You could have all of the information in the world on the best ways to hack your health, the best food and supplements to use for longevity, and the best workouts for your body. The question is; how do you use it? No one shares with you how to make healthy habits stick on the go- except for BeU Fitness & Nutrition.
The first two weeks of Empowered To Go LIVE are wrapping up, which is pretty darn crazy to believe! This twelve week group programme is dedicated to helping high performers have more energy, more confidence, and more autonomy to squeeze more out of life.
So, what did we talk about in the first crucial time?
Nutrition for less bloating, gas, and abdominal pain on airplanes and trains? Nope.
Fitness for body confidence? Also no.
Sleeping better so that you have more energy and less jet lag? Not even close.
We have been speaking about behaviour change. You see, it's all good and well to have information about the best nutrition choices, the smartest way to work out, and the easiest way to get those quality Zzz's.
However, if you don't know HOW to make your healthy habits stick, all of that new information is an additional stressor/ potential source of letdown- particularly if you travel often.
We're avoiding this in Empowered To Go LIVE. Keep reading to see top tips on how to make your healthy habits stick on the go.
Make it visual.
This is the first, and easiest port of call when it comes to habits like drinking more water, choosing more nutrient dense snacks, or figuring out what's causing that foul- smelling gas at the end of the day. Creating visual reminders for these habits could look like; packing a reusable water bottle in your carry on/ work bag, bringing mixed nuts to go with the yogurt and fruit you'll buy in the airport or convenience store, or keeping a food symptom diary to assess foods and symptoms. A visual reminder becomes a cue; it triggers the craving to drink more water, get the yogurt and fruit to have with your nuts, or take a look back over a seven day period to find out that cooked broccoli really isn't your friend. You use your eyes SO MUCH as a human when you think about it!
Find a way to keep yourself accountable for your desired habit.
You could get a lot of satisfaction out of ticking a box (I am SO that person too), or you could benefit more from having a partner/ family member/ friend accomplishing a habit with you in favour of both your greater goods! Finding an accountability box or buddy works really well for habits such as getting daily fresh air, going to the gym or workout class for a specified number of times in your week, and putting your scrolling habit to bed before you put yourself to bed. Outside accountability is a tactic that helps combat your subconscious. You probably wouldn't get out for that walk if it was 11pm when you realize "oh crap, I didn't actually get any fresh air today." You potentially could avoid any guilt associated with letting yourself down by enlisting a buddy who, at 5pm, would text saying "hey, let's go for a walk and a chat."
Pair your desired habit with an already desirable one.
James Clear wrote a brilliant book on the concept of "habit stacking," and it has since blown up across the high performing influencer community. There's good reason for it too; the concept of pairing a habit you want to become permanent with something that already is permanent works well for habits like remembering to take your supplements, dry brushing for lymphatic drainage before you get in the shower, and drinking a glass of water for every cup of coffee/ alcoholic beverage that you choose to consume. It's SO easy to pair a new habit with one that you've been a practitioner of for years.
Make the habit easy to stick to with a reward.
I'll preface this with a word of caution; if I were you, I wouldn't use food as a reward. If you have ever fallen victim to disordered eating, yo-yo dieting, or any sort of restrictive food intake, rewarding yourself with food could potentially trigger previously detrimental behaviours. However, you can (and I love using this tactic!) show yourself some love for working towards incorporating beneficial behaviours on a daily basis. This works well for high performers who manage to get up a bit earlier in the day for movement before work, have consistently nourished themselves with the best options possible whilst away from home, or have tried to practice more mindfulness around eating hygiene. A reward is something to work towards, through dedication to your desired habit, such as; new workout gear, splurging on quality cooking ingredients and gadgets for your next meal at home, or a few hours of unadulterated reality tv bingeing. Keeping your reward in mind, as you act on your desired new habit, is very gratifying.
Change the language around your habit from "should" to "would."
This is the hardest aspect of making your healthy habits stick on the go; replacing "should" with "would." For example; "I 'should' work out today" makes you feel like working out is an obligation that, if missed, is something to feel guilty about. "I 'should' be better about eating less processed food on the go" makes it seem that, even when it is physically impossible to not choose a highly processed food source, you are failing yourself and your health when that is simply not the case! Replacing "should" with "would" creates a window of opportunity, instead of an instance of guilt. This is an ideal tactic in any situation- not just working out more, drinking less, or spending less time on Instagram. Giving yourself an opportunity to choose a more ideal behaviour, as opposed to guilting yourself over a change you wish you could make, creates less negative self- talk and more positive affirmation that you can make change for your better good.
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