Tag: habits

Children often can’t wait until a parent fixes dinner, but getting the youngsters involved in helping to prepare those meals could do more than help mom and dad out. It also could lead to life-long healthy eating habits, nutrition experts say.  And that in turn could have a profound effect on their well-being, because childhood obesity in the U.S. is on the rise. The percentage of obese American children and teens has more than tripled since the 1970s, with nearly one in five categorized as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The guiding rule of action should be to intervene too early rather than too late. ~ Dan Olweus, PhD, and founder of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

Although bullying prevention efforts tend to focus on middle schools and high schools, bullying behavior begins at much younger ages.  According to researchers and developers of the Eyes on Bullying Program, Dr. Ronald G. Slaby and Dr. Kim Storey, it starts as early as 4-years old:

Coming from a Latin heritage, I was raised to believe that family is everything. That blood is thicker than water. Totally understandable and honorable. I, like many of you, would give my life for my kids and husband.

However, what if you are born into strong traditions and family codes that don't make sense anymore or are contradictory to your lifestyle and mental health? As toddlers up until adolescence even, we usually accept and integrate family patterns. We don’t know any different and as we grow older, these patterns become normal and expected. When something becomes expected and normal, it also becomes familiar and comfortable.

Allow me to introduce you to your Inner Witness.

First, through the study of neuroscience, we understand that we each develop patterns of thinking, also known as neural pathways. We can also learn about neural plasticity and our ability to create change around these neural pathways.

Without this awareness, our thinking, our reactions to life events, and our internal dialogue can become habitual, with routine responses to external stimuli that are triggered automatically, without our conscious awareness.

Having been a clinical psychologist and gerontologist for over 30 years, I have learned that most people profoundly underestimate how difficult it is to change a behavior, no matter how much or often his/her/their partner tries to direct or shame them into doing so.

What senior couples (and couples younger than them) need to realize is that they must give up the belief that with enough urging, their mate will change; drop that annoying trait or two. Forget it. It’s just not going to happen.

We have the power to influence young children to make healthy food choices. Children develop their behaviors and habits from observing ours. If you’re like a majority of Americans, your eating habits could probably use a little polishing. Many of us know what the good eating habits are, but sometimes eating healthy can be difficult to maintain in our busy lives.

If changing your eating habits seems insurmountable, try making changes gradually. Just as there are no easy answers to a healthy diet, don't expect to totally revamp your eating habits overnight. In fact, changing too much, too fast can get in the way of success.

Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right. ~ Henry Ford

Beliefs are habits of thought, and habits can be changed. The real question isn't how can we change our beliefs—it is how do we change our habits.

The key to changing a habit is micro-change. When we try to change everything at once, we are almost always doomed to failure.