The trick that makes healthy habits stick

Doing what’s good for you takes practice… and self-control. And no one ever said it’s easy (no one we believed anyway).

Giving up addictive junk foods and prying yourself off the comfortable couch for a power walk is hard. But gaining self-control will get easier if you stick to it. And not for the reason you’d expect…

You know the longer you do something, the more accustomed you get to doing it, and the easier it gets. But there’s a valid reason this simple trick makes healthy living get even easier with time…

When you make healthy choices, it changes the way your brain functions — giving you an advantage in other important areas of your life, including self-control, setting and meeting goals, resisting temptation and problem solving!

That’s because healthy living — and more specifically exercise — boosts your brain’s executive function. These are a group of mental skills carried out by your frontal lobe, which you probably already know can shrink with age.

And these skills may be among your brain’s most important because they help you accomplish tasks both big and small — and will help you hold onto your independence. Your executive function is responsible for skills like resisting impulsive actions, planning, organizing, self-evaluation, starting a task and seeing it through to the end, adapting to the unexpected and remembering key information.

A virtuous cycle…

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen, the University of Stirling and University College Dublin recently found that people who exercise have better executive function. That means, if you’re able to muster up the discipline and self-control to exercise, you’ll be rewarded with more discipline and self-control, among other brain benefits.

In fact, exercise and executive function work together in what is known as a virtuous cycle (the opposite of a vicious cycle). A virtuous cycle is when two things feed into each other to produce a positive result. It’s also known as a positive feedback loop.

And exercise and executive function are a perfect example of a cycle that works in your favor: The more you exercise, the better your executive function (including your self-control and commitment), and the easier it becomes for you to exercise again and again.

And although they didn’t analyze it in this study, researchers believe eating healthy creates a virtuous cycle with executive function too. That means the healthier you eat, the easier it becomes to control impulsive eating because your self-control gets stronger and stronger.

But this cycle isn’t always virtuous. It works in the opposite direction too…

A vicious cycle…

If you don’t exercise and eat healthy, your executive function gets worse overtime, which then makes it harder for you to find the self-control to exercise and eat well. This, of course, is known as a vicious cycle.

But you know how to transform this cycle from vicious to virtuous: Just power through a few difficult days or weeks knowing you’ll eventually be rewarded with a brain that’s better equipped to resist temptation, meet your goals and see things through to the end.

And don’t forget, the benefits of enhanced executive function aren’t just useful for maintaining your health. They carry over into other areas of your life too. Your work-life, personal-life and health will all thrive if your executive function is sharp. In fact, if your executive function operates at its best, there’s little to stop you from accomplishing many of the things you’ve always wanted in life. After all, how many times has a lack of focus, self-control and organization kept you from achieving your dreams?

So next time you’re struggling with the self-control to eat well and exercise, just remind yourself what’s at stake. A few exercise sessions could set you on the path to not only a healthier body but a better life.

Editor’s Note: Another way to make healthy habits stick is to cut through the confusion. Every day there’s a new fad or report contradicting the best way to lose weight, eat right or avoid disease. That’s why Dr. Michael Cutler wrote The Part-Time Health Nut — because the 7 basic principles of health never change! Get your copy today and attain your best health ever!

Sources:

1. L. Allan, et al. “A Bidirectional Relationship between Executive Function and Health Behavior: Evidence, Implications, and Future Directions.” Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2016.
2. “At a Glance: 8 Key Executive Functions.” Understood. https://www.understood.org. Retrieved November 9, 2016.