healthy habits

August 23, 2005 10:42 AM

How can I change my habits to be more healthy?

Some little things that I should do to improve my general health:

chew my food for longer
drink more water
have a better posture
breathe deeper and fuller
fully relax my body more often

but whilst I know that I should be doing these things, I don't. I forget, or I'm too lazy, or my bad habits are too ingrained and involuntary.

It seems to require a lot of effort and mental attention to change these minor things.

Anyone know how i can become more disciplined, how i can adjust my behaviour?

What should I do to get these new, more healthy habits to be second nature, so I don't even have to think about them?

posted by juniorbonner to health & fitness (19 comments total)

Do you get enough exercise? I don't know about chewing food longer, but the others should all be natural responses to getting lots of good exercise.
posted by poppo at 11:00 AM on August 23, 2005

Since I eat quickly, slouch, hunch my shoulders and suck my stomach in all day (preventing deep breaths), I can only help you with the more water thing. Don't allow yourself to drink anything else. I drink coffee in the morning, and a glass of milk with dinner at night. Other than that, water water water. I carry around one of those big lucite (?) sport bottles. Everywhere. I have gone from drinking *maybe* 12oz of water a day to drinking well over 60oz. I find using a straw helps too; maybe that's just me.
posted by suchatreat at 11:02 AM on August 23, 2005

That's easy... do the same things that made your old, bad habits second nature. Practice them over and over again for years.

Seriously, that is what you need to do. It seems to require a lot of effort because it DOES require a lot of effort. If you're not willing to accept that, you won't accomplish anything.

I'd start with just one habit, rather than trying to do them all at once. Maybe the water one (although your laziness might make the relaxation one easier for you). Either carry a bottle of water with you everywhere (refill from the tap as needed), or always pour a tall glass with every meal. Easy-to-remember repetition has always worked for me. Good luck.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 11:04 AM on August 23, 2005

Pick one at a time and do it for 30 days. Spell out exactly what you're signing up for -- e.g. I will relax for 15 minutes every morning for 30 days. After 30 days, assess whether the new habit is worth continuing.

(Stolen from Steve Pavlina's blog -- well worth checking out.)
posted by callmejay at 11:05 AM on August 23, 2005

I'll address the water issue. If you eat out for lunch or dinner, just try and think about the $1 - $5 you save by drinking water instead of something else. At home, make sure you use ice cubes because I think most people find ice water more enjoyable than room tempature. If your tap tastes funny, look into a facet mounted filter or a pitcher that goes in the fridge. The nice thing about the later is that it can make you water better tasting and it will already be cold.
posted by mmascolino at 11:09 AM on August 23, 2005

Quick side question: If you put tea in your water to make iced tea, does it no longer count as water? I use one bag of decaffeinated tea and some pink stuff to sweeten. Does that not count toward my daily water intake? Thanks, now, on with your regular programming...
posted by cincidog at 11:18 AM on August 23, 2005

I have no problems drinking lots of water, but if you do, you might try mixing it with a splash of lemon or lime juice. You can get bottled lemon and lime juice cheap, and a little of it makes water a lot more flavorful.
posted by vorfeed at 11:26 AM on August 23, 2005

If you put tea in your water to make iced tea, does it no longer count as water?

Short answer to this -- yes. From a nutrition standpoint, every liquid you drink counts toward your day's intake of water. The question then becomes: what else are you taking in along with your water? In the case of tea, you get healthful antioxidants (and caffeine, if your tea isn't decaf). No real problems there. Other drinks feature their own pluses and minuses (calories, sugars, caffeine, alcohol, preservatives, salts, etc.) They do still supply the body with liquid, but in many cases (for example, fruit juice) the high sugar and calorie count detract from the overall health benefits of the increased liquid intake. That's why most health resources just suggest pure water -- nothing to interfere. But plain decaf tea, and even decaf coffee, aren't doing any damage and are providing liquid. So drink away.

Interestingly, the medical community has recently started asking itself where the recommendation for "eight glasses of pure water a day" came from. Apparently, it originated as a weight-loss strategy with Weight Watchers. Although it is important to be hydrated, there's apparently not a lot of evidence that it has to be by drinking 64 oz. of pure H20 daily. It's just that water's a bit easier on the body than these other things. Also, my life experience has been that drinking a lot of water has really nice effects on my skin.

