Today Kristen and Becky talk about habit change. Taking it very slowly with habit change is the most effective way to lasting change. Small steps equal big change. When we change our habits, we change our entire lives.

Our beliefs or our thoughts create our emotions and from there our behavior is created. From there, we create patterns and that becomes our ingrained identity. So, you become a person who “eats a lot of junk food” or you can become a person who “runs every day” but it all starts with the way you think and the way you believe about yourself.

This is why we do the belief change work as well because when you change your beliefs that were ingrained from a very young age and you have your inner critic telling you need to be better to do better and is on your case all the time, that might make you run many miles a day to be thinner or more fit or better than other people, but if you are being pushed by that inner critic, it can be hard to maintain or to live a life that is really happy when you’re doing such extreme things based on how you believe about yourself.

So, we want to change your beliefs so that your inner judge isn’t the one driving you.

Your authentic self is.

The punitive part of you that is forcing you to militantly exercise or do whatever habit you are doing is not healthy, according to Becky.

She says we can run ourselves ragged for the wrong reasons and we can also lay around a lot, thinking we are giving ourselves a break and it’s really not healthy either. It’s a fine balance. We need to start our slow. Our brains do not want us to change. This is why when we set our alarms for an early time with the intention of exercising, we can hit the snooze button several times.

We are not going to WANT to do good things for ourselves. Becky listened to a TED talk by a man who has been teaching how to exercise for thirty years and he teaches “You’re not going to want to exercise, so just do it for less than twenty minutes every single day. It’s going to take you five years to want to.”

Becky actually loves to exercise. She loves to make it simple and walk and lift some weights a couple times a week. She is not in the gym punishing herself, but there are people who thrive in the gym atmosphere.

So, there is no good or bad way of doing it, but there are bad reasons for doing things—especially if it’s out of self-loathing or trying to punish yourself.

Becky has been noticing that she sometimes can mindlessly eat sugar (namely a certain chocolate bar) to help her calm down when her traumas come bubbling up to the surface in her life. So, a habit change she made is starting intermittent fasting. She has made it work for her. She can make her fasting window as large or as small as she chooses.  

There are many health benefits to eating this way. She is figuring out her balance and being flexible with herself. Making small goals and habits that can be measurable helps to know you are being successful or not.

Taking small steps helps you slow down, helps you have more control and more decision-making in your life and helps you sustain things better.

You have to work your way past that part of your brain that doesn’t like change. If you decide you’re going to get up at 5 a.m. and run six miles and you’re not used to doing that, you might do it for like a week or so—and you could push yourself by will power to get up—but eventually, your brain will stop you.

It's important to have your “WHY’ in order to make a permanent change. Ask if what you are doing is working for you or not and be willing to step back and re-evaluate things.

Also, just a reminder that shoving food down into our bodies as a way to avoid feelings can actually make us sick over time with things like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune disorders, or cancer.

The only way we can sustain healthier habit change is by taking...