I’m not even going to waste your time with an intro…Here are 10 Unique Healthy Habits I Wish I’d Started Earlier….
Habit #1: Stop labeling foods as good and bad.
I pressured myself to eat clean…in a whole host of different variations for the longest time and sabotaged my own success.
And every time I went on another diet that cut out some “bad” food, I would ultimately be consistent for 30 days or 6 weeks, see some results, then feel so deprived and restricted I would ultimately fall off.
And then I’d feel guilty.
So of course, since I’d already ruined the day or week, I’d eat everything bad for me possible to only have to “start over Monday.”
Then Monday would come and I’d restrict again.
But this labeling of foods as good or bad stopped me from finding balance. And it ultimately led to me eating more foods not as nutrient dense over the long term.
Not to mention it stopped me from seeing results.
Now instead, I focus on an 80/20 balance. I work in foods I love 20% of the time and fully enjoy them. Then focus on whole natural foods 80% of the time.
I never now feel guilty and realize if I don’t include something it is my CHOICE, not something I have to do to hit someone else’s arbitrary standards of clean eating!
Habit #2: Reflection breaks.
I’m a do’er. I get something I want accomplished and I just want to get to taking action.
But this approach leads to a lot of wasted time and energy and often a lot of frustration as we work harder without moving forward.
It’s why I think it is so key we realize the importance of reflection breaks.
Times we step back and actually look at our habits, how we’re truly implementing them and then assess our progress.
Because often we are doing a lot of things we don’t need to be doing and not paying attention enough to the habits we do need to be focusing on.
We’re letting little deviations in our nutrition creep in. Ignoring missed workouts. While putting a lot and time and energy into other things that aren’t as essential.
But honest reflection can help us notice a gap between what we say we want and what we’re doing.
And even help us assess what we’re actually optimizing our habits and lifestyle for.
Because we won’t stumble our way into results. We have to be clear on where and what we’re spending our time on and why!
Habit #3: Set end dates.
Any time I create a plan, I set an end date. This also helps me take time to reflect, making that second habit easier.
And not only do end dates give us that time to reassess and adjust but they help us embrace and trust the process when trying new things.
We know there is a point we can make a change if things aren’t working.
End dates also give us motivation to start now. It’s easy to say, “I’ll start tomorrow.” when there is no deadline.
It’s also easy to feel overwhelmed by the idea of FOREVER.
We honestly get BORED with that idea.
We want to test out new workouts. We want to try new foods. We like searching for some improvement.
Instead of shying away from that, set those end dates to give yourself the opportunity to make tweaks and still have fun testing out new things while keeping yourself focused.
Habit #4: Cycling macros every few WEEKS.
I tried carb cycling, variations of daily cycling of macros and calories.
I tried sticking to one thing for months upon months.
The first led to my energy being all over the place and frustration trying to hit different numbers while prepping different foods daily.
It was too much work. Made me feel sluggish.
And it made it so hard to know what was and wasn’t working.
When I switched to sticking with one thing for extended periods, I found I got bored. Results weren’t as fast.
And if my workouts or activity level shifted, I found myself either starving at times or even gaining fat because my fueling didn’t match.
That’s why I began cycling every 2-3 weeks most consistently with small changes over cycles.
It allowed me to simplify meal prep. Keep my energy consistent. Adjust with changes in my workouts. Use different macro ratios to work toward different goals.
And I could even use the ratios to build better off of each other to take advantage of the different impact going lower carb after higher carb or higher carb after lower carb could have on body recomp goals!
It was my balance of diversity with consistency.
And without being too complicated or requiring the extreme precision cycling daily, like carb cycling, required!
Finding my balance of diversity with consistency was key for me not only with my diet but also with my workouts.
Habit #5: Repeating a weekly workout progression.
It’s easy to want to jump around. Or even want to repeat things because they are comfortable.
But you need a balance of both and repeating workouts is key to creating progression.
It’s hard to track progress when there is no clear build and every workout, every day of every week is a bit different.
If you do pull ups one week on Tuesday when your back hasn’t been worked that week you may get out 10 pull ups in a row versus if you did them on Friday of the next week after doing rows on Wednesday, you may find you struggle to get 6.
You didn’t get weaker. The muscles were just fatigued from previous work.
You’d be able to track progress better if you repeated the same schedule and workouts weekly for a few weeks in a row.
And to keep this from becoming boring, implement diversity in your workouts over the week. Don’t just do pull ups multiple times or the same workouts multiple days in a week.
Use different types of moves and even different training techniques and workout designs and tools to create unique and fun sessions.
This combination of even different forms of progression will help you see faster results while helping you not get bored!
Habit #6: Do that prehab!
