How To Build Healthy Habits

Good morning,
Are you motivated today?

NOBODY is motivated every day and I’m one of them!
This applies to the gym and eating well.

You need to set yourself up for success, is it easy?
HELL NO!
If it was, everyone would be rocking the abs.
But, if you set your lifestyle up for success is it possible? 100%

Why do we find it hard to Build Healthy Habits?

“I know what I’m supposed to do, I just can’t get myself to do it!” 
Welcome to the club we all know what we need to do, but we just can’t get ourselves to make the important changes.

We know how to get healthier - move more and eat less!

We know how to exercise - do some push-ups and get stronger.

We know how to eat well - more vegetables and less sugar.

And yet, we can’t get ourselves to stick with ANY of these things for longer than a few weeks.

Why?

Building new healthy habits is tough, our brains crave instant gratification, we don’t fully understand how habits are built, life gets busy, and our default behavior is often as unhealthy as it is easy.

As a result, we don’t put the right systems in place in order to make changes stick. We also rely on way too much on willpower and motivation.We tend to burn the candle from both ends, go too fast too soon, and then get overwhelmed too quickly.

Does this sound about right?

• I’m going to eat 100% Paleo

• I’m going to run 5 miles a day

• I’m going to work out in a gym five times a week.

If you’re somebody that eats a typically poor diet, never runs, and hasn’t set foot in a gym since spring, changing all of these at once is almost a surefire way to succeed at precisely NONE of them.

If we want food we can get it from a deliveroo, stick a meal in a microwave, or sit down at a restaurant that’s open 24 hours. If we want a game we can download it to our computers/phones/PS4s within a matter of seconds. If we want to watch a TV show, it’s a few clicks away.

We expect to get in shape to go the same way.  

And this is why we suck at building healthy habits that stick.

This is why people give up:

• They try to change too many habits too soon

• They get impatient the results don’t come more quickly

• They slip up when life gets busy

• And they go back to square one

It’s why we are doomed to stay overweight and suck at building habits.Here are some specific healthy habits and resolutions you SHOULD be picking later, but I have a big damn question to ask you first: “But why though?”

You need a damn good reason as to why you want to build them in the first place or the changes will never stick.

Without a good “Why”, you won’t see results.

If you’re here because you decided you “should” get in shape for someone else, you’re going to fail the second life gets busy.

If you are dragging yourself to the gym because you think you “should” run on a treadmill five days a week even though you hate it, it’s not going to last!

As you’re building the habits or resolutions you’re trying to set, make the habit part of a bigger cause that’s worth the struggle.

You’re not just going to the gym, you’re building a new body that you’re not ashamed of so you can start seeing people again.

You’re not just liking vegetables, you’re losing fat so you can fit into your dream trousers.

You’re not just dragging yourself out of bed early, you’re getting up earlier so you can work on your side business before your kids get up so you can set money aside for a better future.

In my 1-on-1 coaching and my online coaching, I refer to this as your “Why.” Without it, you’re just forcing yourself to do things you don’t like to do that’ll never last.

So dig deep and ask “why” until you get to the root cause of WHY you want to build a new healthy habit or change a bad one.

Write it down. And post it on your fridge where you can see it every day. Or everywhere in the house!

Got your reason?
Great. Here are a few habits and routines you should look to build/improve. 

1. Priorities your sleep and follow a bedtime routine that will get you a good nights rest. Allowing you to make better food choices the next day.

2. Schedule a time every week that you do your food shop. Keeping good food in your fridges for the week ahead.

3. Follow a training plan, so you have clarity, focus on your session and your goals.

4. Be active, aim for 8-10,000 steps a day.

5. Eat the RAINBOW! (not skittles) I mean have a lot of different fruits and veg in your diet.

6. Cook in batches, cook multiple meals and plan your food for the next day or two. You will save money and calories this way.

Start simple. Simple works!
Why do you the tire is still a cycle?
It works! Just like these points above.

Talk to you soon and stay positive,
Brandon