Reestablishing Healthy Habits

Have you ever noticed that when life throws us a curve ball, all the habits we have developed to help us deal get dropped? Are you feeling this too?

Why is this? We spend all this time developing and nurturing these great habits and then when times get tough, poof, they disappear. Or, if you’re lucky, some of them disappear but not all of them. At the end of the day the things you use to keep yourself grounded, calm, and present are not the things you are reaching for. 

Stress puts our bodies into fight or flight, which produces the stress hormone, cortisol.  The production of cortisol is necessary for everyday life. It helps regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels and can even strengthen your heart muscle. In small does, cortisol can help your memory skills, lower sensitivity to pain, and increase your immune system. 

When we experience chronic stress, due to the current pandemic, losing a loved one, losing a job, knowing someone who is ill, or financial strain, we overproduce cortisol. This can lead to  fatigue, irritability, headaches, intestinal problems, anxiety or depression, weight gain, an increase in inflammation, and poor sleep. This is usually when all our good habits go flying out the window and we end up reaching for sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and comfort foods to make us feel better. We also end up sleeping more because our bodies and minds feel exhausted and the sleep we do get isn’t as restful. 

This is probably something you already know, see, and feel. So now what? You need to take some steps to control your stress levels. Most of the time it is our minds and not our bodies that are telling us that we don’t want to do what is good for us. Here are a few of the tricks I use to get myself back on track:

Begin. 

A lot of the time, if I can just start whatever it is I’m trying to do, whether it be my yoga practice, meditation, eating something healthy, I am already on the right track. My mind and body want to be healthy, but just like a small child, sometimes they need guidance. For example, if I want to practice yoga but my mind is telling me it sounds better to sit on my phone and look at social media, I just start by rolling out my mat. Once my mat is rolled out I usually end up doing my practice. With each little victory you strengthen your resolve to do it again the next day. 

Start with just one small thing each day.

When we are stressed out we make a laundry list of all the things we are not doing right. The list can feel heavy and actually keep us from doing things that will make us feel better. Pick one thing that you can do today to put you back on track. I have been off track with my eating habits lately. I usually eat my biggest meal in the middle of the day and have a smaller dinner. When I do this I know that I am setting myself up to eat better the next day. I wake up feeling light and ready to start my day instead of heavy and lethargic.  Lately, I have been eating every meal like it is going to be my last.  Needless to say, I have been waking up still feeling full but at the same time hungry. It creates a vicious cycle of eating more and feeling bad. I made the decision to make my dinner lighter again. I just focused on the one meal. After I did this the first day, I woke up and felt better. Because I felt better it was easy to make choices that align with the habits that serve me.  When your body and mind remember how good they feel when you are making healthy choices each choice becomes easier to make. 

Remember your why.

When we are stressed out we tend to focus only on our stress. You had a reason that you started the healthy habits that you have developed, remind yourself of this. Remembering why you want to be healthy will give you the motivation you need to get back on track. Why is this important to you? Your why comes from within you and it will provide a sense of stability and direction when life feels directionless and far from stable. 

Get up early.

This may by far be one of the most important things you can do each day. I get it, it is so hard to make yourself get up when you are buried in your covers feeling all warm and cozy. Your mind is telling you that you are tired and you could just stay in bed for 5 more minutes, which inevitably ends up being much more. It’s amazing how quiet the world is first thing in the morning. There are zero distractions, which will allow you to enjoy some peace and quiet. This is something we all need right now. When you decide to get up in the morning you are also lining yourself up with the natural rhythm of the day. When you get up earlier you will want to go to bed earlier. Getting yourself on a sleep routine will help you be more productive. This doesn’t mean the rest of your day magically falls into place but it does make some of the healthier decisions easier to make. Healthy habits build off of each other, so if you start each day with one you are setting yourself up for success.

Remember to be kind to yourself and start small. But really just start. When was the last time you regretted doing something good for yourself? 

If you have a second, let me know what healthy habits you have kept in place and which ones you are going to reinstate or even start?