5 Habits You And Your Dog Can Break Today to Make Tomorrow Better For Yourselves

Hello everyone. We are back this month feeling refreshed from our recent staycation. We were fortunate enough to be able to get away after a long winter season of hibernation. During the winter season I developed a new ritual of saving. Not that I didn’t have an interest in saving money earlier but I have to say that I was ‘lightweight’. This new habit took me a good 5 months to develop to the point where it became 2nd nature. With a difference that I could call real – Sophia and I took off for an extended adventure. Sophia is doing great by the way. Thank you. So today what I want to share with you is how breaking the habit of being lackadaisical was doable and how we did it. It’s a small win for me and Sophia. A good majority of this lesson I learned from Sophia. And today is so much better that yesterday or even six months ago. Are you concerned about some of your habits? Do you know that you can do better but you just haven’t changed? Here’s how we did it. Before you embark on your improvement journey, check this out.

Habits are interesting things: they start as one-time events, like leaving your dirty socks on the floor, and before you know

what’s happening, you have already formed them, right along with an ever growing pile of filthy socks.

Without these habits, many things in our lives would be excessively time-consuming.

Our body starts habits to prevent us from thinking about every little step every

single time. So habits can be good or bad, so choose a good one more often than you do a bad one. And once you form one,

it is hard to stop.

A habit is neutral. It can lessen your problems, or it can cause more. The habits that you form

today can lead to a good or a bad tomorrow for you and your dog. It all depends on which habits you choose to develop.

For example, you can choose to procrastinate, which leads to more stress in the long run. Or you can choose to do things efficiently, which will decrease your stress and

increase productivity. You have control over your habits. So, what current habits should you and your dog break right away if you truly want to make

tomorrow better? Here are a few examples:

1. Stress eating. Stress eating involves eating unhealthy snacks or meals when

you’re stressed out. If you eat like this regularly, you’re probably not eating as

nutritiously as you should. Are you hand feeding some of this to your dog?

Most of the time, it’s not as if you’re intentionally eating this way. You are

doing this because you feel stressed out, so you eat. And, when you share that food with your dog you may be

unintentionally contributing to it’s demise. You don’t have to.

Breaking the habit of stress eating may be challenging, but it’s essential for you both to

do so.

2. The habit of sitting for too long at a time. Are you guilty of this? I know I am. Working a job at a desk, writing and editing keeps me rooted to one spot for extended periods. It can

seem challenging to find the time to do anything these days. But it’s crucial to make time to exercise. Exercise can help you feel your best throughout the day, and it’s a great way to

cope with stress.

You might think it’s okay to sit down for hours on end, especially when you have a lot on your to-do list. But it’s important to get up and move around now and then. For both of you….you

and the dog. Frequent relief breaks and moving around helps you guys boost your metabolism, which can help prevent weight gain and reduce stress.

3. Hitting snooze on your alarm clock. No one likes waking up in the morning. But anyone who wakes up is happy to do it finally. The difference between the high

achievers and the rest of us is that the latter hit the snooze button on their alarm clock.

Hitting snooze also makes it easy to fall back asleep and push back time on essential activities. This habit can affect your mood and makes it difficult to perform at your peak during the

day. Get up!

The thing with sleep is, the more sleep-deprived you are, the less productive you’ll be. That is because sleep revitalizes your body and your mind, which helps keep you alert and focused.

That does not mean it’s a good idea to hit the snooze button multiple times each morning in an attempt to get more sleep. Do this instead: Go to sleep earlier than usual if you feel you

don’t have a good rest each night.

4. Spending hours on social media. According to a study, daily social media users spend an average of 2.5 hours on sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. The problem here

is that social media is often used not to relax but to procrastinate. 76% of adults between the ages of 18 and 34 use social media to waste time at work, according to a survey. All that time

spent on social media is time lost at work or school. Instead of wasting time on social media, use it more productively. Limit your social media activity to no more than 30 minutes a day.

