Part One: Making Time for Healthy Habits
If you read my last post “A New Journey to a Healthier and Younger Me”, you know I have embarked on a new journey of health and wellness. I talked about six specific pillars on which I am focusing in order to make a lifestyle change and, in turn, to transform myself physically, mentally and spiritually.
The ultimate goal? To become physically younger and inspire others to do the same.
Establishing healthy routines is imperative in this journey, and sustainability and consistency is key. So before we go about implementing our six pillars, we must first have a strong foundation on which to build routines. First, we must make TIME for our new daily routines.
1. Examine Your Current Daily Schedule
I like the quote I heard a few months ago: “You have the same 24 hours as Beyonce…” The biggest challenge is that we all have the same 24 hours in our day. Expanding one activity means we have to reduce another.
Find for pockets of time in your typical day that you spend on leisure and rethink them from this perspective: Are they really make my boat go faster? Is this really good for my health? Do I really need to watch another Netflix movie?
Think about your daily routines from start to finish. Do you spend too much time on your phone clicking on click bait? Consider using an app on your phone to alert you when you’ve spent longer than 15 minutes “decompressing” by playing a game you love. That game might relax you, but it’s not directly contributing to your healthy lifestyle change.
2. Rethink Your Wake/Sleep Schedule
Personally, one of my most important foundations to find time to be healthy is to first look at the wake/sleep balance. I aim for 7 hours, 30 minutes of sleep and then build my schedule around that. Sometimes it works, but most of the time I’m less than perfect at getting the requisite sleep.
With small children, a full-time job, social obligations, and chores required to keep life running, what is ideal might not be realistic every day. But just having that sleep goal is the key for me. I do not beat myself up when I only get 6 hours of sleep. Instead, I look forward and remind myself that tomorrow is another day and I will try to move into the right direction toward my goal of a healthier me.
Then I reflect on what I can do to get more sleep.
In my next blog installment, we will cover Part 2 of How to Prepare for a Healthy Lifestyle Change. We will be covering affirmations and healthy habit as crucial first steps in our wellness journey.
Stay tuned!
