Foundation Fitness Co.

1. Movement

If you haven’t read my article on how to workout and move your body for beginners, read it here. In that article, we cover how and why we need to move our bodies.

Movement is the easiest habit to add to your life for a majority of people. I don’t mean adding 2 hours in the gym everyday. I mean things like parking in the back of the parking lot, walking around your house perimeter 3 times a day, doing 10 squats every time you get up from your work desk to go to the bathroom. As far as habit stacking goes, this is the easiest to implement.

How?

Find something you do every day anyway. Maybe (hopefully) you brush your teeth each morning as you’re getting ready. Maybe you come home from work at the same time every day. Maybe your kids play outside after school every day.

Now we’re going to add movement to this already existing habit: You do squats while you brush your teeth (new rule). You put walking shoes on your porch or in your car—when you get home, the walking shoes go on, and you walk in your neighborhood or around your home before you go all the way inside. If your kids play outside, play with them! (Tag is a great one.)

2. Hydration

The next easiest one to add!

Go grab a glass of water. I’ll wait. Doesn’t have to be big. Doesn’t have to be cold (though I prefer it that way). Just has to be water.

You got it? Take two big gulps.

Notice how you can feel go all the way through your body. You can feel the cooling effect.

Now, each sip doesn’t magically hydrate every cell in your body, but over a few minutes, you reap the benefits of having happily hydrated cells, full muscles, and all kinds of internal benefits (better digestion, better cognitive capabilities, etc.). There is nothing in your body that is hurt by better hydration.

So drink your water. Aim for one extra bottle a day. I don’t care what size bottle. Just add one. Do it for a week, then add another. Write down how you feel.

3. Mental Well-Being

SUNSHINE.

Vitamin D and fresh air. A quiet mind. The crisp fall leaves swirling in the breeze.

Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Your mind needs sunshine, sleep, fresh air, and quiet time. It needs family talks, friends, and good books. If you’re running around stressed and running on fumes and energy drinks, your mind is in overdrive. That’s great in a crisis, but we need to be able to calm our bodies. One of my favorite mental health resources is on YouTube: Therapy In A Nutshell, and she has a wonderful video on stress and the body here.

Taking time to yourself can be tracked. It can also be combined with exercise, if you find that it is something that clears your mind. Maybe a walk outside or a calm cup of tea. Find what calms you and do more of it.

4. Sleep

Sleep is when your body recovers. If you have crappy sleep, your muscles won’t be able to recover. You’ll feel tired. You’ll make worse decisions with food. Literally everything goes downhill.

Lack of sleep increases stress on your body and mind, and will keep you from making sound decisions. The better your sleep, the more realistic your goals will feel.

5. Nutrition

Same theme here. If you look at your normal diet, it’s probably got a variety of healthier and unhealthier foods. Fattier and less fatty. A combination of all kinds of food.

Changing eating habits might seem the most daunting, but really it’s no different than any other habit. How easy would it be to swap one dessert for a salad? Or one pizza night out for a homemade pizza night? To swap one fast food night for a cook-at-home-together night?

It’s not rocket science. It’s simple. Just one day at a time, one little change at a time.