Tag Archives: lent

TRY IT: Start a New Health Habit for Lent

8 Mar
Ash Wednesday for Children

Image: mtsofan

Given how hard lifestyle change is, you should take motivation where you find it.  Although Lent is traditionally about sacrifice and self-denial, exercising self-discipline with any healthy habit is in the right spirit.

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Making A Habit

Although opinions differ on just how long it takes to form a habit, committing to change for the 40 days of Lent will give you a great foundation for sticking to your new practice.

Ideally, you want to go with something that you’ve already thought about and feel ready to undertake.

Believe it or not, the part where you think about changing without actually doing anything is part of what makes you successful when you do take action (not that I’m saying you should put off getting healthy so you can think on it).

The next step is to figure out how you are going to do it.

There’s nothing magic about making a change during Lent; it’s still going to take dedication, discipline and some planning.

Write down what you are going to change and what that means to you, in detail.

Tell someone about your commitment and sign up for HabitForge where you can get a daily email reinforcement of your goal.

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Pick A Habit, Not Any Habit

This is literally going to start tomorrow, so don’t pick something that is going to take loads of equipment or planning.

Start with the thing that you were going to do anyway. That you’ve been putting off. That you know just really needs to change.

A few ideas:

  • Eat 5 fruits and vegetables each day (get thee to the supermarket).
  • Take a walk every day after dinner.
  • Burn at least 1,000 calories per week in exercise (that’s the American College of Sports Medicine’s recommendation. Seriously.)
  • Track your calories every day of Lent using DailyPlate, FitDay, the USDA, your fancy ass “smart” phone, or a piece of paper and a pencil.
  • Give up take out, or vow to cook dinner every night from fresh foods.
  • Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.
  • Try a new active hobby every week – bike riding, gardening, doing ANYTHING with children…

What healthy habit are you taking up for Lent? Do you think 40 days is enough to make a permanent change? How will you make sure that you stick with it? Let me know in the comments!

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