\nYou know the habit is bad. You know you would like to change your behavior. But you can\u2019t change anything until you make up your mind (really, really make up your mind) to commit to a new way of doing things.<\/p>\n
Run interference<\/strong> Write about it<\/strong> Replace the bad habit<\/strong> Reward yourself<\/strong> Everyone has a bank of bad habits, and every withdrawal comes with a cost. Mindlessly eat potato chips every night before going to bed? You\u2019ll pay the price in weight gain. Drink a bit too much every weekend? Those empty calories really add up. Yes, bad habits can bankrupt your attempt to reach your goals\u2014unless […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,4],"tags":[139,738,919],"class_list":["post-4915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-health","tag-affordable-weight-loss-surgery","tag-breaking-bad-habits","tag-weight-loss-surgery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4915"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4943,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4915\/revisions\/4943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"Changing](\"http:\/\/www.beliteweight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/How-to-Break-your-Bad-Habits-For-Good-300x294.jpg\" "\\"How")
Once you\u2019ve committed to changing, you need a plan. You need to figure out why the bad habit happens\u2014and then figure out ways to interfere with it. This means always being aware of the habit (many are mindless), recognizing when you\u2019re about to do it and then doing things to stop you from doing it\u2014reaching for vegetables instead of potato chips, leaving the room, going for a walk, etc.<\/p>\n
\nKeeping a log about how the bad habit affects your life can help you change. Write down what you\u2019re doing before, during and after the habit kicks in. Over time, you will recognize patterns, triggers and even moods that lead to the habit. Recognizing them allows you to interfere with them in the future.<\/p>\n
\nOne way to get rid of a bad habit is to replace it with a good one. Instead of snacking at night, read something. Rather than chewing your fingernails, floss your teeth. Pretty soon you\u2019ll be well-read with a great smile.<\/p>\n
\nThe power of positive reinforcement is well-documented\u2014so reward yourself when you do something well. Perhaps you could deposit a few dollars into an actual bank account every time you reach a goal? That way, you\u2019ll be bankrupting your bank of bad habits and building up your bottom line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"