trying to change everything at one and making a plan. Some people say to aim high…but oftentimes people set big, lofty goals with no plan or willingness to the time to think through the small steps and challenges. You have all the steps down! :)
Now giving up sugar…I have considered that, but I’m not even willing to go through the steps. So I will wait until that wave of motivation comes…then maybe I’ll give it a shot. Nice work on that one! ;)
It’s so important to make a gradual change… thanks for sharing that point.
Sugar was a toughie… I still consume (in very small amounts) maple syrup, honey, and agave. However, I’ve gotten rid of all refined sugar in my diet.
Another great piece, Jennifer. It’s so inspiring and so encouraging. I love that you included a part about being forgiving. It’s a big step to break a bad habit, and no one will get it right the first time. It’s important to give yourself a bit of grace, keep on trying. Thanks for sharing :)
I used to beat myself up every time I “failed” at something. I realized that I would end up giving up… so it became very important that I forgive myself for slip-ups!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Maria.
LOVE this post. You have pointed out such great strategies for making changes.
Congrats on making it 3-weeks with no sugar, too. I know it’s hard. I did it 1.5 years ago and haven’t looked back. Trust me, it wasn’t easy. I was the girl known for bringing gummy cola bottles to corporate meetings. My family always handed over their extra frosting from birthday parties. Point being, I LOVED sugar. But when I got sick again, I started to research nutrition and chemicals prevalent in my lifestyle and really saw a lot about the detriments of simple, white sugar. So, I quit. I felt some of the side effects, but let me tell you that I feel FABULOUS now. Plus, I look pretty good, too. If I’m craving something sweet, it is often satiated with a few nuts or seeds. I also love medjool dates. I will put a dab of sunflower seed butter (or any nut butter) in the center and it takes like a big piece of caramel. If you like coconut, I also love to toast shredded coconut in the toaster oven, sprinkle with a little oil and sometimes will add cinnamon or a little agave or stevia.
Thank you for sharing your tips Caryn! I’m so happy I’ve done this well! I’ve just eliminated refined sugars for now. I am (on occasion) eating a wee bit of maple syrup, honey, or agave but I’m being cautious with those sugars as well.
Processed foods have so much junk in them – but I’m now in the habit of making my own crackers and ketchup (because I can’t live without ketchup)!
Thanks again for the encouragement. I’m glad you enjoyed this post.
Yes times 1000! It is amazing how a support network can help! And when you slip up don’t just quit! Get back on the horse and keep going!
Bad habits are not easy to break at all. I’m a nail bitter (eek! I just told you that) and I have finally given it up!!!! I still have slip ups, but it’s okay. I start again and my nails look soooo much better.
I’m so happy with my progress with breaking this habit!
This past weekend was my husband’s birthday and I was surrounded by temptation! I had a burger without ketchup (because ketchup is loaded with sugars) and I resisted the trio of desserts (cheesecake, apple pie, and brownies). Whoop, whoop!
I need to stop biting my nails. I get bad when I’m watching an intense show.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on breaking bad habits!
Another great post! I needed to read this today. Sugar is a big one for me {though there are many others}! Extremely useful information! Thanks for sharing your experiences! -krista
I’m glad you enjoyed this Krista. I’ll be doing an update soon on all the things I did to conquer sugar. It’s a tough habit to break but I’m headed into my 4th week and I feel GREAT!
Great post. For me, the last is the most important. A drawback of being a perfectionist is that I want to give up when I mess up. I’m always having to remind myself to be patient with my progress.
I used to be the exact same way Jenny. If I failed I would give up altogether. I haven’t screwed up yet with this sugar-free lifestyle but I am determined to stick to it… even if I do slip up.
I didn’t quit sugar, but about three weeks ago, I dramatically reduced it. I was reached for it day and night. Now I eat very healthily for the day, and then usually have maybe one piece of chocolate or something similar every so often. I’m not interested in a life where I don’t have any, because of celebrations and birthdays and special treats. However even giving up about 90% made a difference. Yes, I went through days of headaches. For sure. And now everything tastes too sweet to me! Even things with no sugar!
For the record, I still do raw honey and local maple syrup. I meant that I cut out white sugars.
Weird to see this right now!
I still do honey, maple syrup, and agave too.
Weird that we went on the same journey at about the same time. I’m headed into week four and I’m starting to feel great. The withdrawal for me was hard.
This is one of the most helpful posts I have read. I am going to pin this and keep it for many areas of my life! Excellent job the sugar! Keep it up :)
Blessings to you,
Sharon
Thanks Sharon! The sugar-free journey has been challenging but so far, so good!
Thank you for pinning. I’m delighted you found this helpful.
I am happy for the sugar-free you!
These are very helpful tips. Thanks for sharing them.
How are you and the family?
Many Blessings to you.
Thank you Ifeoma! I am finally starting to feel really good. It took a while because the withdrawal symptoms from sugar were intense.
All is well here my friend – thank you for asking.
Those are all really great tips Jennifer and I agree that you have to make up your mind to do it and stick to it. You also need to realize that the bad habits you’re breaking means more than likely a longer life for you and your family.
Thank you for the encouraging words my friend. Yes, I’m expecting a healthier lifestyle for all of us now.
I’m glad you enjoyed these tips as well.
Hi Jennifer, sorry it’s been a while, but glad to see that your posts are as good as ever!
I had toyed with the idea of cutting out refined sugars, but in the end decided against it as I couldn’t (and didn’t want to imagine my coffee without a sprinkle of sugar or Fridays without chocolate).
The advice you have given will go along way to helping someone who needs help breaking a habit. I remember reading that a habit no longer a habit if you can avoid it for three weeks. Obviously with sugar it’s a physical need as well as a mental one, but this time next year sugar will be a distant memory.
xx
I’m glad you enjoyed this Debbie.
Well, I can’t go without chocolate either… which is why I’m making my own (with maple syrup as a sweetener). It’s so good (and a tiny bit goes a long way)!
Have you the recipe, I’d give it a try?.. and could I use honey instead of maple syrup? Can’t get maple syrup here (not that I’ve ever seen it), but have an abundance of honey!…xx
I’m pinning this. Inspired by your no sugar thing, I grudgingly committed to cutting back on my sweets intake. And yesterday I made a cake, so clearly that’s not going too well. I obviously need a little more structure in my commitment…
I’m starting week 4 of being sugar-free and I’m starting to feel way better. It was a toughie but I’m glad I tackled it!