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How long does it take to lose a habit?

I have written quite a bit about the changes that I’ve made around healthier eating, strength training and wellness in an attempt to lead a more mindful life and improve my wellbeing. My ultimate goal is to be able to enjoy nature photography well into my senior years. It has taken me a few years to identify the habits that I wanted to introduce and those that I wanted to part ways with - Atomic Habits (James Clear) is an excellent resource and I wrote about habit forming here.

It took a lot of consistency and small changes to build up the good habits that I wanted to introduce, such as strength training, yoga, meditation and photography walks to name a few. Then last April everything changed when we bought a new home. I was realistic and understood that I couldn’t maintain all of my new habits and move house as well, so I made some intentional decisions about which habits I would continue and which ones I would put on hold for the move.

My approach to making these choices revolved around how I wanted to feel at the end of the move. I found this a more effective way of prioritizing which habits to keep in place and it really anchored me to my “Why” for starting these habits in the first place.

I have struggled a bit with energy level as my sleeping pattern has been really disrupted over the last few years. As a result I identified that it is important that I maintain my healthy eating habits and strength training as this is the foundation of my wellness routine. I did a good job of maintaining these habits throughout the move and I’m very proud of myself for what I was able to achieve.

Placing value on carving out time for food preparation and working out was challenging at times, however I have more energy and feel better after this move than any one that I’ve done in the past (and that includes 3 months of post move renovations). I have found that what I focus on and make important gets prioritized and unfortunately the habits that I put on hold for this time period have been tough to get back into.

I find that interesting and a bit surprising as I spent so much time building the habits and it’s also curious that some of the first habits I let go of are related to self care. I found that meditation time was one of the first habits to fall off and it has also been the hardest to re-establish.

Restarting routines

When time allowed me to restart some of those habits I intentionally let go, I felt that it was easiest to focus on ramping up my workout routines as I was able to maintain strength training throughout the move. According to James Clear (Atomic Habits) it is best to start with the mental side of building a habit - he talks about visualizing the type of person who would have the habit you’re trying to build. My first “habit build” on the strength training was going to be getting back into working out at home which includes doing cardio and stretching. When I envision the type of person who has the habit of regular workouts it is someone, who when faced with time challenges chooses to prioritize working out and feeling strong. Armed with this mental image I was primed and ready to incorporate home workouts into my routine.

Our new workout space is bright and airy, but located in the heart of the last of the renovation work, so it’s not easy to get to (I have to go outside to go downstairs right now) and it is often noisy or congested to get to the equipment. It shouldn’t be a surprise that it was easy for me to come up with excuses for not going down and doing my workouts. I also added the excuse that with the renovation work I was essentially working out (I can convince myself of all sorts of things when I want to).

Excuses are easy to come by and soon a week turns into two or three and the habit of avoiding a habit becomes the new habit.

Ironically while I was writing this blog post another obstacle appeared in the form of a large sectional sofa that needed to be stored in the workout room while new flooring is installed in the rest of the lower level. The workout room is now so full that there is no way to use it for its intended purpose and it will be in this state for another month.

It was clear to me that I needed to rethink my strategy.

Starting slow to go steady

I recognized that maybe I was going about this all wrong - I was trying to approach re-establishing the habit of exercise as though my home life was calm and an established routine - clearly that is not where I am at. I made a decision to shift my focus to re-establishing a different activity habit.

As I have been spending so much time outside I decided to incorporate daily physical activity into my outdoor time - this started out by taking Roxy out for a mid afternoon walk in the back yard. It was good for her to get into this routine/habit as she flourishes with the consistent attention and outdoor time. For me it was good to start to prioritize setting aside time for focused physical activity.

I have noticed that making small steps in the right direction is much more effective than trying to make major changes in one step. Consistency trumps erratic or irregular activity any day - I’d rather go out for 20 minutes with Roxy every day rather than go for a walk for 60 mins once in a while.

I recognize that walking a cat is not a good cardio workout, but it is establishing that pattern - I keep telling myself that a healthy person who works out is one who moves their body on a regular basis. Step one in re-establishing this habit is now in place and working well. I feel good about getting out and being intentional about moving consistently throughout the day.

As we’ve said before, while it’s all well and good to knock it out of the park for thirty to sixty minutes a day, if you spend the ret of your waking hours toggling between a chair and sofa, you’re in some ways canceling out all the good your workouts are doing. (Built to Move - Kelly and Juliet Starrett)

Building on that initial success

I am now ready to start the next step in re-establishing my habits to get regular exercise and I’m going to choose to link it to my photography in order to maximize my well-being and mindfulness habits. As a result I have set up a schedule for going out for photography walks - several Fridays ago was the first one.

I am aware that my preference for photo walks is early morning/sunrise walks, however right now that is not always possible, so I am being more flexible in my approach and prioritizing getting out over my preferred photography timing.

An advantage is that I need to walk a fair distance to get to the wooded area down by the river, so I am getting a cardio workout before and after my mindfulness practice with my camera.

My floor goal (i.e., minimum target) is getting out 3 times a week for a minimum of an hour and my ceiling goal (i.e., maximum target) is getting out 5 times a week. This feels doable and the benefits that I gain from getting out on a regular basis has such knock on positive effects.

I remind myself that flexibility in approach and mindset is a good practice for developing mental resiliency. I am also finding that I can make wonderful images at any time of the day - they are just different in subject and composition. It is a good reminder for me that the important factor is understanding the light and using it to my best advantage. I spoke about that in a recent podcast that I did with Audrey Murray.

Where I am heading

It has been challenging to get back into my healthy living habits as I’ve been outside of my routine. I have even questioned if I’ve established routines or ruts, but I’m convinced that I have established good habits and routines around the lifestyle that I was living before the move. Now that we are in the new house and our lifestyle has changed (more country and less inner city urban) it makes sense that I need to alter my routines and habits accordingly, but this means tweaking them and not radical overhauling. I’ll keep you posted as this continues to unfold.

Have you ever gone through a phase of shifting/changing routines which led you to stop certain habits? What did you do to re-establish those habits, or did you find that you needed to let some go? I’d love to hear about your experiences either in the comments below or drop me a note by clicking on the Connect With Me button.

I hope you’ll come back soon, share a cuppa, relax and enjoy more of my musings.