Category: Habit
-
The Habit Loop and the Golden Rule
In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg talks extensively about the “habit loop” and the “golden rule” of habit change: a habit has a trigger, a routine (the habit itself), and a reward. The trigger is sometimes referred to as an anchor (as in, “when I wake up, I always…”), and the reward may be,…
-
Life Hacks and To-Do Lists
“Life hacks” entered the language around a decade ago when Danny O’Brien talked about them in the context of programming. In programming a hack is “a way of cutting through an apparently complex system with a really simple, nonobvious fix.” This idea has exploded in popularity and has inspired contrarians, who deride life hacking as…
-
How Do I Get My Partner to Exercise?
Johns Hopkins has presented data for a large group of middle-aged couples, who were asked about exercise habits at two medical visits conducted roughly six years apart. If one was getting at least the recommended amount of exercise each week at the first of those two visits, it was quite likely the other would be,…
-
Losing Weight Is Not Enough
In “Weight Loss Doesn’t Always Lead to Happiness,” Ed Cara gives a nice overview of some of the challenges around the weight-loss experience and the efforts of healthcare providers and others to persuade people to exercise more and eat better. Weight loss isn’t magic, but if you keep getting bombarded with messages that it is,…
-
Is It Possible To Build Muscle Doing Cardio?
Yes, of course. People who row, swim, run, and bike routinely build and maintain muscle as they practice. Competitors may also do heavy strength training with barbells and other equipment, but as long you’re eating nutritiously, a wide range of physical activities will contribute to the muscle mass needed for health, for balance and coordination,…
-
What Makes Habits Stick?
Habits can help us build a solid foundation of good health, low stress, and readiness to act. For scientists, as Isaac Asimov noted, few discoveries are of the “Eureka!” variety but instead something closer to, “Hmm, that’s funny…” combined with having a sense of good questions to ask to figure out what’s happening. You, too,…
-
Are You a Rebel?
When we are trying to establish a new habit, we are often advised to seek accountability partners of some kind. That could be a workout partner, for example, or a family member that you share (healthy) shopping and cooking tasks with. Some people benefit from working with a personal trainer, and others can go it…
-
Low-Carb Blues
Carb cycling means eating different amounts of carbohydrate day to day — a common pattern is high-fat/low-carbs on rest days and high-carbs/low-fat on “training days.” Many people find it easier to eat fewer calories to support a fat-loss goal if they eat less carbohydrate, but tough workouts may feel too tough when they eat low…
-
All Calories Are Equal, but Some Are More Equal Than Others
The human body uses energy and nutrients from foods to do work and to build and repair tissues. If it has extra calories, it stores them as fat. This is normal operations — humans evolved in conditions of modest food security, so it should not surprise us that we are descended from people who made…