How to set healthy habits and commit to them with Erin O’Hara - The Little Things

Naturopath Erin O'Hara has advice on how to reset your healthy habits for spring. (Photo / Supplied)

This summer we’re revisiting some of the most-listened to podcasts from across the NZ Herald network in 2024.

While spring weather has been unsettled for much of the country, as the days get longer and it starts to get warmer, many of us are getting in the mood for summer.

And it’s a good time for people who got lax about their health over winter to start getting back into the swing of things.

Speaking to Francesca Rudkin and Louise Ayrey on their NZ Herald podcast, The Little Things, naturopath Erin O’Hara said that this is a good time of year to think about your healthy habits and gear yourself up for summer, but knowing where to start and how to get back into these habits can be difficult.

“I think that most of us actually know all the basics about being healthy. I think most people know a little bit around healthy eating and exercise and all the things they should do, and it’s whether they actually do them or not that actually matters in being healthy.

“And I think that’s where it can get really complicated, especially in this modern day world, because there’s so much information.”

She said that people often try to do too much at once, and that leads to their motivation dropping off after only a few weeks.

O’Hara said that, in order to commit to a change long-term, but realising how many of your current habits you can change at once, and setting realistic goals in order to change your behaviours and commit.

She recommends to clients who start meditation to keep a journal of their progress as one way to settle in.

“Even if it’s just ticking on the page of like - ‘I did the meditation today’ - it doesn’t have to be a long story of what happened in meditation or how you feel today, but actually just that you actually sat down and did it and actually going through that motion of being like, ‘cool, I’m up to day 13 today’.”

Research shows that the further you get into a habit, the more likely you are to commit as it settles into your routine.

O’Hara also recommends ‘habit stacking’, of pairing habits together with something you already do, such as brushing your teeth.

“So every morning you brush your teeth [with] I’m 10 minutes meditation. So you’ve paired your new habit with an old habit that you already have, and I think that’s where trying to fit in, whether it’s meditation or exercise, we need to have an idea of when we’re going to do it in the day.

“And the more you can stack it onto something else you already do, like you’re going to go to the gym and then have breakfast because you have breakfast every day... [by] pairing it together that you’re more likely to be setting yourself up for success, because you have a structure to where it’s flowing into your day.”

But O’Hara wants people to know that wellness shouldn’t be complicated, and even the simplest things can count towards your health journey.

“You can’t really go wrong with your three square meals a day, a bit of balance and putting in more movement,” which includes just swapping the lift at work for the stairs.

Listen to the full episode of The Little Things for more on setting habits across eating, exercise and meditation.

The Little Things is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. The series is hosted by broadcaster Francesca Rudkin and health researcher Louise Ayrey. New episodes are available every Saturday.