Skip to main content

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.

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Back from Florida

I am happy to say that I am home! I have been for about a week now, but I haven't had enough energy to sit in front of the computer and try to put together something interesting for you all. Florida was fun, a bit chilly, but way better than the below zero temperatures home, here in Illinois. Before leaving for Florida everyone insisted on informing me that "it's going to be cold down there". Now, why would you not just want to be happy for someone going on a vacation? Why would you want to try and convince someone that they are going to have a terrible time? I just kept saying "warmer than here!" and called them jealous under my breath. Despite all the comments about the weather I had a great time sleeping in every morning and taking my time getting around and not having to worry about anything except what I was going to eat that day for a whole entire week! It was in the 50s during the day at the beginning of the trip and gradually warmed up through ...

My heart condition

I know I have briefly mentioned my heart condition in my blog before. I told how with my pregnancies there was a very small chance of it being passed down genetically. Fortunately that didn't happen. I am the only one in my family that has this or any type of structural heart defect. It's called Transposition of the Great Arteries, now referred to as Transposition of the Great Vessels. It's a congenital defect and there is no explanation for why it happens at this time. The defect happens while the heart is developing in the very early stages of life. The abnormality is very severe and is not compatible with life. So shortly after the baby is born he/she will need open heart surgery to correct the abnormality. This is a normal heart. This picture shows the circulation of blood. Below I have a picture of a normal heart compared to a heart with Transposition of the Great Arteries. Here you can see the structural differences. This defect does not allow the oxygena...

Hello September

I can't believe it's September! So close to Fall.  This time of year is one of my favorites.  Of course, Fall in South Texas is not the Fall I am used to being from the Midwest.  Football isn't the same if you're not freezing your buns off in the stands, holding a cup of hot cocoa just try stay warm.  It reminds me of marching band practice and the fall festival in my hometown.  Funnel cakes and potato gunfights. Freshly pulled taffy and the Ferris wheel that was always scary but the best view in town. And who can have the Fall without the beautiful changing leaves!  My goal this year is to make it up to North Texas where I hear the leaves do change colors. And call me crazy, but I think this will be the first year I really jump on the pumpkin spice train.  I like pumpkin but never really understood the whole craze around the pumpkin spice.  But I made me some pumpkin pancakes the other day and I was definitely craving more after they were go...