7 crucial elements to make a new habit stick (and all it takes is 30 days!)

Brought to you by Linwoods Healthfoods

It's easier than you think to form a habit.

It might just take around four weeks of a slight struggle. We won't lie. But if you're wanting to nip a bad habit in the bud or indeed embrace a new one, it can become second nature in no time. So to kickstart a new habit involves immense perseverance. For a start: Write down why you want your habits to change. Be entirely honest with yourself and keep this little piece of paper hidden. It's just for you. Choose just one thing at a time to give up or take on. Your body will get a shock without say, that sugar fix, so to try not to panic it entirely. Just focus on that sole goal of yours and don't worry about other bad habits you might want to banish for the moment. Then, make it 'every day'. If you're trying to drink more water or get more exercise in, don't skip a single day without doing so. If it's exercise you're focusing on, it doesn't have to be strenuous either. Instead of a difficult spin class like yesterday, enjoy some relaxing yoga today. Commit to 30. It takes 30 days to form a habit as your body is starting to replenish and realign itself to this new regime. The folks at Linwoods Healthfoods are encouraging people to form a 30-day habit right now. They know that wellness is about natural balance, of which healthy eating is one of the very key components, and so they create those insanely delicious (and nutricious!) flaxseed pouches of goodness. But to make forming a new and healthy habit even easier, they're committed to making things convenient. Take their nutrient-rich nuts, berries and seeds — all cold-milled (this protects the nutrients and means our body can more easily absorb them) and ready to pop on your porridge, cereal, in your veggie smoothie, on your salad at lunch or in your noodles at dinner. (They even work so well on top of an ice cream sundae. No one said there wouldn't be temptations along the way!) It's so exceptionally easy to incorporate Linwoods Health Foods into your diet. Many of the products have combined nutritional benefits like protein, iron, magnesium and omega 3. Seriously, they're worth a try and will leave you feeling fabulous. Next, remove all temptations. Yep, they gotta go. Your best mate who loves a bottomless brunch every Saturday, the regular shopping list that involves purchasing biscuits galore to go with your cuppa or that movie depicting a beautiful woman puffing away on a cigarette, and OH, how you wish you were her at this very moment in time. Don't do it to yourself. Say goodbye to anything that tempts you and opt for a different kind of date someplace else with your mate. Write down all the benefits you are expected to gain from forming this new habit — ALL of them. No doubt there will be many too. Perhaps you'll have better hair in time, you'll lose weight, you'll feel a million dollars and you'll have so much energy you won't even know what to do with it. To keep the fight going, know why it's worth it, and remember — it absolutely is! No one is perfect, even if it looks to be the case from the outside. Remember you're not either, and if you happen to fall off the wagon, that's not what you call failing. That is merely hitting a bump in the road. Failure would be if you gave up entirely after such a little hiccup. Dust it off, get back on board and prepare to feel fabulous in just a few weeks! Brought to you by Linwoods Healthfoods Linwoods lets you add maximum nutritional goodness to your diet, with zero fuss or hassle. Linwoods can be purchased at all major health food and grocery stores including Holland & Barrett, Tesco, SuperValu and Dunnes Stores. To learn more about Linwoods Healthfoods products, click here. www.linwoodshealthfoods.com/ie/