When embarking on a health and fitness journey, most people think they need to do it all!
Sleep 8 hours a night, walk 10,000 steps a day, eat more protein, hit the gym 5 times a week, drink more water, eat more fruit and veg, meditate, journal……etc etc etc
However, if you’re currently only sleeping for 4 hours a night, walking 2k steps a day, not hitting the gym at all, eating 1 meal a day and the only liquid you’re drinking is pepsi max then you are going to quickly get overwhelmed!
Imagine for a second that you are a child again, learning how to speak, walk, brush your teeth and read. Now imagine that while you are learning how to speak, I tell you that you need to recite a shakespeare play to me, while you are learning how to walk, you now need to go on a hike up Snowdon and while learning how to read, I hand over a copy of War and Peace
Ridiculous right?
This is exactly how you are treating yourself when you are trying to create new habits. You are running before you are walking, literally.
Make small, effective steps in the right direction rather than jumping straight to the top of Snowdon.
Instead of trying to sleep 8 hours a night, look at just trying to improve your sleep hygiene.
- For example, trying not to look at your phone 5 minutes before you get into bed, remembering to take a magnesium supplement or listening to calming music to help your brain relax
Instead of trying to walk 10,000 steps a day, just look at increasing your general movement levels
- For example, park your car further away in the supermarket car park, take the stairs instead of the lifts, go for a 10 minute walk on your lunch break
Instead of trying to stick to a meal plan, or restricting yourself, look at adding to your diet
- For example, eating a breakfast, adding more fruit and veg to each plate, thinking of a balanced plate rather than a small one, having what you need with what you want (i.e. NEED = protein (yoghurt, meat, beans, eggs, fish), carbs (oats, pasta, potato, rice), fats (oils, cheese, nuts) - WANT = (chocolate, crisps, cake))
- An example of a meal you need is a healthy breakfast of Greek Yoghurt with berries, oats and a tsp of nut butter but adding what you want, chocolate chips or a spoon of Biscoff. This means you are more likely to stick to a high protein and nutrient dense breakfast because you are enjoying it, and you are satiated, which means less snacking later on in the day
Instead of trying to hit the gym 5 times a week, aim for 1 or 2 sessions to begin with
- Or 1 gym session and 1 class for accountability and enjoyment. The class doesn't even need to be a gym class, it could be a dance class or an acting class
- Your gym session doesn’t have to be 3 sets of 10 of everything, set aside just 30 minutes and go in with a plan. Ask a coach, or ask a friend to join you. Just make sure you get your foot in the door first, then start to build it up once your body is acclimatised to training regularly.
Instead of trying to down 3 litres of water a day, just drink a glass of water upon waking up, with each meal and a glass of water before each coffee or drink. Hydrate before you caffeinate and always have a glass of water next to your bedside. Carry a water bottle around with you with a straw and watch how it becomes habit.
Don’t overwhelm yourself with thinking that your fitness routine needs to ‘look’ right and focus more on it ‘feeling’ right. Your daily life is different, you have different priorities and you have different bodies. Find what works for YOU and STICK to it. Stick to the smaller, achievable steps for more than 4 weeks, then start looking at adding more IF it works for you.