On June 17, 2015

Why use a challenge to change your habits? 

By Beth Roberts

Everywhere we look there are different challenges designed to improve your health. There are exercises to add to your daily routine: a month of 30 burpees each day, a month of daily planks, a month of 100 push ups a day. Clean eating challenges to eliminate cravings for unhealthy foods that offer little to no nutrition help change your eating patterns.

We are all creatures of habit. We all have our routines. Wake up, brush your teeth, let the dog out, make the coffee, watch the news, check Facebook, etc. Routines vary but most people follow the same if not similar habits daily. Imagine if you took your basic morning and just added one thing that would improve your health. It can be as small as changing your breakfast to include the right balance of nutrients or as intense as staring the day with a challenging exercise routine. Adding healthful habits can improve your life dramatically and influence those around you.

Start small and basic and see what happens.

We commonly use group accountability and social media to keep ourselves in check. These are both great tools. If you tell people what you are doing when you start a challenge or just try to pick up one new healthful habit you will most likely be amazed at the support you receive.

Research shows that it takes 21 days to create a new habit… give it a try! Start with a simple challenge and see how it can help improve all areas of your life as well as those around you.

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