Regular things you do—from brushing your teeth, taking 2-3 showers per day, to having a few drinks every night—can become habits. Repetitive behaviors that make you feel good will affect your brain in ways that create habits that may be hard to change. Habits often become automatic—they happen without much thought.
The first step to changing your behavior is to create awareness around what you do regularly. Look for patterns in your negative behavior and determine what triggers the unhealthy habits you want to change. Get to the root cause of those triggers and do something about it. Change is possible. Act before things get out of control, and it’s too late.
Maybe you eat too much while watching TV or join a friend on smoke breaks even when you don’t want a cigarette. You can develop ways to disrupt those negative health patterns and create new ones. For instance, eat meals with the TV off or join friends for healthy activities, like walk breaks.