Transcript
Dr Cris here with The Ask Dr Cris Show. Today’s question comes from Beck and she wants to know ‘how do I break a bad habit?’ Good question!
Habits really are just ingrained patterns of behaviour that we do one after another, time after time, and it ingrains in our brain a neural tract which means that our body returns to that bad habit every time we do a certain repeated activity. The first tip with reducing a bad habit is recognising it and setting a timeline around it, setting a time that you wish to achieve to break that bad habit, normally it is 21 to 40 days. Next, reduce your habits that are around that habit. I know that sounds strange but we often have rituals around our bad habit so it’s often we drive home in the same direction, we stop at the same service station and pick up the same chocolate bar. So, it is often the habits that lead you to unfortunately breaking a pattern of behaviour. So you are going to have to drive a different way home in that instance. If the afternoon chocolate is the problem for you then you are going to have to find something else to do in the afternoon whether it’s green tea or going for a walk or calling a friend. It has to be something to break that usual pattern of behaviour as well. You do need to replace your habits as you can’t just break a habit you actually have to replace it with a better habit. You cannot live in a vacuum and so your body will seek for something to do so you have to replace it with a better habit. So, if drinking coffee is a problem for you then you are going to have to replace it with something else like green tea or herbal tea or chewing chewing gum. You are going to have to replace it with something else otherwise your body will unfortunately return back to coffee. So there are just a couple of tips to try and break bad habits.
Thank you so much for your question Beck and if you have any further questions please ask them below. I hope that you are loving The Ask Dr Cris Show and if you would like to see more of The Ask Dr Cris Show please press subscribe.
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Dr Cris
Holistic Medical Doctor, Author ‘Healthy Habits, 52 Ways to Better Health‘
