For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you might have caught my very candid talk about my struggle with anxiety and a recent anxiety attack that threw me off from my nutrition and healthy habits.
It’s not uncommon to find that personal obstacles and stress can negatively impact our efforts to manage our health and stay on top of our habits. Often times, people will feel guilty for falling off and in turn respond one of two ways:
- Adopt the f*ck it mindset and continue to let their healthy habits fall off the grid.
- Overcompensate by trying to get back on track where they left off leading to feeling overwhelmed.
Instead, we can take a different, more moderate approach which is exactly what I did in the aftermath of my anxiety attack.
First, I acknowledged that my hydration had declined drastically and I was struggling to consume over 40oz of water in a day. For context, on average we want to consume a minimum of 8 cups of water or 64oz of water per day.
Next, I set myself a minimum goal of achieving 3 20oz bottles of water per day. By setting a minimum, I created a very achievable goal for myself that was only slightly above the daily average I was able to accomplish at that time. I knew this was doable, but it also forced me to stretch myself beyond what was comfortable at the time.
I didn’t stop there – I proceeded to set up accountability measures to help myself reach this daily minimum I set for myself. I used my phone’s Reminders app to create 3 separate reminders:
- One to go off at 11AM for my first 20oz
- One to go off at 4PM for my second 20oz
- One to go off at 8PM for my third 20oz
By doing this, I created benchmarks for myself to help me reach my final daily goal as opposed to potentially finding myself scrambling at the end of the day to cram in large amounts of water. Each day I’d get a notification at specific times, reminding me to accomplish the benchmark goal and helping me stay on top of my daily goal.
This method also reinforced the habit by giving me the option to check the task off a list, giving myself the sense of accomplishment and rewarding the effort rather than just the end result.
Was I successful immediately? No.
I struggled for a few days to reach my benchmark goals prior to the notification popping up on my screen. Even though I wasn’t fully succeeding, I didn’t let up and over time I slowly started to see improvements in my habit. Soon enough, I was finishing my bottle before the notification popped up.
Fast forward 4 weeks since I began this practice, and I’m now exceeding my daily goal by successfully consuming 4 20oz bottles of water most days.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Focus on building a desired habit with minimums – achievable goals that stretch you enough to create change but not too much to create overwhelm.
- Strengthen your habit building with the use of accountability measures such as benchmark goals and phone notifications to help you increase your rate of follow through.
- Be patient with the process – you won’t necessarily succeed right away but if you focus on making small improvements over time, you will eventually reach your goal and possibly even exceed it.
- While I presented this idea in regards to my daily water consumption, you can use this method to help implement any habit into your day-to-day life.
Habit-building in a progressive manner is a sustainable and lifestyle-based solution to adopting a healthier lifestyle without feeling restricted and overwhelmed during the process. In fact, this is how I help my clients navigate nutrition and healthy habits through my 1:1 coaching program. Rather than expecting my clients to transition immediately to a diet, I focus instead on making manageable shifts towards healthier choices – such as increasing vegetable or protein intake, swapping out processed foods for whole foods, or slowly incorporating stretching into a daily routine – to help them reach their goals and maintain their progress afterwards.
If you’re interested in reaching your health and fitness goals through habit-based nutrition coaching, you can learn more about my 1:1 coaching program + apply today here.
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