Nutrition by Dawn - Blog

Each day of the week, I have a pretty clear routine that I try to follow. Monday through Friday, my routine involves getting my teenage son up and ready for the day. I go Live on Facebook every Thursday at 10 AM, and I make getting in a walk part of my routine every day. My routines aren’t always identical to what I have planned, but they are a solid framework that helps me to accomplish as much as I can throughout my day. 

Routines are such an interesting thing because they vary so much from person to person. Sometimes, I talk to a person who can’t live without a routine; it’s the backbone of their day, and without that structure, things just seem to fall apart. On the other hand, some people struggle with the very thought of creating and following a routine at all because they find them too constricting. 

Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. I like the structure, but I understand that sometimes, you just can’t stick to your routine as much as you would like to. 

I recently read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, and it was a great read! One of the awesome ideas I drew from this book is the concept of stacking habits. An example of this might be putting your new night cream next to your toothbrush so that it’s easier to remember each night, or putting a note on the steering wheel of your car so that you get a reminder to do your new habit on the way to work. 

By tying your new habit to your old habits, you can have an easier time bringing new routines into your life. 

I have my weekly Facebook Live video on my calendar for 10 AM every Thursday, but if I know I can’t make that time, I try to remember to shift that to tie it to a different spot in my calendar. Once one thing gets out of place, the other routines in my day have to be shifted, too, so sometimes everything goes awry. Like this week when I didn’t go live until the evening. Ack! 

It’s easy to keep a healthy lifestyle when you have habits that serve you. 

My challenge for you this week is to look at what habits you practice and what new habits you would like to add to your routine. You can then look at your lifestyle and find where you can stack a new habit with an old habit to recreate your routine. 

If your new habit is to drink more water because you often forget, stick your water bottle next to your coffee cup. That way, when you go for your morning cup of Joe, you can fill up your water bottle, too. 

It may sound simple, but the strategy of stacking habits is so effective and can help you make big changes in your routine without putting in a ton of extra time or stress!
 

What habits would you like to add to your routine? Let me know in the comments!

If you need some inspiration for healthy living, please join me in my Facebook group Never Diet Again for a great community filled with great discussion!