Understanding How To Build Healthy Habits

Nobody started running marathons overnight

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

Building healthy habits has become something of a buzzword phrase. If you spend any amount of time on the internet, especially social media, you’ll see many posts and accounts all trying to promote healthier habits for their audience. You’ll see self-proclaimed wellness experts trying to market a new way of eating and living and being — and you’ll see accredited nutritionists and psychologists, and fitness trainers encouraging their audiences to live up to their fullest potential.

You’ll read about the teas that will change your life, how much exercise you should get daily, what to eat to improve your mood, and what affirmations will help you get through your day, week, or whatever is stressing you out.

You’ll learn about how much water you should be drinking, and how much sleep you should be getting, and the benefits of establishing a morning routine (or any routine for that matter).

There’s so much information to process and digest. It can take an incredible amount of time to separate fact from fiction, too. And so, the whole thing can get somewhat overwhelming real quick.

So, what does one do when they want to build healthier habits but are overwhelmed at the mere thought of knowing where to begin?

You start small.

If you’re looking to change your diet, start with one meal.

Perhaps that means you have a smoothie in the morning instead of a bagel. Or maybe that means that you leave out the sugar in your coffee and just have milk. Perhaps you start by incorporating more vegetables at each meal and shift your mindset from thinking about what you can have to eat rather than what you cannot.

If you’re looking to move your body more, start with fifteen minutes a day.

Nobody starts running a marathon overnight — they begin with a walk around the block. They start with a jog for fifteen minutes. They start by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, stretching before they go to work in the morning, and jumping rope in their basement for ten, fifteen minutes…