I wasn’t always the prehab or foam rolling, stretching and activation obsessed person I am today.
But injuries made me face the facts and I’m so glad I did.
Not only am I moving better with fewer aches and pains, but honestly my fat loss, muscle grains and lifting performance all improved by just committing to this system every single warm up.
And it doesn’t have to be a lot. Some days it’s barely just 5 minutes, but the consistency with that flexibility, mobility, and stability work pays off.
We get good at what we consistently do. And the more we stay consistent with this prehab work the less we have to do extra to address movement compensations and imbalance that build up.
That feeling that we used to get away with something just means we shouldn’t be trying to get away with it.
And the longer we try to avoid the prehab work, the more we’re just creating bigger issues that will sabotage us later.
So focus on that prehab work and be intentional with your training. Don’t just rush through. Don’t just think of your workouts as a chance to burn more calories.
Focus on moving well in your sessions and you’ll not only feel and move better but you will see the payoff in those aesthetic goals too!
Habit #7: Prioritize protein.
This habit was something I resisted just like prehab. But when I started prioritizing protein, I finally got to the leanness level I wanted while also FEELING my best.
I saw my workouts and strength improve as well as my recovery.
And this prioritization of protein, I know will serve me well in years to come so I can look, move and feel my best!
I think this focus on protein is essential as we don’t just want to train to look and feel good for a day…we want to feel our best till our final day on this planet!
To help myself focus more on increasing my protein, I began to log it first and build meals around the portions I needed.
I even researched different protein types to find opportunity in the options out there.
I also at first didn’t worry about my ratio of carbs to fats. I just focused on calories and protein.
This allowed me to start to learn how to increase my protein while also making meals I enjoyed.
And I stopped even just focusing on ONE protein source at a meal.
By seeing how I could use two different types of protein in a meal to hit my needs, I found I enjoyed my meals more and didn’t get that protein fatigue!
Habit #8: Embrace my laziness.
This sounds weird to say as a habit but I think it’s a key thing to point out.
Because too often with habit changes, we try to focus on hitting an “ideal.”
We don’t think about how the habits can be adjusted to realistically fit our lifestyle. And that’s often what makes habit change so hard.
We’re trying to force a habit mold.
Instead we need to think, “How can this adjustment work for me and what is one small step toward bigger changes that I can make even on my worst days?”
This focus on embracing what I call my “laziness” with things, allowed me to build healthier habits that have evolved more and more over time.
Like I buy tons of frozen veggies and fruits. I know they won’t go bad and they are easy to prep.
I’ll buy pre-cooked chicken breast. I’ll get frozen meal prep from places.
I’ll plan in restaurant meals out so I don’t have to cook.
I get canned goods.
I have 5 minute workout options or even home workout options when I just know I won’t be motivated or have the time to get to the gym.
The more we can embrace our own “laziness” or desire to not give MORE or prioritize something more, even if just not right now, the more we can actually make healthy habit swaps that add up!
Habit #9: Brain dump before bed.
Failing to plan is planning to fail.
The night before I make sure I have everything laid out for the next day.
This pre-planning, or last minute opportunity to adjust my plans, helps me make sure I have my to-do list set for the next day in a way I can accomplish the main things I need to do.
It helps me so that I’m organized in a way I’ll put first in my day the things that will get skipped if not done immediately.
It also helps me clear my mind before bed of anything that may keep me awake at night.
I don’t know about you, but if I’m not conscious to do a little brain dump of thoughts or tasks before going to bed, they’ll be spinning around my mind all night, making it hard to not only fall asleep but stay asleep.
So I use this brain dump into a list to close loops from the day to relax before bed while setting the next day up for success!
Habit #10: Take breaks.
I struggle HARD to not be doing something…like all the time.
So I honestly steered into that even with how I take breaks.
Because breaks don’t mean you aren’t doing something. They are really just a break from what we WERE doing.
So on weeks my body needs to back off the workout intensity, aka needs a break from the heavy lifting or killer cardio, I plan in things to do that are recovery.
I plan in a ton of mobility work and restorative movement. That way I don’t feel like a couch potato.
I use that time if I do shorten my workouts as an opportunity to even make other changes or habits shifts I haven’t had as much time to focus on.
I give myself a new focus while taking the break.
Because our body and mind can’t just go at 100% in the same way forever. And our priorities at times do need to shift.
And if we don’t own this, we never end up actually giving our all to anything.
We can also see our motivation completely fade and burnout hit.
It’s why sometimes even proactively scaling things back when you know priorities have shifted can be key.
So give yourself the break at times and shift your focus. It can help you feel like you’re still getting to take action but in a way that helps you stay motivated while giving your all to what you truly can!
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