When it comes to “healthy habits”, I’ve read countless articles, watched SO many videos, and researched a variety of approaches because I try to be the best version of myself.
However, I realized nothing was actually changing in my life and I was beginning to get frustrated.
While I LOVE diving deep into a topic that I feel passionate about, I realized there was no change because I wasn’t taking action on the information I had in front of me.
It felt too big.
It felt like I would fail before I even tried.
This caused a cycle of wanting to do better but not having the confidence to move forward.
I believe in adding small steps to your routine to help build your routine.
This brings me to my first healthy habit tip
Tip #1
Think of your morning routine.
You wake up, maybe check your phone, and head to the bathroom to put toothpaste on your toothbrush and brush your teeth.
I pointed out toothpaste because it’s just such a mindless step in our routine, but we all do it.
Think of adding one small action as simple as adding toothpaste to your toothbrush.
So what is something to add to our routine?
For me, in building this routine I added in drinking aloe vera juice. (This is personal to me. Please consult/ do research before adding this into your routine).
In hindsight, it sounds small but at the time, I didn’t trust myself enough to stick to it.
I took the plunge one day, bought the Aloe Vera juice, and declared that this was part of my routine now.
So my morning routine went like this:
Wake up (with gratitude because wow we get the chance at a new day), morning skincare, brush teeth, DRINK JUICE, wait 30 min for that to digest, and then eat breakfast. 3 months go by and it just became the next “mindless” thing in my routine. I was/am so proud of myself for sticking to something in the name of my health. I then had the confidence to add another small thing in, and that’s how the snowball effect happens. You look back one day and all of those “small” things added up and pushed you towards your goal.
Speaking of food and food habits; a very important subject.
There is a ton of information out there on what to eat and “what not” to eat.
Instead we’ll focus on consistency and just like we reviewed, making that one small step.
TIP #2
CONSISTENT Meals/ Planning/ Prep
There is A LOT to do in our day-to-day lives and I believe having one less thing to think about planning is a major help.
It’s like when you have a super important event and have to pick/set out your outfit the night before so you don’t have to scramble in the morning. The same thing applies to meals.
I already know before I go to bed what I am having for breakfast.
Having a consistent breakfast routine is one less thing I have to think about while on the go.
This is where meal planning/ prepping comes in.
Depending on your schedule, meal prepping for the whole week may not be the most helpful, but meal PLANNING could certainly help.
With meal planning, you set aside maybe 10-15 minutes so you can choose which meals you like the most, what ingredients you need, and the time to cook.
Of course, you’ll have to put your shopping and cooking time into your schedule, but knowing the steps ahead can help put your mind at ease.
Both of these tips tie into adding small steps into your routine.
Now, the one and only who can do it all… YOU!
How you talk to yourself will determine your ability to implement these tips.
We are the only ones who have direct access to our brains and spend the most time with ourselves.
It is important to be kind to ourselves, the way we would be towards others.
Tip #3
SELF TALK
While it wasn’t always, self-talk is one of my favorite topics.
Simply, I now like to think of my inner dialogue as my friend.
It is reallyyyy easy to criticize ourselves, tear ourselves down, and not always be the nicest to ourselves.
Most of us would find it easy to console a friend who wasn’t feeling their best, bring that friend up if they weren’t feeling confident in their new job or career, or even tell that friend they look stunning in that dress.
I started thinking, why is it so easy to put so much effort and intention to bring our friend up but not ourselves?
When I asked myself this question, I started catching myself in negative thought patterns and said “Wait a minute… would I speak to my best friend like this?” or would I say “Wow! This is a brand new experience for you and you’re doing amazing, handling all of these responsibilities! I’m so proud of you!”.
Making that switch helped me give myself a little more grace and compassion while either learning new things or simply navigating life.
Self-talk is really the tip that fires up the first two tips because it’s the inner dialogue that will inspire us to make these changes.
Please remember that taking small shifts and steps can build concrete changes.
…And be your own best friend 🙂
