Build Healthy Habits

Thinking about healthy habits

Most people would like to start a new healthy habit or break an unhealthy one.

Creating new habits is more manageable when you have the right tools. Many people have found that thinking and support are key. When it comes to following your doctor’s advice about starting insulin or other diabetes care, how you think can make a big difference.

Want to start thinking about healthy habits in a new light?

What diabetes-related change would you like to make?

This could be something new (like starting insulin) or something old (like trying to boost your physical activity or lose weight). This activity will help you focus on attitudes and strategies that can help with successful change.

Always talk to your health care provider if you have questions about your diabetes treatment and lifestyle plan, or if you aren’t sure what you should be doing differently for better blood sugar control.

Your answers will not be saved. Your responses will only be used in this section to help you practice alternative ways of thinking. You will be able to print out your responses at the end of the activity.

When we weigh the costs and benefits of our day-to-day decisions, it’s easy to forget about the long-term. Does taking a 10-minute walk or eating popcorn instead of potato chips seem critical today? Maybe not. But click to see how those choices add up over the course of a month.

If you walk ten minutes a day, then after:

It helps to connect your day-to-day choices to your long-term goals. Big changes can be made up of small, everyday choices. How will the benefits of your change add up?

If some changes feel challenging or unrewarding, it can be easier to tolerate them if you remind yourself that taking care of yourself now can put you on the path to a healthier future.

Following your diabetes treatment routine might make you feel better today, but it also supports your long-term health.

Blood sugar control can help you delay and/or prevent complications.

Many people assume that change will be hard, but you don’t need to do everything at once. It's easier to change habits in small steps that fit into your lifestyle.

One common mistake is forgetting that you have some old habits for a reason. If you eat junk food when you’re stressed or sad, it’s going to be hard to change that unless you find something else to do when faced with those situations. Trade one habit for another - call a friend, exercise, try relaxation exercises like those in Adjusting to Injections, or write in a journal.

What habits could you substitute to help with your change?

Believe it or not, thinking ahead to roadblocks can actually help you change.

Think about what you want to do to make your change, but also try thinking about what you might do if you run into challenges.

Planning ahead should help you stick to your habit.

No matter what change you want to make, one of the simplest success strategies is to write it down -like you did here. People are more likely to succeed when they write down what they wish to accomplish.

It may sound too simple to be true, but writing something down helps you think about it as a real commitment. It reminds you of what you want to do. It can also help to tell family, friends, or other supporters about the change you’re trying to make. They can provide support, encouragement, and reminders.

For best results, post your goal in a place where you will see it often.

Many people have mixed feelings about adding medications or making other lifestyle changes. This can include feeling angry, resentful, or sad about having to change aspects of your daily life that have been familiar to you for a long time. Other people just aren’t interested in change, even if the doctor says it will help.

If you wrote down a change you’d like to make at the beginning of this activity, then you’ve at least considered changing. In the end, whether you change or not is up to you. But giving some thought to the costs of not changing, and the benefits of trying something new, might start to shift your attitude.

How are you thinking about health changes?

“Black and white thinking,” also known as “all or nothing” thinking, can be the enemy of behavior change. Sometimes people worry that if they change, it will mean losing touch with who they are.

The truth is, we’re capable of being much more flexible than you might expect. Click on the words below to see how to reconsider your thinking.

Take a minute to be totally honest with yourself.

Is there any downside to the way things are now?

On the flip side, is there anything you can think of that might be positive about your change?

Try listing a few things here:

If you had trouble coming up with answers, that's okay. Even asking the question gets your brain working on an answer. An idea might pop into your head later and inspire you to make changes.

Your answers will not be saved. Your responses will only be used in this section to help you practice alternative ways of thinking. You will be able to print out your responses at the end of the activity.

Have you changed before?
Odds are, the answer is yes. Whether it’s growing up and moving out on your own, changing jobs, getting married, becoming a parent, or retiring – we all go through changes that might have seemed unmanageable at times. Adjusting to living with diabetes, or to adding a new medication or insulin, may seem like the last thing you want to do. Exploring the rest of this site should help you think about the ways you stand to benefit from taking care of your health.

This activity was designed to help you think about new approaches to changing habits.

Many people worry about their health but have trouble making changes. These strategies can help you focus your efforts so that you can spend less time avoiding changes and more time changing. Try out Get S.M.A.R.T. About Goals for more tips on how to make positive changes.

Return to this activity whenever you need help getting geared up to make a change. The more you practice these approaches to behavior change, the more automatic they will become.