Healthy Habits That Stick by Nicole Bryan

Small Steps to Successful Healthy Living

Long- lasting sustainable wellness happens with small consistent behavior changes. Going “on” or “off” a healthy eating or exercise plan for example, will defeat your efforts and only be effective and lead to results for so long. Just as you wouldn’t ever consider going “on” or “off” brushing your teeth or combing your hair, you shouldn’t consider a healthy lifestyle as something you are on or off of either.

The key is to consider healthy living as something you simply are, not something you do. So, how do you get there? Break your unhealthy habits down into small steps to slowly wean off or replace with new healthy behaviors. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Replace waiting time with walking time. How many minutes do you waste sitting and waiting for meetings or appointments? Instead of sitting around and wasting time, why not head out for a walk instead. Even standing instead of sitting is a more productive option. Keep an extra pair of walking shoes in the trunk of your car so taking advantage of the found time is easy and simple.

Replace juice with water. Save 100-plus calories plus countless sugar every single day by swapping out one glass of juice as your go-to beverage and drinking pure calorie-free water instead. Reducing simply 100 sugar calories a day equates to 700 less calories a week! Over the course of a year, the health benefits will really add up.

Make Monday mandatory exercise. Make Monday your non-negotiable fitness day. Always exercising on Monday sets a healthy tone for the week. You’ll be less likely to skip the rest of the week. Exercising on Monday also provides a great confidence booster and motivational tool to have one solid workout already completed for the week.

Small changes also eliminate the feeling of being deprived and punished. Small changes are the key to sustainable and effective wellness and healthy living.