A New Habits Challenge: One Change per Month

This morning I decided to start a blog series on changing habits. I have already posted some thoughts on habits, including the 12 "daily dozen" habits I try to include in my everyday life (although I still need to post the last one, which I paused because of cancer treatments....).  But sometimes we need to drop a bad habit just as much as we need to add a new one.

So I think I shall challenge myself to work on one habit each month for an entire year.  My personality wants to do everything all at once, but that's unrealistic, and as I get older, I get wiser! One habit a month is doable for me. 

The first habit I am going to try to change this month will be one of my very worst habits: eating while I stand up.  I loathe this habit of mine, but I do it almost every day.

Here's what it looks like for me:

hungry, looking into the fridge for something to eat, I start munching on grapes, cherries, triscuits....

OR

not that hungry, but trying to decide what to do next, I grab a few squares of dark chocolate and eat them STANDING UP (not even sitting to really enjoy them!)

OR 

not at all hungry--in fact, quite full--after supper as I clean up, grazing on bits and pieces that are left, like a few more rosemary potatoes from the pan

I will admit that I eat pretty healthfully but this habit of grazing on the hoof is simply not good for digestion, mindful eating, enjoying food.....

Two years ago I lost 25 pounds and have had no problem at all maintaining it (deepest and most heartfelt thanks to Louise Parker).  Sometime I'll write more about that, but for now there's a little bit about it in this post. 

I stopped my weight loss because my husband's cancer returned and I needed to focus on that.  And truth be told, I was pretty satisfied with my physique after losing 25 pounds. I felt great!   And I still do.  But I wouldn't mind losing another dress size or so.  I suspect that if I cut out the eating-while-standing bad habit I've developed, that dress size would drop without me doing anything else.  

But even if I stayed exactly the same weight and dress size, cutting out that bad habit would benefit me.  It's not very elegant to be popping chocolate chips or grapes into your mouth, and even worse, I have noticed my son doing it! Let me just tell you, if you have a bad habit and then you see your child adopting it...well, that is enough to stop me in my tracks.

So here's my challenge: I'm going to focus hard on only eating while I am sitting in my chair at the table.  I will give an update in a month, and then decide which habit to tackle next.

If you would like to take up the challenge as well and change a habit over the next month, post a comment and we'll do it together!