Page 16 - Booklet -online

ROAD #3: ADOPT A NEW HABIT

Lastly, I suggest adopting a new habit, particularly one that facilitates weight loss. During my
weight loss journey, I would drink an entire bottle of water immediately after waking up. Water is an
essential for weight loss for many reasons, but the two I'll highlight are: 1) water lubricates the
intestinal tract, which facilitates the removal of waste out of the body; and 2) water enables the
intestines to absorb the nutrients and minerals we need from food, which contributes to our overall

“It’s the small habits.
How you spend your mornings
How you talk to yourself
What you read and what you watch
Who you share your energy with
Who has access to you
That will change your life.”

- Michael Tonge

health. Eventually, I went from making a conscious effort to drink water and to drinking water without
even really being aware that I was doing so. My body soon begun to crave water every morning!
Eventually, I began drinking more than just a bottle a day. I downloaded an app for water
break reminders. All I had to do was input my goal for daily water intake, and the app would
periodically remind throughout the day of the amount I needed to reach my goal. I chose half my
body weight in ounces for my daily intake, which equated to approximately 12 cups, or 6 1/2 bottles
of water a day. After doing this for a few days, I noticed a significant increase in my energy levels.

Another habit I adopted was, after drinking my water in the morning, I would move my body
for about two minutes without a break. Nothing high impact, just low impact movements such as
marching in place, knee lifts, elbow-to-knees, hip rotations, and air squats. I would spend about 20
seconds on each exercise. Doing this every morning helped jumpstart my metabolism, release
endorphins, and put me in the right frame of mind to take on the day's physical demands.

These activities may sound unimpactful and insignificant. However, they served as a
foundation of habits that I was able to build upon. They provided me both the energy and motivation
to create habits that were more physically demanding and required more discipline to maintain later.
Developing good habits is the key to changing your lifestyle. This experience taught me that building
good habits, regardless of how big or small, are the steppingstones for bigger changes.

Another thing I came to learn was the importance of possessing a bad short term memory.
What do I mean by that? What I mean is, you can't linger in the moment you perceive as failure.
Occasionally, cravings may get the best of us, and we acquiesce to them. What happens next? We feel
horrible, and that feeling left unchecked, can lead to a downward spiral of binge eating MORE bad

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