How to build healthy habits that stick

Weekly technique

By Weight Watchers

Last updated 6 February 2023

Ever force yourself to do something you disliked over and over because it was supposedly “good” for you? Science says there’s a better way.

Try this!

1. Choose a focus. • Eating better • Sleeping soundly • Moving more • Shifting your thinking 2. List three specific behaviors that will help with your focus. • Eating breakfast daily • Having veggies at every meal • Pre-tracking dinner 3. Pick one to try—then decide how you’ll do it three times this week. Example: I’ll pre-track my dinner right after lunch on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. 4. At the end of the week, reflect: Did you feel a positive impact? if Yes! Bingo—the behavior is ripe for habit formation. Now choose a cue that reminds you to repeat the action consistently. If it didn’t, Test drive another behavior from your list.

Let’s dive a little deeper…

Think of this technique like a loop—but the kind you’re OK getting stuck in, not the plot of a horror movie. It starts with a cue (lunchtime), which signals your healthy behaviour (pre-tracking dinner), which leads to a positive impact (you feel in control and happy about one less thing on your to-do list). Then it all repeats the next time 12 p.m. rolls around.

If your behaviour has an immediate positive impact, consider it a bonus. Those actions are even more reinforcing, meaning we’re more likely to want to do them again. And the more we repeat a simple behaviour at the same time using the same cue, the more likely it’ll become a habit.

DEFINITION Habit Predictable actions we do automatically under similar circumstances.

There are somany different ways to reach your goals—you don’t have to force anything that gives you the ick. Hate chickpeas? Dread the treadmill? Take them off the rota. Test out different behaviours and focus on things you enjoy. And if it sounds “too easy,” that’s the point. Habits—like the rest of this journey—don’t have to be complicated.

3 fast facts 1. Repetition helps us turn a behavior into a habit. 2. When a behavior is simple and makes a positive impact on us, we’re more likely to repeat it. 3. Turning a behavior that supports weight loss into a habit makes it simpler to do.