The Truth About Breaking Bad Habits

By Carly Jacobs

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This post is sponsored by Bupa

t’s been two weeks since I launched the Wholesome Habits challenge and I’ve now completed it along with a gorgeous group of Smaggle readers.

I actually think it’s quite easy to stick to a habit if you’re only doing it for 2 weeks, it’s keeping it up every day that is the challenge! There’s something very tangible about having an end date for something. If you tell yourself you’re never going to eat a fast food burger again for the rest of your life that’s a scary thought but if you’re only going to do it for 2 weeks it’s much more manageable. I think I did quite well on the challenge but there were a few bumps along the road. Here are a few things I learned about breaking my bad habits.

It’s not always going to be smooth sailing

Good habits can be notoriously boring. No one really enjoys flossing their teeth or religiously vacuuming the floor every week but we do these things to help improve our lives and our health. If you make a deal with yourself to exercise for 30 minutes every day and half way through your challenge you fall ill, you need to put a pause on your challenge and not act like you failed. Shit happens and you need to just roll with it. Don’t give up – just take a break.

Consistency is key

Even if you do have a few setbacks, consistency is what will help get you through. If you happen to have a big night drinking wine and eating treats, make sure it’s just one night. You can drink a couple of glasses of wine one night and not do too much damage, it’s when you start doing it every night that it can become a problem. If you fall off the wagon, get back on again immediately. The longer you leave it, the further away the metaphorical wagon will be.

You might discover that a new habit is not for you

Sometimes you might start to develop a new habit and then you find out it’s just not working for you. For example, I tried juicing a few years ago and it did nothing for me. I did some research and realised that it’s far more nutritionally sound to eat the whole food I was juicing rather than drinking it. The action of chewing and swallowing is very important when it comes to digestion and it’s a good signal for my stomach that I’m full. I also hated all the waste associated with juicing. It just wasn’t my bag, so after a month or so of doing it, I ditched it.

The same thing happened with yoga – I always felt like yoga was a waste of my time because I didn’t burn enough calories or get my sweat on and after trying for years to make yoga a part of my routine, I ditched it. It’s not for me. You’re a grown up and you know what’s working for so if you tried something for 2 weeks and it didn’t stick and you kind of hated it, get rid of it and try something that works for you.

It’s going to be hard sometimes

When I started this challenge I thought the exercise part was going to be the hardest thing. I generally exercise every day but I’m a bit slacker on the weekends and I usually just make sure I do my 10,000 steps. I wanted to raise my heart rate every day for 2 weeks and I had actually had no trouble doing it.

The hardest thing for me was getting in my full 8 hours of sleep (there is no set amount for everyone, but I need 8 hours). I really struggled putting myself to bed on time and I also really struggled to get up at the right time on the weekends. After a few days, I identified this as my main challenge and concentrated on beating it. I wasn’t perfect, but I gave it a red hot go and really embraced the challenge. My biggest thing was moving my early morning gym session to lunch time. I’m naturally a bit of a night owl so I have to let myself sleep a bit later than most people and try not to feel guilty about it!

Be honest with yourself

It’s okay to be sick and need a break. It’s okay to lose the plot and have a day off but if you’re really trying to ditch a bad habit, you do need to be hard on yourself. I found that my star chart worked brilliantly, as well as making Mr Smaggle hold me accountable for my actions. I also found Snapchat to be an amazingly effective tool because I had all these people sitting there waiting to see that I had done all the things I said I was going to do.

After 2 weeks I have to say, I feel pretty bloody amazing. I loved the concept of adding things, not taking them away. It really helped if I had a few drinks on the weekend, I just focussed on getting my sleep, vegetables rest in and I still felt great. Unfortunately I was sick the entire time with an awful cold but I powered through and I feel really good!

I’m definitely going to keep up with the Wholesome Habits Challenge in July but I’ll be doing different challenges. I’m thinking of going screen free at 9pm each night, not eating after dinner and not eating any pre-packaged snacks. Here are a few pieces I had published on the Bupa blog about keeping up with good habits.

How to make healthier choices at the supermarket

How to improve your diet with one simple trick

The super quick workout you can do in front of the TV

If you’re keen to join just sign up here!

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Did you do the Wholesome Habits challenge? How did you find it?

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P.S Also you should totally sign up for my newsletter. It’s full of cool stuff.

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About Carly Jacobs

Carly is the founding editor of Smaggle which launched in 2007 back when blogging was weird. She has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Cosmopolitan and Cleo magazines. Hoop earrings are totally her thing and she almost got run over by Myf Warhurst while out jogging one day.

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