As it gets colder, it is only normal to crave warm comfort food and miss your steps due to the bad weather. However, if we have truly developed life long habits, it is easier to adapt to the changing times. This is what I am going to discuss in this article.
I am passionate about empowering women to be the best version of themselves and want to make health and fitness accessible for everyone. It doesn’t have to feel overwhelming and complicated. Have you ever wondered why you find it so hard to stick to your programme and achieve your goal? Maybe the goal you have set is unrealistic or just maybe you don’t want it enough?
In order to change, we need to do something new but we also need to be aware of our habits and lifestyle. It is very easy to blame external factors as to why ‘it isn’t working’. When we take a deeper look at ourselves, habits and patterns, only  then we can make a change.
You need to be more honest with yourself and ask yourself ‘why’ it is so important you reach your goal. Once you have more self awareness, you then recognise your excuses and create a plan.
Here are a few tips that will help you create habits that actually last:
1. Give yourself time. Being woken by a screaming baby/toddler/child is not the ideal wake up call. To start with, get up 5-10 minutes before your children to allow yourself time to make a cup of tea and sit in peace. You would be amazed how much better you will feel after allowing yourself time to gather your thoughts before your children wake. Over time, you can increase this time to 15-20 minutes and then 20-30 minutes. This will then give you more time to exercise before your children wake, which will also help your mindset.
2. Habit stacking: Your morning routine is a perfect time to try this out. The first thing you do in the morning may involve making a cup of tea. This is a perfect time to add on 5 minutes of meditation/breath work/journalling onto it. Another example would be taking the children to school. If you have time and the school is within walking distance, then tag your daily steps to the school run and walk to school.
3. Make it easy: If you know the only time to workout is in the morning before your children wake, then make sure you have done point number one first. Make sure you give yourself time. Getting up early in the morning also requires a good bedtime routine. Make sure you are prioritising sleep so you have the energy to get up in the morning 20-30 minutes before the kids wake up. If you are going to workout in the morning, then lay your workout gear out the night before, so then the first thing you see in the morning is your workout gear. Or if you workout after school drop off, then drop your children to school in your workout gear so you can go straight away. If you workout after work, then take your gear to work and get changed into it at the end of the day so you can’t talk yourself out of it.
4. Reward yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself and recognise the small wins. Reaching your weight loss or fitness goal is going to take longer to see the reward. So make sure you reward yourself along the way. For example, schedule your daily steps in with a play date at the park or with a coffee and a walk with a friend. Seeing your friend for coffee is a little reward for getting your steps in (just don’t drink all your burnt calories, laughs).
5. Create your vision and be really descriptive with it. What is it you actually want? How do you want to feel? How do you want to look? What positive experiences and changes will this bring to your life? When you have a wobble and you are feeling overwhelmed, you can then remind yourself with this written statement. Remind yourself how far you have come and how you are going to feel once you have achieved your goal.
This journey is not going to be linear and easy, there will be bumps in the road. But we get back up and carry on. Just like we tell our children when they fall to get back up. It is okay to stumble and fail, this is how we grow. In order to create the life we want, we have to do something new. Doing something new brings challenges. Challenge is where we grow.
If you want to know more, or want to find out how I can work with you, get in touch to make an appointment through my bloss profile.
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