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titleKick you unhealthiest habits

subject date16-03-2021

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captionDOLLYBODY HAPPY WORDS REBECCA SLOAN PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES * PHILLIPPA LALLY ET AL., 2009, CANCER RESEARCH UK HEALTH BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH CENTRE AT UCL EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH W hether it’s biting your nails, eating 10 Tim Tams a day or smoking (eww!), we all have bad habits. But why? According to Alistair Horscroft, founder of The Mind Academy, many habits are simply formed through repetition and have no real psychological reason. Others, however, are formed to fulfil an emotional need, like to relieve stress or anxiety. “If we have a lot going on in life, like exams or family stuff, something like biting our nails allows us to focus on something other than our own thoughts,” he says. “The familiar feeling [ of the habit] calms us down.” Kick your HOW YOUR HABIT WORKS 1. THE TRIGGER This is what sets off the habit. “The trigger is sometimes very obvious and sometimes not obvious at all,” says Alistair. For example, it could be that as soon as you walk in the door after school each day, you raid the pantry for your hit of chips and biscuits. 2. THE ROUTINE This is how the habit plays out. “We kind of do this on autopilot,” says Alistair. So, you’d open the pantry without even thinking about it and reach for the cookies and chips in the spot they’re always kept. 3. THE REWARD This is what you get out of the habit. In the case of your arvo snack-fest, it might be a way to satisfy hunger after a hard day at school, but it might also subconsciously be a way to relieve stress from impending assignments. UNHE A LT HIE S T H 116 DOLLY DOLLY.COM.AU Is it a habit? If you tick off everything on this checklist, it’s most likely a habit.It’s more natural to do it than not to do it. You sometimes find yourself doing it without realising. You tend to do it at the same time of day or in the same situation.You’ve been doing it reg ularly for ove

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file namedo1312-do1213p117.jpg

titleKick you unhealthiest habits

subject date16-03-2021

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captionWORDS REBECCA SLOAN PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES * PHILLIPPA LALLY ET AL., 2009, CANCER RESEARCH UK HEALTH BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH CENTRE AT UCL EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH Has a behaviour got a hold on you? It might be time to put your foot down. HOW TO BREAK IT 1. REPLACE THE ROUTINE This involves keeping the trigger and reward the same, but swapping the habit with a healthier alternative. • If you want to stop your habit of eating unhealthily after school, then every time you head to the pantry try swapping the chips and cookies for something like avocado on crackers or fruit and yoghurt. • Aim to find an alternative that provides that hunger-satisfying reward. Then find something that has the same stress-relieving effect you felt you were getting from the other snacks. Experiment with going for a walk, writing in a journal for ten minutes or calling a friend, until you find something that fills that need. 2. CHANGE THE MEANING OF THE ROUTINE Look at the habit as something that causes pain rather than pleasure. • Still using the arvo chips as an example, this might mean focusing on the fact they might make you sluggish after eating. Next, you could think about how eating a healthy snack and doing something active or creative will energise you and help you bang out your schoolwork in record time. “The reward has to be something that makes you FEEL better,” says Alistair. Swearing or saying “like” According to Alistair, people may start using certain words as a way to fit in or because people they hang out with say them a lot. After a while, it becomes automatic. To change the habit, he suggests imagining what you sound like to a stranger. “Ask yourself, ‘How does this make me look?’” The main hurdle is making yourself aware when you’re saying [ the words]. The next step is either consciously stopping yourself when you’re about to say them, or thinking of othe