How To Ditch Bad Habits

Ever had a really bad habit that you couldnt ditch? Well, hopefully this article can help! Bad habits can range from childish (ie. nail biting) to harmful (ie. drug abuse), but they all have one thing in common. Theyre in some form, bad for your image, body and most importantly, health.


So first up! ~ Eating too many sweets:
Are you one of those people who cant go a day without having some sort of small sweet treat like a chocolate bar, muffin or cupcake? I admit that I myself used to have this problem! You know it is bad for you, your health and certainly your waistline but that ever sweet taste in your mouth is so hard to resist! So how do you ditch it?

Ditch it: Did you know that your tastebuds change every 14 days? What that means is that if you try switching to other types of foods for 14 days, your tastebuds will change and will get used to the new type of food. Hence, try switching to healthier options by having a little bit each day. So for example, if you absolutely love milk or white chocolates, try switching to an anti-oxidant rich dark chocolate alternative by having a small piece of dark chocolate daily. After 2 weeks, your tastebuds will get used to the new taste and you will find that milk chocolate is just way too sweet!

To help you with your switch, check out Healthy work snack ideas (link found below) to start eating healthier!

Another good idea is to plan your meals all the way down to your desserts and snacks. This will ensure that youre consciously aware of what youre placing on the plate in front of you. That way, you can easily identify whether youre going to be eating too many sweet and un-nutritious food in a day.

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Nail biting
You have always wanted neat and clean set of beautiful nails but you just cant seem to kick the habit of putting them in your mouth subconsciously when youre bored, or trying to concentrate or stressed. Well, ditch it with this few great tips & ideas!

Ditch it: First of all, you must understand that when you bite your nails, youre actually transferring bacteria back and forth between your mouth and fingers. Hence, visualize something really disgusting (ie. poo or dirt) that you will never put in your mouth. Now every time you get the urge to bite your nails, think about what disgusting things and bacteria are on your nails. The more you do it, the more you wouldnt want to put your hands (let alone your nails) anywhere near your mouth!

Another smart way about beating this habit is to get false nails and/or a manicure. Painting your nails in bright colors will not only serve you as a reminder every time you look at your hands, it will also make you less prone to biting them because youll destroying your beautiful looking designer nails! Furthermore, nail polish taste bad and false nails are hard and painful to bite, so you wouldnt want to be feasting on them!

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Social Media addiction
If youre one of those people who cant go 10 mins without checking your email, facebook, twitter or youtube, you may just have a procrastination problem and a serious case of social media addiction! Social media addiction (if serious enough) can actually negatively impact on family relationships and health, cause isolation, mood swings and affect the quality of schoolwork and sleep. Hence, it is important to use it in moderation.

Ditch it: Allocate time slots during your day that youre allowed to check your email, facebook, twitter, etc, and be discipline! Start with small gaps between each check (ie. 15mins) and then slowly build up over a couple of days to longer and longer gaps. Make sure you reward yourself with a small treat (ie. a healthy snack, 15 mins less work/study time, etc) every time you stick to your allocated time slot. If you feel yourself slipping and desperately dying to go on facebook, walk away from the computer, put away your phone and get up and make a cup of tea, or grab a book, or listen to music and do your best to distract yourself!

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Binge drinking
Cant go a week without getting drunk and waking up the next day with a hangover? Did you know that there are 7 calories per gram of alcohol and that alcohol increases your risk of developing cancer? If that hasnt already made you concern about alcohol addiction, there are a billion and one sites on google dedicated to explaining the negative effects of alcohol. Read them first and decide whether or not youre ready to start taking control of your alcohol addiction. If youre, proceed right ahead with a few tips to help you take control of your cocktail count!

Ditch it: The first thing you need to do is to establish your goals and reasons about why you want to drink less. Maybe it is affecting your health? Appearance? Wallet? Mood or image? Once youve established your goals and reasons, you know exactly why youre doing everything in your power to ditch the unhealthy habit. Youll be able to better focus on the goal itself and take preventative action when you feel the urge to drink. A good idea is to write your goals in large font size and paste it in front of the place where your alcohol is kept (ie. on the bar fridge). This way, you can be constantly reminded of what is important to you when youre craving and reaching for your next drink!

The next thing to do is to take a break and set aside x day(s) a week where you wont be drinking alcohol. Just like in the Ditch it section for Social media addiction, allocating times where you can and cant drink will help you to stick to your goal and give you a criterion where you can reward yourself.

Lastly, the last tip is to substitute substitute substitute. Substitute alcoholic drinks for a similar tasting non-alcoholic drink (ie. A mocktail instead of a cocktail) and drinking habits with your other hobbies (ie. exercising, dancing or playing sports and games). By keeping yourself busy with other healthier activities, youll find that youll have less time to sit around and drink and that your alcoholic cravings will become lesser and lesser and lesser.

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Drug, smoking and/or substance abuse
For many drug addicts or people struggling to stay away from any type of substances, drug abuse is a life-long term commitment that can be extremely difficult to stop. Drugs, smoking and substance abuse have very long and lasting impact on the addict and his friends and family. Hence, for anyone who is trying to get clean and stop using drugs, here are some tips and ways to ditch the habit forever.

Ditch it: The first thing you must do is to decide that you really do want to stop smoking/using drugs and what are your reasons. Unless you know why you have a desire to become drug and/or smoke free, it will be extremely hard to succeed. Write down the reason(s) and place it somewhere where you will always see it (ie. bathroom mirror, wall in front of your desk or make the message a wallpaper picture on your phone, etc).

Next, try to remove things that influence your smoking/drug use from your life. This may unfortunately mean having to avoid your peers who take drugs with you and/or influence you to smoke. This leads on to my next tip: Though the thought of not seeing your friends and idea that you may have to be alone for a while sounds tough, it can be only temporary. I strongly recommend taking up a new hobby (ie. a sport, and/or join a club, find a new job or go back to study) which will not only distract you from your addiction, but also give you an opportunity to make new friends and form a whole new healthier friendship group and circle. Being alone during this process will only happen if you yourself choose not to put yourself out there. Take the step and try it out, you may be surprise as to how easy it can be to make new friends! Furthermore, if youre open about your addiction and what youre trying to do, most people will be extremely encouraging and may even become your support group during this process.

Lastly, you must have patience and understand that stopping a bad habit (especially drug use) is extremely difficult and that there is a chance you might not succeed the first time. My only advice to this is to keep trying and persistence in the end, will pay off.

Good luck, stay healthy, and please feel free to email me.

~Regina