Healthy Heart Tip: Maintaining your new healthy habits

Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK

At the beginning of 2024 you may have created a new healthy resolution for the year and now is the time to start thinking about how to maintain it. Creating a new habit or stopping an old one can be difficult, and with motivation at its lowest during the winter months, it can be easy for habits to slip.

A study found that on average it takes 66 days to make a habit become an automatic part of your routine.

Here are some tips to help you change your short-term habit into a long-term one:

Goal setting

When setting your goals, it can be beneficial to make SMART targets to help you maintain them.

• Be Specific, do you want to increase the amount of walking or running you do, or do you want to eat more fruits and vegetables?
• Make sure your goal is Measurable, track your progress and success.
• Make it Attainable, this will help you to achieve your goal.
• Keep it Relevant, make sure it helps you reach your longer-term health goals.
• Ensure it’s Time-bound, set an end date to achieve your goal.

Track your progress

By tracking your progress, you can monitor your improvements, motivate yourself to go further and stay accountable for your actions.

It is also a good way to adjust or change your approach to your goal if needed, helping you to achieve it. It is easy to track your progress, you can record it in a journal or make a spreadsheet.

Support

Having the support of friends and family can help you to achieve your goals.

Having a strong support network will provide you with encouragement and guidance in your journey.

You could try and get them to set their own goals too and do it together.