Wellness is everywhere these days! From wellness experts to retreats, it often seems like we’re constantly being told we need more of it in our lives. I remember back in the mid-2000s when I was a new personal trainer – everyone had questions about my work, and it wasn’t always easy to explain. But let me tell you, the industry has grown, and thank goodness for that! Now, as we embrace everything from mental health to meditation, it’s natural to feel a bit overwhelmed. That’s where I come in. My aim with this blog is to simplify the concept of wellness habits and help you discover how easy it can be to weave them into your daily life.
So, What are Wellness Habits?
When we look at defining wellness habits, it’s essentially any habits created with the intention of improving your overall health. To get into the research side, the Mayo Clinic has defined the top health-promoting behaviors as:
- Eating a well-balanced diet
- Increasing physical activity
- Managing stress well
- Improving sleep
- Avoiding/mitigating risky substance and unnecessary medication use
- Nourishing social connections
So essentially, wellness habits are going to be smaller pieces of these behaviors. If you have not already downloaded my Habit Creation Guide you can find it any time you visit my website (it’s that pesky pop-up you see!).
Why Are Wellness Habits so Important?
Wellness habits are crucial because they act as the building blocks for larger behavior change. They are also a new way of framing how to reach your “fitness goals” per say. For example, many people when they decide on a fitness goal, such as losing weight, they will sometimes try and incorporate large changes all at once. They join a gym and go every day. They cut out all foods except chicken and broccoli. They do this until their motivation fizzles out and they stop, feeling defeated.
A different approach would be charting out what the goal is and all of the small habits that would go into reaching that goal and working on one at a time. Staying with this same example, that same person joins a gym and maps out 2 days they can go with their work schedule. They decide to incorporate a healthy dinner twice a week. Some of you may say but that is going to take longer for them to reach their weight loss goal! It depends. If they stick with those 2 smaller habits of going to the gym twice per week and eating two healthy meals, after a month they have integrated those habits into their life and are more likely to not only stick to them, but moving forward with different goals.
3 Tips on How to Integrate Wellness Habits Into Your Daily Life
- Define your habits and goals: Take some time to first define your overall goal and then list all of the habits and behaviors that would go into reaching this goal. This is a crucial first step in ensuring that you have taken a moment to truly see the big picture of the goal and how to break it down into smaller pieces.
- Start Small: Think about starting small – even making one change a week can feel amazing! For instance, if you want to drink more water, how about trying an extra glass each day? Little wins add up!
- Celebrate Wins: Celebrate those wins, no matter how small! Did you remember to drink that extra glass of water? Great job! Change can be tough, so let’s give ourselves a round of applause when we do it right.
Real Women, Real Results
I started working with a client who approached me feeling frustrated with the nutrition aspect of their weight loss goal. She had done meal plans, shakes and snacks, but never stuck with any of it, leading her weight to fluctuate. We started with a 60-minute session to establish her priorities and develop a personal wellness plan (to learn more about this process check out my blog here). We then began to create small habits that we would review every 2 weeks.
The first habit was making 2 different healthy meals during the week (one sheet pan, one crockpot). We mapped out when she would create her grocery list (Saturday morning) , when she would shop (Sunday), and then when she would make the meals (Tuesday morning crockpot) and Thursday evening (sheet pan). It didn’t always mean every 2 weeks the habits were done to perfection. BUT we were able to figure out any derailments and how to adjust.
By the end of her first 3 months, she had successful implemented behaviors for planning, shopping, prepping and cooking healthy meals multiple times each week. This gave her the confidence to begin making habits towards others areas, including her workouts and how to get more steps in each day. She’s a perfect example of how habits are not just about getting to the end goal. They are a journey to help you learn more about yourself and your motivations.
Everybody is Different, Just Like Our Coaching
I hope you found this blog both informative and applicable to your own life! To learn more about how to incorporate daily habits into your own life, download my free Habit Creation Guide! And as always, if you have further questions you can always book a free call with me here.
