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On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic — 66 days to be exact.

This is what one study showed, conducted by Phillipa Lally, and published in the European Journal of Social Psychology.  

 The study also says that it greatly depends on the person (of course), the circumstances, and the behavior.  

 Habit: A settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.

I have been making exercise a habit since March, earlier this year.  A habit, as in at least 5 times a week, during one program 6 days.  I think the longest I have taken a break in the last 8 months was a week or two, cause hey, life happens.  It has improved every aspect in my life physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I used to be that coworker that would fall asleep at her desk.  Seriously, I felt like I was back in high school in biology class, which I had right after lunch, with the monotone teacher (sorry Mr. Clark).  You know the feeling when you just cannot stay awake for the life of you.  That was me.  Until I made exercise part of my daily routine.

I know, "I do not have time to exercise 5 days a week or even 4, this woman must not have kids."  Well I do, in case you haven't read back a few years.  I also have a full time job and cook at home just about every single night.  When you practice something over and over,  consistently, it's AMAZING how well versed you will become in making everything else fall into place around it.

Let's take cooking for an example.  You have a new recipe.  You try it and after you finish you think, "if I would have done _____ it would have been easier".  So the next time you make that recipe again you find it easier, maybe it even tastes a little better, and after a few more tries you find it's not a pain in the butt to make anymore.  It's really not rocket science.  It's called excuses and there shouldn't be any excuse when it comes to taking care of yourself.

I have also heard to not take off more than 3 days consecutively.  I can see some truth in this.  When I take a few days off I get grouchy and moody.  And then I'll start feeling that I don't even want to workout when before I looked forward to it.  This is when I fall into a week going by without working out.  Then I think "What am I doing??!! I have worked so hard to make this a lifestyle and work it into my daily routine to just quit?!"  Heck no, I finally tell myself and get back to it. 

Another article on "The Daily Burn" website stated that just after 14 days of "easing up on your workouts" you can begin to lose muscle mass and cardiovascular endurance.  Keep that in mind when you're not pushing or starting to slack on yourself. 

If you're trying to get into a routine or feel like you're slacking, please keep at it.  We all have the same amount of time it's just how each of us utilize it.

 

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