how to reset

Inevitably you'll get to this place in life- specifically with your healthy habits- that you need to push the "reset" button. It's nice that most of our technology has a button you can press to reset the device but our body isn't that simple. Let's go over some options for things that can be your reset button for healthy lifestyle habits. 

1. ANALYZE YOUR BEHAVIOR- Sometimes we attempt to change behavior that we haven't taken the time to understand. Understanding WHY you are feeling and doing what you are is important to the process of changing the behavior. If you're frustrated with not waking up in the morning to exercise, ask yourself "why?" Are you bored with your routine, tired from staying up at night looking at social media, forgetting the benefit of exercise, dealing with extra responsibilities and stress in life so you just can't get out of bed in the morning? Usually if you take a minute to remove yourself from the situation and take the perspective of the fly-on-the-wall you can pinpoint at least one thing that's causing you to abandon your healthy behaviors.

2. TAKE SMALL STEPS- Small steps towards healthy create small wins that create positive momentum and exponentially move you forward. For example, if your goal is to make healthier meal choices focus on breakfast then move to lunch then tackle dinner. If you want to be able to exercise 30 minutes 5 times a week (recommended amount), start with 10 minutes twice a week and then increase frequency and length of exercise little by little until you meet your goals. You get the idea. Don't forget the power of small changes. 

3. KNOW WHEN YOU NEED TO PAUSE- I'm all about healthy living but there are times that you need to pause anything that adds stress to your life including healthy lifestyle changes. At this point you should focus solely on your mental health. Your mental health greatly impacts your physical health so by doing this you're really still contributing to your physical health. Any change in established behavior causes stress. This usually causes a healthy amount of stress however, in times of grief, depression, large life changes such as divorce, family or personal illness, moving or career change it's time to focus on coping. Many of the healthy lifestyle changes you can actually improve your mental health...exercise, avoiding sugar, building relationships, meditation, practicing gratitude, getting sleep  are all important for your mental health. 

4. DON'T LET YOUR MIND DWELL ON MISTAKES- Keeping your eyes ahead while only glancing back at your past mistakes to learn is a skill that's rarely mastered but I want you to attempt.  When you're using your past failure to discourage a current attempt at trying again, stop yourself. Learn from your mistakes. Do better this time and keep moving towards your goal. Surround yourself with positive affirmations and learn to identify negative thinking when it begins and flip the script going through your mind to something positive. 


Feeling ready to reset?