Nutrition by Dawn - Blog

When beginning your health journey, you’ll find out pretty quickly that the routines you set can either make or break your success. The habits that you form can be the things that help you finally reach your goals, or they can be a hindrance to ever getting there. 

Why do our routines matter so much in the long run? Because the reality is that most of us don’t have the time or patience to carefully think through every tiny detail of our day. When you think about it, there are tons of things we do on autopilot! Consider your morning routine, for example. When you roll over, turn off your alarm, brush your teeth, or wake up the kids, you’re probably set in your routine and doing those things automatically. 

Working on autopilot sometimes is a good thing, for the most part! It gives you bandwidth in your brain to think about other important things.

One of my go-to morning routines is breakfast. I wake up hungry, and no one wants a cranky Dawn! However, mornings around my house can be a little chaotic, so it’s not exactly the best time to be making a gourmet meal. To combat this, I’ve started making a shake before I go to bed so that it’s in the fridge ready to go the next day. Doing the prep work early makes the breakfast portion of my morning routine go smoothly, and it keeps me from reaching for sugary pre-packaged breakfast options just because it’s fast. 

Once I have my breakfast choice for the day down, and my kiddo is on his way, I head downstairs for my morning workout. I plan my workout the night before as well, and having a solid plan helps me get moving right away without hesitating. I don’t have to stop each morning and spend time thinking about what I want to do next. My brain already knows! 

Because I know I’m not a morning person, I am intentional in setting routines that will make it easy for me to make healthy and productive choices each morning. 

There will be times when we’re too busy to give much thought to what the healthy choice is, and already having those routines ready to go will make those moments so much easier!

My challenge to you is to identify the areas in your life where things get busy and making the healthy choice gets put on the backburner. Once you know where you’re most likely to struggle, you can start creating routines that will help you push through those moments. Maybe you have to make lunches every day, so doing some prep work the night before would make mornings less hectic. Maybe your evenings are packed full of extracurriculars, and cooking twice as much food every other day would help you do just a little bit of meal prepping so that every night doesn’t need a full dinner. 

In order to help my future self out, I always keep a bowl of shredded chicken in the fridge and ready to go. It’s such a versatile option that I can add to lunches and dinners when I need something fast, and having that prepared already makes busy mealtimes that much easier. I do the same thing with different flavors of sausages that can easily be added to a burrito or some stir fry. Doing the prep work ahead of time will help you establish a routine where you make the choices that most benefit you! 

This week, consider challenging spots in your life where you can either update or reinforce a habit so that your routines serve you better. Changing just one small thing at a time will make a big difference overall! 

If you haven’t yet, be sure to download my guide right here to get you started on your journey! If you can’t have a nutrition coach in your pocket every step of your day helping you make the best decisions for your health, this is the next best thing. :) Download it now to kickstart your journey!

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What areas of your day do you most struggle with needing a routine? Let me know in the comments!