As to the other goals -- I agree that exercise, in general, will make you more aware of your body, and stronger, and you'll be far more likely to sit up straight and breathe deeply as you get more fit. With these as your goals, I would specifically suggest yoga, which breeds great body consciousness and, at the same time, stretches and strengthens your spine and core and builds your lung capacity. If yoga's not your thing, a second choice might be weight training. A third might be Pilates. Anyway, you'll be surprised what a regular exercise program will do to overcome bad habits you didn't even know you had, let alone those you do.
posted by Miko at 11:34 AM on August 23, 2005

That is, yes tea counts as water. Sorry I was unclear.
posted by Miko at 11:35 AM on August 23, 2005

Exercise won't necessarily improve your posture. For example, rock climbing can be very bad for your posture.
Allegedly the Alexander technique is great for improving posture.
posted by malp at 11:36 AM on August 23, 2005

I think most exercise improves posture indirectly, by improving body awareness and core muscle strength. I suppose there are some exercises which could develop shoulder or arm muscles in an odd way that would interfere with posture, but I would still think that though the resulting posture might not be ideal, it would probably be better than an out-of-shape, lazy slouch.
posted by Miko at 11:42 AM on August 23, 2005

If you live less than 10km to work, cycle there. If not, consider moving. Bicycle commuting is easy to integrate into your life, cheap, and an extremely effective exercise regime.
posted by Popular Ethics at 11:56 AM on August 23, 2005

I have a hard time imagining drinking only 64 oz. of water in a day. Only four pints? And that's a regular day - never mind when I'm indulging my alcoholism (chugging water prevents hangovers) or when I'm outside active all day (it's then measured in gallons.)

Cut out the sodas and other forms of sugar water.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 11:56 AM on August 23, 2005

Developing habits takes time. To get so they're second nature, it's going to take patience and yep, effort. My advice to you is to remind yourself gently about these things whenever you remember to, and don't get frustrated with yourself that everything is not changing immediately.

Also, although this wasn't on your list, I highly recommend meditation. It will help support/develop just about everything you mentioned, and is super easy. If you want some down-to-earth guidelines, just drop me an email.
posted by Specklet at 12:02 PM on August 23, 2005

You could try doing some meditation each day. Many meditation "techniques" involve sitting with a straight back, breathing deeply, and relaxing (to some degree). You could use this time to meditate on chewing your food longer and drinking more water, if you want. In my experience, you'll learn a lot about your brain and the influence it can exert on the rest of your life (i.e. changing habits), and this can help you become whatever kind of person you want to be.
posted by abingham at 12:03 PM on August 23, 2005

Posture - a tip from an Alexander course: while sitting, periodically imagine a helium ballon atttached to the crown of your head with a string. Imagine the balloon pulling the string taut. Let your body follow. This will help you feel when your head and shoulders are properly positioned.
posted by Verdant at 12:20 PM on August 23, 2005

Sign up for an exercise class with a friend who will pick you up everyday. Perhaps yoga for starters. Date someone who exercises and wants a partner. Everyone is lazy, and the people who say they aren't are insufferable sphincters.
posted by craniac at 1:02 PM on August 23, 2005

I place bets with myself.

For instance, if I don't drink two of my Nalgene bottles full of water everyday, I throw $5 into a jar. I'm in college, so $5 is a decent amount of money. YMMV.
posted by nitsuj at 1:55 PM on August 23, 2005

re: posture- Pay attention to other people's posture around you. You'll probably notice that a lot (most?) people have really terrible posture, and that it looks terrible, and that it makes them look much older than they really are. It's almost like an unconscious reaction for me now when I see another woman (me being female) hunched over with really bad posture to quickly straighten myself up and correct my own posture. Becoming more aware of how bad it looks on other people has made me much more aware of how bad it looks on me... and forces me stand up straight. Keep the thought in mind while going about your day... you will notice other folks with gnarly posture problems and it just might shame you into correcting your own!
posted by RoseovSharon at 3:08 PM on August 23, 2005