Convenient or Inconvenient...It Matters

This week at The Healthy Weigh I couldn't help but look back at ALL the important things we've learned about habits in the last six weeks.  I'm sure I'm spending more time than most, thinking about habits lately, but I hoped the review this week would cause everyone to think about them a little more.

Here's a little reminder of some of the important habit strategies.

• Habits make change possible by freeing us from decision-making and from using up our willpower.

• Habits aren’t really an “all or nothing” thing…and they really don't always change in 21 days…although that’s a great start.

• Depending on your tendencies you are going to respond to the expectations of setting habits in different ways.

• We manage what we monitor and focusing on actions instead of outcome will surely get you the outcome you desire.

• These four foundational habits are important to monitor so that we can build upon them;  Sleep, exercise, what we eat and drink and de-cluttering our life are keys to healthy, balanced, peaceful lives.
• A big key in successfully changing our habits is the strategy of accountably!  

We really have covered a lot in the last 6 weeks!  I couldn't help but wonder as I reviewed this list, how many of these things we are buying in to? If we are not using these strategies, what’s keeping us from it?  Little changes over a long period of time…these little changes produce long term transformation.

So today I added another concept on to this already powerful list of habit forming techniques:

The strategy of convenience…and inconvenience.

When I think about what studying habits has done for me, I’m continually encouraged about what we teach at The Healthy Weigh, and one of those things is the degree to which we are influenced by sheer convenience.

The amount of effort, time or decision making required by an action has a huge influence on habit formation.

Basically it’s like this. We are more likely to do something if it’s convenient, and less likely if it’s not.

And for this reason, we should pay close attention to the convenience of any activity we want to make into a habit.

Research shows ( Im sorry to report) that weight loss clinics that sell pre-packaged foods have the best weight loss results. Well of course they do…you don’t have to think. You don't have to plan. You don’t have to make decisions. You don’t have to shop. You don't have to prep. You only have to shove the food in your pie hole!  :-)

Now…will that bring about weight loss??? Sure…Is that all your after??? I hope not!

The Healthy Weigh…believes in convenience foods as well. The fresh, real, home made, foods that you've prepared and are waiting for you to grab and go… so that you don’t have to think!

Amazing results but with long term affects because you’re learning how to add convenience to your own life!

I think the key to continuing the on going healthy diet is to continue to build upon your grocery shopping habits, your prepping habits and your food storing habits…so that you too have convenience. 

Convenience shapes everything we do. The strategy of convenience …make it easy to do right and hard to do wrong.

And just as you use the strategy of convenience to form new habits…you can squash bad habits by making them less convenient. It’s truly the mirror image of convenience.

Impulsivity is usually related to bad habits. Impulsive people have trouble delaying gratification and considering long term consequences. They find it hard to plan ahead and once they start a task, they have trouble sticking to it. The harder it is to do something, the harder it is to do it impulsively.  So…the more inconvenient, the less impulsive we can be!

So when wanting to form new good habits, we need to make it convenient.  To squash bad habits we need to make it inconvenient.

So…what can you do to make the habits that you are trying to form convenient and the ones that your trying to lose inconvenient?

No matter our personalities, the trouble we have sticking to things, the amount of times we’ve tried…these are just more easy ways, more strategies we can do to continue to make small changes over a long period of time.

The strategy of convenience and inconvenience…something more for you to think about this week as we hold on to HOPE for the holidays! 

We had Denise Currie the founder of the Giving Closet come to introduce how we as a community can help make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate  in Clark County.  We are going to bring in non perishable food items starting next week through the finale on December 17th or donate money to help out with their programs helping provide needed items for this amazing ministry. Here's a link to their web site so you can read a little bit more about the great work they do!

http://givingcloset.org

Our winning teams for the week:
Noon: Team "Tip Top" Tracy and Shar, with a 1.75% of weight loss
6PM: Team "Slow Learners" Debbie and Peggy with a 2.54% of weight loss!

Your Challenge for the week:

• Make something convenient or inconvenient this week depending on if you need to form a new habit or squash an old one.
• Download week # 2 "Change Your Thinking ~ Change Your Life" and do the homework provided.
• Bring non perishable foods or a cash donation for the Giving Closet

Our goal for the next 4 weeks is to hold on to hope for the holidays!  To do that we need to take care of ourselves by eating well and continuing to change our habits, and we'll hold on to hope by giving to others. We've got that covered at The Healthy Weigh. 

Always encouraging you,
Letha