Creating Healthy Habits
Written by: Dinelsa Morales, Ph.D, TFC, MSW Intern
For: Hispanic Family Counseling Inc. Newsletter June 2023 Edition
Every day we hear more about the importance of seeking our integral well-being. Not only because it is good for our health, but also because it promotes a better quality of life. For those who want to grow and evolve, adopting a healthier lifestyle not only becomes a goal to achieve but it is an important lifestyle decision.
I have to be honest in saying that it is very easy to have a healthy lifestyle if you have the support or direction of a role model. But the vast majority of us don't even know where to start to transform our lives into a better one every day.
I am not lying if I tell you that a few months ago my decision to change my daily habits for healthier ones was not an option that I decided to choose. Instead, after some bad news, it became a decision that I had to make because I sincerely want to see my kids grow up and form their own families. And sometimes life puts us in a hard place in certain cases.
When my mind thought of a strategy to start the process, I discovered that every time I thought that I need to change my habits for more positive ones, I myself gave an order to my mind with a list of prohibitions about what I should leave behind. And I realized that prohibiting things kept me in a negative state of mind that made me tired and caused me to easily surrender to what was prohibited.
So, I decided to give my way of thinking a spin. I started making small positive decisions that allowed me to accept change. Short, acceptable goals that I could embrace in a positive way without restricting myself too much. For example, instead of restricting myself from sugar, I began to look for options that would acceptably replace sugar and began to allow options that I began to adopt as positive habits.
This is how our brain works, what you promote as a prohibition becomes a very big temptation that you cannot control, but if you learn to replace an unhealthy process with a healthy one and offer your body options, it will become an accepted and manageable positive habit.
Try it not only with eating and health habits, also try it with habits of positive thoughts, habits of self-control, habits of gratitude, etc. Give your body and mind permission to learn and adopt healthier behaviors that make your life full of fulfillment and joy.