Starting a healthy lifestyle is often the easiest part of the process. You get excited about your goals, you research ways to improve your health, create a daily routine, and have a nice boost of endorphins to get you going. The challenge with your new healthy living plan is committing to it long-term, which is where consistency comes in.If you struggle staying consistent, that is likely going to be your biggest downfall when it comes to healthy living. But don’t worry, there are many ways to stay consistent, enjoy your life, and become a healthier version of yourself all at the same time.
1. Identify Your Why
It is impossible to be consistent with any goal or change in your life without knowing why you want to do it. And don’t think of just the more obvious reasons, really dig deep here. It is those meaningful, deeply emotional reasons that are going to motivate you and keep you on track.Start by making a list of all the reasons you want to start healthy living. Include all the small and big things, then when your list is complete draw a circle around what you feel is the most important. This is likely not going to be losing weight or changing something about your appearance, but a much more meaningful and thought-provoking reason. This is what you need to hold on to when you want to be consistent.
2. Adjust Your Environment
Certain changes to your healthy lifestyle will require adjusting your environment to better fit these changes. If exercise if one of your main goals with healthy living, then you may need to change things in your environment to better suit this. Organize your workout clothes to help you easily grab what you need. Think of ways to make your environment better suited to your healthy habits, such as putting healthy snacks and fruits on the counter, and the junk food hidden away in cabinets. Lay out your workout clothes each night so you change into them first thing in the morning. Have a designated spot at your desk with journal or a quiet meditation area.
3. Choose Your Health Goals
What are your health goals? What are your reasons for wanting to have a healthier lifestyle? What are some specific things you are trying to accomplish? Not just your why, but what exactly are you trying to do with your new healthy living journey?Get specific here and choose some goals that you can work toward. They don’t have to be big goals either. Any little goal that is aligned with your why is going to be useful for staying consistent. Personally, I want to be stronger as I age because menopause can make you lose muscle.
4. Find a Way to Track Your Progress
Once you know what your health goals are, you can then choose a way to track your progress. Here are a few different ways you might want to track your progress:
* Use a goal tracking worksheet
* Use a habit tracker
* Write your progress down in a journal
* Use a digital journal or planner
Be sure to grab my free guide and use the Habit Tracker Worksheet that’s included in the guide.
5. Be Flexible Throughout This Journey
Even with specific goals you are trying to reach, you still want to be flexible and give yourself grace. There will always be moments when something unexpected happens. You have a back injury ( I know all about this) and can’t go to the gym, or there is an emergency with one of your kids, and you are unable to make dinner that night or you run out of time for your daily self-care. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself that when one little thing happens to disrupt your routine, you throw the entire plan out the window.
6. Identify Your Challenges That Prevent Consistency
If this is not the first time you have tried to incorporate healthy habits into your life, think back on the past and what got in the way of consistency most often. You will likely see some patterns in your own behaviors that you can correct. Maybe you are someone who has too many restrictions and rules, and you get burnt out, then give up entirely. You might be someone who gradually gets lazier and lazier, making up excuses about why you can’t keep up with it. Or maybe you just have a bad habit of not going all-in on day one, and just never picking up momentum. Writing in your journal can also be really useful to figure out where you went wrong in the past, and what you want to do differently this time around.
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