The Secret To Making Healthy Habits Stick

The Secret To Making Healthy Habits Stick: How to properly progress your mindset and habits to create long-term success. 

 We Make The Decision

Deciding to start or restart a fitness and nutrition program is an accomplishment in itself. Isn’t it exciting when we first start? We go and get a new gym membership, new workout clothes, supplements, new containers for our meals, a new lunch pail, and come home from the grocery store with all the food that our new meal plan told us to get. 

The Journey Begins

It’s Monday, and we are all ready to go, and we stick to the plan. High five to us! It’s Tuesday, and we woke up late and didn’t pack our lunch and went out to eat instead.  Whoops, oh well, we made it to the gym.

It Unravels Quickly

It’s Wednesday, and we didn’t plan our meals because our kid had a baseball game the night before (we forgot to plan for those days). So we skipped breakfast, ran out the door without our lunch and snacks, and as we were back in the habit of sitting in the Starbucks drive-thru again, we realized we didn’t pack our gym clothes either! Now we feel defeated like we can’t get our lives together! 

Does any of this sound familiar? Don’t worry; I have been there too, and I teach this for a living! In sticking with the theme of my health coaching, please not not beat yourself up if this happens. This was bound to happen if you haven’t had a fitness or nutrition routine for a while and expected to miraculously go from a scale of 1-10 in the first week of your new healthy lifestyle. 

The Problem

I am here to let you know that the problem isn’t you, or your life, or your willpower. The problem is that you put too many tasks on your to-do list without the proper mindset or habits to implement all the cool new tools you purchased. 

So, how do we create a realistic mindset from the beginning to set ourselves up for success rather than feeling defeated?  

The Solution

Today’s tip is a simple one and will give you a customized answer for your own life. Get out a piece of paper and finish this sentence…

“If I were 5% healthier, I would…” 

Examples: “If I were 5% healthier, I would replace my ice cream at night with yogurt and fruit.”  

“If I were 5% healthier, I would drink a full glass of water with my meals.” 

“If I were 5% healthier, I would go for a walk during my lunch break instead of scrolling on the phone.” 

You know the answer to your life. You know what you need to do to take that first small step.  Establish this habit the first week of change, and then keep improving 5-10% weekly. Tiny habit changes are scientifically proven to establish long-term results. 

There it is. Yes, sometimes, behavior change can be that simple. You just needed someone to guide you to the right questions!