How to Finally Turn a Corner with Your Health Habits

When things simply haven’t been going your way regarding your health and the goals you’ve set for yourself, it can be pretty demoralizing.

Many of us tend to internalize this by making it about ‘not being good enough’ or ‘not having the ability to stick to things’ and it’s a feeling that doesn’t bring on a lot of positivity.

However, no matter how many times you’ve tried and failed (your own personal meaning of failure, of course), you shouldn’t stop yourself from trying again. You simply haven’t found the right strategy yet. Or, maybe you’re just the kind of person who starts and stops things multiple times, and that’s how things seem to work out for you.

We’re going to talk about what ‘starting again’ looks like and how you can make some positive changes today. If you’re starting again for the third time, or the tenth time - you’re still worthy. Power to you for having started again that many times already. Starting again, picking up where you left of, and trying things over is something to be proud of.

Let’s get started.

Start Small

When you’re looking to make changes to your health habits, it makes sense to start small.

Don’t go stalking powerlifters on Instagram and feel like you need to consume copious amounts of protein and lift more than your body weight.

You don’t need to change every aspect of your lifestyle right away. The idea that you do, is where things become unrealistic and unsustainable very quickly. It’s usually much better to start something on a smaller scale and progress over time.

If what you’re looking for are sustainability and stability, you need to get used to the results of all the small changes you make, before making new changes. At Dunnebells we talk a lot about 5-minute habits. We have an entire method that we teach, but basically, ask yourself what you can do in 5-minutes that will make a big difference.

We identify that thing and we start practicing it until it feels easy and natural, we than add things on top of that so it feels more sustainable.

For instance, running a marathon. Sure, you could attempt to get out there today and run 42 kms. However, what we presume would happen is that you wouldn’t likely finish and you’d have such a terrible time that you probably would never ever EVER attempt another - or ever go on a run again in your life.

What if you were to, instead, run for twenty minutes every day for a week, and progress to thirty minutes for the following two weeks? Once that feels doable and something you can do regularly, amp it up a bit and try running for 50 minutes until that too, feels okay.

It may take a long time to feel good about 42 km but at some point or another, you’ll get there.

However, if you try to do it all at once, it’s possible that you’ll never try again.

See what we’re saying? Start small. Build habits. Find out what it feels like to enjoy what you’re doing. Build more habits. Prove to yourself that you CAN do this.

Make Changes to Your Environment

Making changes to your environment can also help you to make changes to your health and your day-to-day habits.

For example, if your home’s pantry is full of unhealthy foods just waiting there and tempting you, it could be harder to make positive changes. This isn’t always the case, but we know it does help some people so we wanted to mention it.

Your sleep is also important, and one of the first things we look at inside our program is how to improve your sleep health by making a few adjustments to your bedroom environment. What’s your night time routine like? Are you setting yourself up to be able to get a decent night’s sleep?

Are the people around you supportive of your decisions to start on your health journey? Have you ever told them? If you find ways to allow people in on what you’re doing that sit well with you, you might find that having their support extremely beneficial.

If you are someone who goes out drinking every weekend, maybe consider that its not really doing you any good in the health department, or the budgeting department.

All areas of your environment play an important role.

Even areas like your living room and your bathroom, or lets just say - your whole house.

If you feel happy at home, at peace at home, and inspired at home - you’re doing to do better than if your home is a place that feels so unlike you that you can’t be yourself.

Not sure where to start? Instead, when you think of all the things you want to accomplish - what are the things that come up as barriers? When you’re about to eat, what thoughts come up? If you’re headed to the gym, where does your head go? On Sundays when you’re preparing for your week, what’s standing in your way?

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what will work, so we suggest stepping back and acknowledging what’s getting in your way and making tweaks to those things first.

Don’t Workout Alone for Better Accountability

When you work out alone, it’s so much easier for you to just skip a day and tell yourself that you’ll pick things up tomorrow or next week. We have been there, we get it! And because no one else is involved, you’re not really being held accountable.

Sometimes, it can be better to work out with someone else rather than by yourself for that very reason.

Find a workout buddy, someone who can keep you consistent and hold you accountable when times are tough.

Can’t find one in real life? Find an online friend with similar goals! Help each other reach them. You got this.

Be Willing to Seek Help

No one is better off on their own, and certainly, none of us have all the answers.

If you want to make a change to your health, sometimes you have to be willing to seek help from professionals. That might be as simple as working with a personal trainer who can turn your bad habits into positive ones. Or it might be about seeking help for a particular problem that’s holding your health back.

For example, if you’ve lived with addiction, getting help from somewhere like delphihealthgroup.com might be just what you need.

Learn from Your Bad Days and Slip-ups

When things don’t go the way you want them to and you make mistakes regarding your health, you should try to learn from those moments. There’s nothing wrong with slipping up and getting things wrong as long as you get back on track at the soonest opportunity. Learning from those negatives and putting in place some positives instead might be just what you need.

Take breaks when you need them and acknowledge that nobody is perfect. When you have a slip-up, try thinking about why it happened and how it made you feel. Is there something you could have done differently? Was it a case of needing more support, or did the slip-up happen because you were tired and pushing yourself too hard?

Sometimes what you need is a breather. Take a day, and start fresh tomorrow.

Nothing is so important that you can’t move past it.

What’s more important than anything is that you don’t give up entirely.

Take care of yourself and understand that we all have days (we all have weeks and months too) but they don’t define you nor do you have to identify with them.

As you can see, there are lots of things that can be done when you’re looking to turn the corner and finally make a change. Your health should always be a top priority, and if you haven’t been putting it first recently, now is the time to change that.

The ideas above can definitely help you do so.

Need some help? Check out our 8-week personal training program with built-in accountability and coaching to help you take small sustainable steps toward your goals!