How to break your bad habit

by Martha Edwards (Subscribe to Martha Edwards's posts)
Nov 8th 2007 8:39PM

What's your bad habit? Biting your nails? Emotional eating? Lying to your doctor? For me, it's eating at night when I finally have some down-time. Luckily for me (and you), Prevention has put together this guide to how quit your bad habits. Here's some advice for you late-night snackers out there:

Stay away from the TV. Far away. You eat more when your watching the tube, so do something else -- read a book, do a crossword puzzle, fold laundry or write in your journal.
If you're going to snack, snack well. Choose apples over chips.
Brush your teeth a couple of hours before bed -- it will keep for reaching for the bonbons
And if all else fails, start going to bed earlier.

How did you break a bad habit?

Source

Comments (2)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

AnaMarie 11-08-2007 @ 10:22PM

My bad habit is nail-biting, and I would be very interested to see if anyone could ever come up with a real solution for it. It isn't that I don't have willpower, I at least have some because I keep my weight down, exercise regularly and quit smoking after 6 years of it. This is different. This is something I need to do, and I don't know why.

I've bitten them ever since my teeth grew in, according to my mother. My brother is the same way. She tried the paint on hot stuff, paying us for every day we didn't do it, punishing us, and various other tactics. I've tried painting them, but I just scrape that off then bite them. Everyone thought we'd quit when we had braces, but both of us managed to keep them bitten and bloody anyway.

And yes, I've heard the theories about oral fixation and lack of affection as a child. My mother is certainly not for shows of physical affection, but I also never felt neglected. I would love to hear if anyone has any tricks I haven't tried, as my professional career may suffer slightly because of this.

Sandra 11-09-2007 @ 10:30AM

Nail-biting is one of those bad habits. You can not give it up for you are addicted to it. But once you give it up, you'll cherish the long-term benefits though you'll be bored and lonely at first. I have searched some information of how to break it: http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Biting-Your-Nails , it seems good. I also found this book “The Habit Change Workbook: How to Break Bad Habits and Form Good Ones” really helps. This book will teach us how to break those bad habits such as nail biting, skin picking, trichotillomania and addiction in regards to shopping, TV, internet, and gambling. I found a deal of it, you may want to check it out:
http://dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?deal_id=67603