habit change

What really makes behavior change difficult, though, is that sometimes you want to change your behavior even though the old behavior is technically still successful. When you want to diet, for example, your old eating behaviors are still working as far as your motivational system is concerned. You want to eat, and you eat. The problem is that you have some new goals. You may want to lose weight or to feel better. Perhaps your doctor has recommended that you get in shape. So you are now trying to stop satisfying one goal and start satisfying another instead. In that case, the habits are no longer directing you toward the action you want to take. You have to find a way to stop yourself from doing what you did last time. And that means fighting your brain’s tendency to minimize energy