Why You Don’t Follow Through on Your Health Goals — and How to Fix It

Most of us know what we should do to be healthier: eat better, move more, sleep well. The real challenge? Actually following through.

On today’s show, I talk to behavioral psychologist Amantha Imber, author of The Health Habit, who argues that the missing piece in most health advice isn’t more information — it’s learning how to bridge the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it.

Amantha first outlines four “habit hijackers” that sabotage your best-laid plans and shares practical, research-backed tactics to overcome each one. We then dive into some specific health habits that will give you a lot of transformative bang for your buck. We discuss how restricting your sleep can help you sleep better, the truth about the popular 10,000 steps a day recommendation, the underrated power of an after-dinner walk, and more.

Resources Related to the Podcast

• Hijacker Survey Link
• Related AoM Podcasts:
• The Psychology of Effective Weight Loss
• How to Hack the Habit Loop to Build a Better Life
• The Microbiome Master Key
• Related AoM Articles: 
• Unlocking the Science of Habits
• The Science of Drive: 5 Theories of Motivation
• The Power of Temptation Bundling
• The 10 Best Ways to Make Exercise an Unbreakable Habit
• The Importance of a Good Start: Using Temporal Landmarks to Achieve Your Goals
• AoM “Sleep” archives
• AoM “Habits” archives
• The Power of Implementation Intentions
• The Digestive Power of an After-Dinner Walk
• The Existential in Red Dead Redemption 2 
• Sleep Restriction and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Study: Holding the Hunger Games Hostage at the Gym
• Study: “I Don’t” vs “I Can’t” 
• Study: The Fresh Start Effect
• Study: Designing More Effective Goals by Using Emergency Reserves (“Hall Passes”) 
• Study: Unt