Breaking bad habits:
The Work Lolly Jar - (Nicola Graham)
The work place lolly jar that many offices have is a tough temptation to beat. When the lollies are sitting right in front of you it can be so hard to resist the temptation. While it would be ok to have a couple every now and then, it’s the dipping in each day with a big handful that becomes the problem. How to break this habit? One – avoid the lolly jar if possible – move it away from your area to someone else’s, or move something in front of it so its harder to see. If you can’t see it, you can’t be tempted. Two – allow yourself a set number and stick to it, eg say to yourself you can have three lollies on a Monday and a Friday. That way you’re not depriving yourself, rather weaning yourself off a bad habit in a healthy way.
Although others may hate you for it, suggest that it is removed altogether and replaced with something healthy! Even though your colleagues might not like it to start with, they’ll thank you for it in the end.
Habits are a learned behaviour and it can take a while to break them substituting is a good way to break a bad habit and start a good one at the same time – for example, swapping weekly cake meetings for weekly walking meetings with your girlfriend. Whatever the bad habit, look at healthier alternatives to fill the void left by the old one. You’ll feel better for it in no time.
Adding Salt - (Nicola Graham)
Most of us don’t even taste our food before we reach for the salt shaker, and it’s this habit that can contribute to high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems later in life. The majority of people get too much salt from their daily diets as it is, and adding extra should be avoided.
A frequent visitor to the dinner table, the salt shaker should be removed to break this bad habit. Out of site out of mind is true with many things, and this should help to avoid the automated addition of salt to your meal. It might take a few weeks for your taste buds to adjust to the less salty taste, but after this period extra salt becomes unpleasant tasting.
The 3pm Chocolate Fix
- (Nicola Graham)It’s been a hard day, there are two hours to go and you’ve got a major sugar craving that you need to fill right now! It’s easy to pop down to the local Starmart or the office vending machine but stop and take a different action.
Prepare snacks that will satisfy your cravings but are not high in fat and sugar and empty in nutrients. Good ideas are chocolate dairy food snacks or a milky Milo drink (most offices supply Milo)– these contain calcium and protein yet still provides you with that tasty chocolate flavour. Resist the temptation and swap the bad habit with a better one – a healthy but tasty afternoon snack.
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