hab·it [hab-it]
noun
- an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it hasbecome almost involuntary
Habits are developed over a period of time. You can not snap your fingers and say “I’m going to brush my teeth everyday.” And then poof, magically you brush your teeth everyday. This was a habit that your parents helped you achieve at a very young age.
Fast forward to adulthood, and we have developed good and bad habits… brushing your teeth, showering everyday, good habit, or the bad ones, missing breakfast, biting your nails.
Regardless of what your habits are, they can change. For example, I used to workout 5 days a week for 3 hours a day at gymnastics practice. Then during my years on Charger Girls, we trained 2-3 days a week for a minimum of 3 hours a day. Right after retiring from Chargers, I went to 1-2 workouts a month.
It became more of a habit, NOT to workout, then it was to workout. I had to change that. Currently, I’m proud to say I workout 3-4 days a week for 1-2 hours a day.
The change didn’t happen overnight, it took more like months. It was something I had to work on EACH AND EVERY DAY! I always started off strong then fizzled as the weeks went by, then I picked it back up, and then slowed down again. Finally, I made it a MUST DO, rather then a WANT TO.
Making changes are difficult, I had to make positive changes but I didn’t know how. That was until someone once told me about grape juice. No, I don’t mean I drank grape juice and I magically got rid of my bad habits. Here’s what I mean…
Grape juice is our bad habits. It’s dark, unclear and can have a bitter taste. If you took all of your bad habits that you wanted to change, it would probably look like a glass of grape juice. Now the easiest way to get rid of your grape juice is just dumping it out in the sink. But what you have is empty glass with NO HABITS, and let’s face it, we can never get rid of all of your habits. They are either beneficial or detrimental to your well-being.
Ok so since we can’t just dump the glass, our only other option is to filter it with water. Water is refreshing, clear and smooth. Water is your new found GOOD habits!!
So you take your water and pour it into the same glass as your bad habits or your grape juice. What happens? Your grape juice starts to dilute itself, and with enough time and water you have replenished your grape juice into crystal clear water, or got rid of your bad habits with good habits.
Hopefully that makes some sense. I have nothing personally against grape juice but it made sensed when I visualized myself filtering the grape juice out and replacing it with water!
Ok now back to reality, what I’m trying to say is that you can’t snap your fingers or empty your glass to make long-lasting changes. They are gradual but consistent efforts in creating new ones.
So when you are looking on losing weight, remember you didn’t put it on overnight so don’t expect to get rid of it overnight. With time, consistent healthy eating and exercising, the pounds will drop and not for a short time, it’ll be for good because you slowly got rid of your grape juice! 😉