If you knew me in 2013, you know I didn’t have the best habits. I didn’t exercise, I ate sleeves of oreos, and I barely drank water haha. Now I didn’t just wake up one day and start living this crazy healthy lifestyle. It took years to develop better habits and evolve into the person I am today.
Sometimes it’s easy to see someone fit and think that they’ve always been like that.
Or you wake up one day and you just think, “how did I get here?”. Habits. That’s how.
Maybe one day you hit snooze for the first time. And then you’ve never stopped, being perpetually late every single morning. Or maybe you developed a habit of never walking outside after doing so for years walking across your college campus.
It all adds up and creates your reality.
So I’m going to give you my top 5 habits to break that will dramatically change your life.
watching TV or scrolling on social before bed
I get it, you were just at work all day and want some time to “relax” and catch up on your shows and your friends. Go for it! But try to cut your screen time one hour before you go to bed. The blue light from the screens suppress your melatonin hormone, which controls your sleep and wake cycle. This will make it harder for you to go to sleep and stay asleep. And when you’re a busy babe, you need all the quality sleep you can get! (sleep.org)
snoozing your alarm
Are you a chronic snoozer? Like you keep hitting that button multiple times, leaving you rushing out the door at the last minute? Ok let’s leave this habit in 2019. My boyfriend is a chronic snoozer and it honestly drives me insane when I hear it while I am trying to work in the other room lol! But here are the facts. When you snooze, you are restarting your sleep cycle (which usually lasts 90 to 110 minutes), but you know you will be interrupted again in about 10 mins. Snoozing will only make you feel more groggy and make it harder to get up. Plus, who enjoys rushing in the morning? Not me! In my experience, when I wake up consistently at the same time every day, my body gets into a rhythm so I actually feel awake in the morning! I am a huge advocate of consistent sleep and wake times.
My biggest tip is to put your phone/alarm outside of your bedroom, so when the alarm goes off, you are forced to get up out of bed.
only drinking coffee in the morning
If you are like me, you love having a coffee in the morning on your way to work. It’s like my happiness before my day starts. But a big mistake is going straight for coffee without drinking any water! So you just went (hopefully) 7-9 hours without anything. You are dehydrated! Dehydration can affect our short term and long term memory functions, as well as our cognitive function. And while coffee is a nice pick me up, it does not replace the functionality of water.
The best thing you can start doing is chug a glass (I go for 20oz) of water as soon as you wake up, or while your coffee is brewing. I prefer room temperature water because it goes down much easier!
not managing your stress
This is a big one I see a lot. We all have stress. Work stress, friend stress, relationship stress, financial stress, etc. And we all develop ways of coping with that stress from a glass of wine to escapism via watching your favorite TV show. Now you can’t change what your trigger is to your stress. But you can change what action you take in response to it. I promise you that working out or physical movement is always going to be a healthier option than drinking more alcohol.
Just like the rest of this list, it’s a habit. So stress trigger occurs, say your boss gave you a huge project, and your reaction is to…?
I love when my clients learn to incorporate movement as part of their therapy. I’ve never heard someone say “I was really stressed out so I’m happy I didn’t work out all week”. NO! They always feel better afterwards. Always.
not making time for YOU
The last unhealthy habit is always putting everyone else’s needs in front of your own. I see this all the time with my clients and just women who I talk to. They always say yes to happy hours, birthday parties, family events, dates, and so on. But this leaves you feeling burnt out and no time to work on your goals. How are you supposed to be your best self and make YOU a priority if you only put yourself after everyone else?
So here’s a tip. Learn to say no. Put your workouts or meal preps or free time in your calendar and don’t let anyone intrude on that time.
best,
