Pro Health
Kick that meaty habit: five tools for behavior-change
How often have you tried to lose weight, exercise daily or meditate more often? Especially around New Year’s Eve, many people kick off with ambitious resolutions. Signing up for the ProVeg Veggie Challenge can be such an opportunity to kickstart a new habit – however, some help can come in handy. Luckily the ProVeg team has handpicked five great mobile apps that will help you to change your habits and make your plant-based journey even easier.
What’s the secret to long-lasting behavior change? Research tells us that forming (and keeping) new habits is key. Good habits, it seems, are the crucial building blocks of a better, healthier, and happier way of life. But how do you build a habit?
- Start so small that you can’t fail.
- Work on the small habit for as long as it takes for it to become a ritual – i.e. something you’re pulled towards, rather than something that requires willpower.
- Make a very small addition to the habit, ideally anchored to an existing one.
So, the first step is to build that initial habit. Need some extra help with that? Give these five tools a try:
1. Way of Life
This habit-tracking app has lots of features for those who want a customizable habit-tracking experience – and is especially great for those who like charts and graphs. It’s beautifully designed, too.
2. Streaks
Same concept, different style. This modern app provides you with insights on your progress at one glance. ‘Eat a healthy meal’ is one of the default tasks, but you can of course turn it into ‘Veggie/Vegan days’ and customize it for your ProVeg Veggie Challenge.
3. StickK
Using the latest research on behavioral nudges from Yale University, this app has the unique feature of being able to assign a friend to check on your data – for those who want some added accountability.
4. Habitica
This app uses gamification to transform your habit-forming ambitions into a fun game. Earn badges, progress points, silver and gold stars as you reach your daily goals. You can also add friends to your group for community and accountability.
5. Bullet Journal
The odd one out on this list, because the very popular Bullet Journal Method encourages us to take a step away from digital technology and return to the peace of pen and paper. Journaling and hand-drawing a habit tracker in your bullet journal can help reduce the stress of a day full of digital interruptions. Your bullet journal (which can be just any notebook) can be used to document your Veggie Challenge, by taking a moment each evening to write down your discoveries (‘that amazing veggie burger!’) or learnings (‘made my first vegan pancake’). Still, it can come in handy to have an online backup. Even the bullet journal has its own app for quick notes, which can later be transferred to your personal offline notebook.
