Mini-Habit Challenges
We are one month into the new year, how are your health habits? Do you need some inspiration or accountability?
I shared a mini health habit challenge on my IG the other day and I wanted to share a more in-depth version here. This will especially provide you with more context, support, and insight! Once you start feeling confident about implementing healthy habits in one of these three aspects of life, you will begin to see change and transformation. When you fuel your body with intention, it becomes easier to incorporate exercise, and your mindset changes. When you focus on your home environment, you feel motivated to start planning and prepping your meals. So wherever you are on your holistic health journey start with one challenge to allow ease and continued growth on your holistic health journey.
Challenge one: Nutrition and Gut Support
Drink warm lemon water first thing in the morning
Eat breakfast with protein, healthy fat, fiber, and a complex carb within two hours of waking
Check at least 5 ingredient labels in your pantry for seed oils, artificial and processed ingredients
Eat at least 5 different fruits and vegetables throughout the week
Challenge breakdown: The point of this challenge is to help you establish more consistency with fueling and nourishing your body without restriction. Warm lemon water is a great way to start your day to help with your body’s natural detoxification and flush your system before you drink caffeine. Eating a balanced breakfast is key when you’re looking to balance your hormones, improve your gut health, balance blood sugar, and support your energy levels. Not to mention having a balanced breakfast within two hours of waking up will help support your metabolism and circadian rhythms! Becoming self-aware is a key component of your holistic health journey, checking ingredient labels is going to help you understand what type of ingredients you’re most often consuming. It will give you a good idea of what food items could potentially be causing your gut or liver harm and could be something to swap for the future. Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the week is going to improve your gut microbiome aka the good gut bacteria. You will also provide your body with a variety of vitamins and nutrients by eating the rainbow.
Challenge two: Home Environment and Cooking
De-clutter one area of your home (closet, desk, bathroom cabinet, kitchen drawers, or pantry)
Plan 3 recipes for dinner and prep the ingredients (wash, chop, organize)
Set the environment and be intentional as you cook this week. Light a candle or start your diffuser, put on a playlist or podcast, and pour yourself something to sip during the meal-making process
Challenge breakdown: The point of this challenge is to allow increased clarity and ease while tapping into the present moment more often. Your home environment has quite a big impact on your overall health and habits. If you have a cluttered home, your mindset is cluttered, and you’re not going to be in a growth space. You want to create a space that will be supportive of your routines and habits. Choosing spaces to declutter will feel amazing and will promote a positive mindset. Think of a cluttered area in your home, how does it make you feel? Do you avoid it because it feels overwhelming? For example, if your kitchen drawers and pantry are unorganized and cluttered, you likely will not want to spend time making meals if you have to sort and sift through it all to find the tools and ingredients you’re looking for. Now planning and prepping your meals is a must on your health journey. Increasing the number of meals you cook at home will automatically improve your health! When you can sit down, plan the recipes, create an organized grocery list, and then prep some of the ingredients. You will have to think a lot less about what you’re eating every night for dinner or need to feel lost in the grocery store. Plus, with the added prep you will be able to cut back on the time it takes to make your meals! Setting the environment is going to be an amazing experience for your to tap into the present moment, and release stress, and overthinking. You can connect with the process of fueling your body and making it an enjoyable experience. You have to eat and cook a meal regardless if you enjoy it or not, so you might as well enjoy it.
Challenge three: Exercise and Mindset
Journal thoughts and intentions every morning to start your day
Pick a form of movement and incorporate it into your schedule for at least three days
Write an affirmation on a sticky note and place it where you will see it often
Get outside for at least 10 minutes each day and either walk, do a breathing technique or both!
Challenge breakdown: The point of this challenge is to get moving and connect with your mindset. If you’re exercising and hating yourself, you aren’t going to experience the expected transformation. You need to learn to love and talk positively about yourself. Now, this isn’t something that you can fake or experience change with overnight but utilizing this challenge will help get you started in the right direction. Journaling your thoughts and intentions every morning will help put you in a positive mindset to start the day and connect with your goals or what you are most aligned with. Of course, moving your body needs to happen weekly, this is going to improve your mindset, your gut and hormone health, and support your strength or lymphatic system. Writing an affirmation you believe and placing it in a place that you will frequently read will help transform your subconscious thoughts. One of my favorite affirmations is, “I am on the right path and exactly where I’m supposed to be”. Getting outside is not only going to help support your mindset but so will walking and deep breathing. It will support your circadian rhythm and ground your central nervous system. 10 minutes is all it takes but if you can stay out for longer, that's even better!
Now that you have a better understanding of each mini-habit challenge here are some of my tips! First of all, you need to establish a level of accountability, whether you share with a friend or partner, utilize a habit tracker, or use a calendar and reminder system- how will you hold yourself accountable when you lose motivation? You also need to establish a plan! When are you going to incorporate these habits into your lifestyle? What do you need to achieve these habits? Use a planner, a piece of paper, or even the notes section on your phone to jot down a few ideas and plan the habits for your week. For example, if you’re having lemon water and don’t have lemons when will you get them? If you are going to move your body three times, what days will fit best in your schedule and what form of movement are you going to incorporate? Or lastly, if you’re de-cluttering, what area of your home are you going to focus on? What do you need to feel more organized and when will you do that?
Once you establish some accountability and make a plan- HAVE FUN WITH IT!!! Listen, the habits that support your mind, body, and health journey are not hard. It’s the consistency, planning, and discomfort of change that is hard. Give yourself grace and SHOW UP FOR YOURSELF. You can do it and I’m here to support you! Please reach out if you have any questions or need some more support moving forward.