A neuroscientist’s guide to stop sabotaging your healthy habits

It’s not you, it’s your brain

Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash

Have you ever booked an exercise class or planned a run, only to find that you were too busy to go?
Or started the day with total commitment to making a healthy dinner later, only to be so knackered by evening that you reach for an ultra-processed convenience food?
Or gone out for ‘just one drink’ after work, only to wake up with raging hangxiety the next day?
Or (and all of us have done this one) fully intended to have an early night, only to get caught up in work emails or social media until waaaaay later than you realised?

Good intentions are so often sabotaged by our own impulses. And it leads to a cycle of shame and regret, making it more likely to happen again.

‘Our brains are wired to seek instant rewards, and the allure of that can override our rational decision-making processes,’ says neuroscientist Nicole Vignola, author of Rewire: Break the Cycle, Alter Your Thoughts an…