Habits & Mindset

[GlossyHolly]

Anyone actively working on their habits and mindset with a view to it not just helping weight weight loss (or maintenance) but with so many other things?

What habits are working for you (not just directly food/drink/exercise) and securely embedded?

What are you currently working on or would like to work on?

I didn't want to make the OP about me, so replying to my own post separately (although need to go back to work in 10 mins!)!.

My weight has fluctuated, significantly, my entire adult life. I'm pretty much either gaining or losing with practically no maintenance. I really want to sort this out and I've decided habits are the way to go and by habits I mean all habits.

Habits around not just eating/drinking/exercise but also habits around managing workload, sleep, housework, relationships, health, organisation, thinking - the whole lot! Working on just a few new ones at a time.

I've fairly recently improved some habits around dental hygiene; housework; sleep; alcohol; relationships; supermarket shopping. Definitely want to move more up a notch thought...must go back to work now!

This sounds like a research paper question. Can you give specific examples of yours?

Oh 🙁, I guess it was a bit formal? Just feeling a bit in need some support/chat with people doing similar.

Specific example related to sleep: now don’t use snooze and get up earlier. Alarm goes off I get up straight away phone alarm goes off 1 min later in en-suite. Now doing this on days off too but not weekends. Still nap sometimes though and still take iPad to bed so more work to do (I’ve had some failed attempts). I now leave for work earlier, missing bulk of traffic, have breakfast at work, get more work done at work so I don’t bring it home. Related to weight as my habits around sleep were leaving me tired and then I was making poor food choices and slobbing about in evenings. Still a work in progress but I started the no snooze button and getting up earlier in October so that is pretty fixed now.

Dental - now would feel really grim if I didn’t do full interdental & floss routine at least once a day (used to just floss about once a month, if that!). Use electric toothbrush properly now in sections for full amount of time. Took several weeks to build up to this.

What I’m working on at the moment (or at least thinking about) is not buying junk food in supermarket, planning meals (I am terrible at this), adding more veg/salad to every meal, distracting myself to delay eating…housework tag ons…

I’m also listening to ‘atomic habits’ on Audible.

I can see it wasn’t the best idea for a thread - probably why I couldn’t find an existing one when I looked…oh well.

I guess because it’s a weight loss forum, most of the chat is about achieving that, or chat around exercise etc. Lifestyle habits might not generate much chat here unless it’s specifically helping you lose weight. Habits are hard to break, and can take months, so good idea to focus on a few at a time, otherwise you’re basically overhauling your entire life.

Also, when trying to lose weight, I find it takes up a LOT of mental effort, so I can’t focus on too much else. For example, I’d like to stop biting my nails, but I just don’t have the energy to focus on that, as well as overhauling my diet and exercise. I’d only change something right now in an effort to lose weight.

So my new habits/ways of eating are Intermittent Fasting. Daily lunch of greek yoghurt with berries, seeds and granola. Going to the gym. Walking more. Regular walks with friends instead of sitting in each other’s houses drinking tea with biscuits. But all of those are for health and diet reasons with the main aim of losing weight.

There are plenty of long running, active, chatty threads on here if you want to join one. Have a read through and see what might fit with your goals. Good luck!

Thanks @SingaporeSlinky - good luck to you too!

I’ve been on a few over the years (frequent name changer!) and lost and gained a few stone in that time too. I think I was just looking for something that doesn’t exist - I need to just get on and do it myself I think!

Hi OP,

I’ve just found your thread. About a month ago I began attempting a life reset - with varying degrees of success so far, but trying to create new habits is very much part of that.

So, am currently on a variable fasting routine for weight loss, combined with target of long walk once a day and being more active generally. Procrastination is a huge problem for me, so I’m trying very hard to get over that with a new mindset of “think it - do it”.

I have also been on a start/stop decluttering journey over the past year, and I do think that there is a connection between those habits and weight loss - all part of a bigger picture of self-control and getting rid of everything that gets in the way of a more fulfilling, healthier and uplifting life.

How are you getting on with your new habits?

A big one for me was changing my movement habits. I always use the upstairs toilet now because it gets me moving up the stairs instead of just across the hallway. Making sure to get my steps in has become a huge focus, if I don't hit 10k I'll have a kitchen disco for half an hour.
Getting ready a little earlier to walk the school run even though I really feel like I cba 🙈
I'm 7 stone down with some more to go but I feel like making moving a habit is really helping me.