5. Working overtime. According to statistics, the average American adult works 40 hours a week. But the reality is, most of us work for longer than that. When we work overtime, we

forfeit doggy play time, sleep and keep our physical and mental health in decline. Working overtime also costs us more money because, according to the research, it costs $1,000 a year

more to work full time than to work part-time. And not to mention soaring Doggy Day Care costs, or, if you leave them home, you know what the house can become and how the dog’s

behavior changes negatively when you do. By working less, you can build a more substantial divide between work and the rest of life.

If you and your dog want to make tomorrow better, it’s important to start with breaking your bad

habits. These habits can drain your energy and prevent you guys from reaching your true

potential.

If you think you should quit a habit, try quitting for a little while first. This way, if

the outcome isn’t what you hoped for, then it’s easy to go back to your old ways. But

if things go well once you break the habit, then there will be no turning back!

It works. These simple suggestions helped us break the habit of being lackadaisical and shed unwanted weight, stop procrastinating and making excuses, and turn our financial circumstances around. Good luck!

From Our Table

THREE DOG BAKERY LICK AND CRUNCH CAROB AND PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH COOKIES FOR DOGS

So cute! This is a very nice alternative to the Petco Treatbar Sandwich Cookies. And made with Carob and Peanut butter, it’s a nice touch for your doggy.

Three Dog Bakery serves a variety of specialty cookies and you and your dog will find the menu choices very appealing. If Peanut Butter is not your dog’s thing, there is also Golden & Vanilla flavor. So Jacquelyn, what’s the deal with this Carob stuff?

See healthline.com for Carob definition

“The carob tree, or Ceratonia siliqua, has fruit that looks like a dark brown pea pod, which carries pulp and seeds. Carob is a sweet and healthy substitute for chocolate. Using it for health benefits goes back 4,000 years to ancient Greece.

Carob is available to buy as:

• powder
• chips
• syrup
• extract
• dietary pills

You can eat carob pods when they’re fresh or dried, too. People who add carob to their diet have seen benefits like weight loss and decreased stomach issues.”

For us people, adding carob to your diet can help with all of the following issues. I don’t know about you, but for me, this is a really nice laundry list of benefits. Again, healthline.com shares that carob consumption can …

• ‘lower your cholesterol
• reduce your risk of heart disease
• ease stomach issues
• treat diarrhea’

Side effects?

It may cause unintended weight loss and decreases in blood sugar and insulin levels.

Poor me! I’ll risk it…lol!

What an influence Sophia is! So because she’s enjoying this cookie, it is off to the health food store I go for a little taste of what she is getting. I must admit that I am feeling fine.

Cookie ingredients

Enriched wheat flour, sugar, canola oil, corn syrup, palm oil, carob powder, peanut butter, ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate, soy lecithin, natural flavors.

And hey! Three Dog Bakery also serves Animal Crackers for your doggy. How fun is that?

For Sophia, it’s a welcome break from some of the more meatier snacks I’ve been serving her during the winter. My new habit is to include her snack with her carefully measured meal. I feed the recommended amount or less at the dish. This way, I am not copping out and then shoving food at her face during the day. It keeps me honest, and her from becoming obese. We are both happy with that. Now, you try.

This is a high calorie treat. I recommend breaking these sandwich cookies in half and then seeing how you do. With a star rating of 4.9 stars, I am in love. And the price? Nice. You and your dog can definitely afford to fill the treat jar with these. I recommend you try them today. Amazon.com, Chewy.com, or you could buy direct from the creator of this wonderful cookie at threedog.com.

Well, this was fun. Sophia and I have well-established a new habit that works for the both of us. I hope you’ve found these tips useful and easy to employ. Remember guys, deciding to change and then acting on that dominant thought will assist you and your dog in breaking out of old habits that hinder then, developing new useful habits that reflect with who you believe yourselves to be.

That’s it! Thanks for stopping by the blog. You can also visit us at YouTube.com. Bye for now.

Happy Pet Parenting,