Creating healthy habits
A very important part of adopting a healthy lifestyle is creating healthy habits and incorporating them into a daily routine. A habit is formed when an action or behaviour is repeated regularly in a consistent setting until it requires very little conscious effort. For example, washing your hands every time after going to the toilet. Every habit is formed with the help of a trigger that subconsciously makes you perform a certain behaviour. If we use the example above, the trigger would be going to the toilet and the action or behaviour would be washing your hands. Triggers can be different for everybody and habits should be formed in accordance with your personal needs and goals.
Furthermore, a recent study investigated how long it takes for adults to form a new habit. In the study, participants had to choose between executing either a given dietary behaviour (e.g. drinking a glass of water after breakfast) or physical activity behaviour (e.g. walking for 10 minutes after breakfast). The authors found that on average it took 66 days to form a new habit whereas arguably more complex behaviours such as physical activity may require longer than this to become habitual. It is worth keeping in mind that the time needed to create a new habit very much varies between individuals and there isn’t a universal time frame for everyone.
As previously mentioned, habits are triggered by certain events and thus setting cues for your desired behaviour in your daily routine will kickstart its formation. Here is a 6-step guide on how to create a new habit which you can also find here:
- Decide on a goal
- Choose a simple action you can take every day
- Plan when and where you will take your action: choose a time and place that you encounter frequently in your everyday life
- Every time you encounter that time and place, take the action
- Congratulate yourself when you find yourself doing the action
- It gets easier with time, and within 10 weeks you should find you are doing it without even thinking
With the help of our Mentors, KiActiv® Health is here to provide you with the opportunity to form long-term physical activity habits. This is achieved by using a personalized approach to optimize your day-to-day activity that will ultimately transform into a healthy lifestyle change. With the use of the Self-Determination Theory, we strive to deliver a service that will make you feel confident in your own capabilities to be physically active as well as make you eager to start new healthy habits. That way you will be able to make healthy lifestyle choices independently and you will know how to sustain your physical activity levels beyond the scope of the KiActiv® Health Programme.
At KiActiv®, we help you build active everyday habits and learn how every move you make matters to feeling healthier, happier and stronger. This is achieved by using a personalised approach, grounded in self-determination theory, to help you optimise the level of movement in your normal everyday routine. We strive to deliver a service that will make you feel confident in your own ability to be physically active, enable autonomous choice over your daily activities, as well as make you feel supported whilst creating and sustaining new healthy habits. By developing a personalised awareness and in-depth understanding of your everyday physical activity, you will be able to make healthy lifestyle choices independently and know how to sustain your physical activity levels beyond the initial 12-week KiActiv® Health Programme. Visit our ‘How it Works’ page for more information on how we utilise patented technology to support you on your journey towards a happier, healthier lifestyle.
