Create Long-Term Health One Step at a Time

If you're looking to make some changes in your life and health, you may try to do a complete overhaul and eliminate all of your bad habits at once.

This may seem like a great idea at first, but can leave you overwhelmed, discouraged and back at square one.

Too much change too soon is difficult for anyone to maintain. When you focus on eliminating just one habit at a time, you can make small yet mountable progress towards reaching your long-term goals, while also remaining positive and motivated.

What types of habits should you work on eliminating first?

Creating habits is never a bad thing; after all, humans are "creatures of habit." It's okay to admit that the conscious and subconscious choices you make every day make your life easier. Unfortunately, some of those choices aren't the best for your long-term health goals.

When you are trying to eliminate a negative pattern from your life, it's important to note which habits are either benefiting you or harming you. You might be surprised at your negative and positive habit outcome when you carefully pay attention to each gesture you do throughout your day.

What is the first step to help maintain small, yet obtainable goals?

The first thing you need to do is get out of the negative space you have created. Yes, you might have overindulged at dinnertime, and yes, it happens to everyone. However, just because you overdid it at dinner doesn't mean you should be hypercritical about yourself the rest of the night. Be present and mindful that you may have made a mistake, and make an effort to do better in the future.

What else can you do to stay positive while making healthy changes?

Sarah Corey, AADP, joins Dr. Holly to help motivate and encourage you to maintain small yet obtainable goals to ensure success on your road to better health and happiness.