Cue, Routine, Reward

Cue, Routine, Reward

As I mentioned before I've been reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. 

I'm really enjoying it thus far and it's given me a lot to think about. 

It intrigues me that we can overcome a bad habit by creating a new one but the old one never truly goes away. 

The key to overcoming a bad habit is to  be aware of the Cue – what triggers it and keep the Reward – what you get out of it but change the routine – what you do. 

So my:

 Cue – I’m bored

Routine – Eat crap i.e. Ben & Jerry’s 

Reward – feel happy (though it is a short lived happy then remorse kicks in)

                           

Needs to change to:

Cue – I’m bored

Routine – go for a walk, read a book, paint my nails, something

Reward – feel happy 

In fact the thing that keeps most people on track with the good habit and not so likely to slide into the old habit is belief. 

Now to be clear changing a routine is far from easy but I’m finding this is helping me figure out my triggers and behaviours.  I’m still figuring out my day to day routine in my new job as while I’m finding the day’s go by fast I know this routine will change. This will be aligned shortly. 

The Half Marathon on Sunday which I haven't really trained consistently for. While my WW tracking is better it’s not where it should be or has been in the past.

It’s not that I don't believe I can be successful but for some reason that belief is suspended for moments or fades for a moment. 

I do remember when I had established good habits and I can track that back to coming back from site when those habits shifted. Which was also when my father passed away. 

The mission now is shift them back and back on track. I keep thinking this Sunday will be the pinnacle as during that half I'll have a whack of time to think and it kicks off a new month in which I turn 42. Not to mention the one year anniversary of Dad's passing is rapidly approaching. This birthday will be my first birthday without home, though he did tend to get the day wrong. I was actually born when he was away for work. 

I don't want to be 50 and still battling my weight. In so many other areas of my life I've been tossed out of my comfort zone that this so feels like the last big battle. 

So I’m considering this Sunday the baseline as my next half is 6 weeks later. That doesn't mean a free for all between now and Sunday just sort of a mental preparation to get serious. 

Saturday morning before I leave for WI, I will take measurements as another base line. 

I’m going to start carrying an index card around and note when I feel like snacking or going off my food plan for the day and see if I can define triggers. 

Refocus on a vision and anchor to keep me focused.  I think the big key is focusing on one thing at a time. Not lose focus by trying to focus on too many things. It’s like back in the day when you joined WW the first thing you did was track, you weren't encourage to track activity points till a few weeks later. 

The biggest part is finding the cues in order to change the routine and still have the reward. 

I know I can do this I need to focus on setting myself up for success.