Habits

 

A habit is a settled or regular tendency or practice, meaning that it is something that we consistently do and something that we are used to doing. No matter how we look at it, where we are at in the last month, year, or decade is a result of the habits that we have consistently practiced for a period of time leading up to now. That goes for good habits… AND for bad habits!!!! Habits are not things that remain the same forever, so let’s make it known that we have the power to develop new habits that will provide us with a new outcome! That also means we have the power to let go of bad habits as well! Habits that I encourage to practice continuing on the path of physical and personal growth:

• Track your food (calories and protein)  
• Resistance train on a consistent basis (at least 3-5x per week)  
• Drink an adequate amount of water (100-120 oz per day)  
• Surround yourself with people who are like minded in wanting to develop  
• Take in information that allows you to think freely (books, podcasts, videos, movies, etc.) 
• Listen to the daily LiveStream podcasts in the 1st Phorm App, they are short and easy to listen to. You'll see that they focus on the basics and cycle through them over and over, because it takes TIME to learn and get everything to sink in. While there are many other sources you should use as well, they are right here, with workouts, food logging, and a place to message me, your coach, who is here for you every single day!

These are just the tip of the iceberg, but beginning here can lead you to continue improving more and more in your life as time goes on! What is one thing that you plan to implement, get more consistent with, and turn into a positive habit this week? What is one “bad” habit we want to drop this week??? Here are a few things listed on Harvard Health based on their research. These researchers had found that five low-risk lifestyle habits are critical for a longer life expectancy. The more of these habits people had, the longer they lived. The habits were:
 

• A healthy diet, which was calculated and rated based on reports of regularly eating healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, healthy fats, and omega-3 fatty acids, and avoiding less healthy or unhealthy foods like red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, trans fat, and excess sodium  
• A healthy physical activity level, measured as at least 30 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity, like brisk walking  
• A healthy body weight, defined as a normal body mass index (BMI), which is between 18.5 and 24.9  
• Never smoking, because there is no healthy amount of smoking  
• Low-risk alcohol intake, measured as between 5 and 15 grams per day for women, and 5 to 30 grams per day for men. Generally, one drink contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol. That’s 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.  

Even if they had only one of these habits, participants lived two years longer than if they had none. And if by age 50 they regularly practiced all five, women lived an extra 14 years and men lived an extra 12. That’s over a decade of extra life! Tell me what you are up to with habits!