3 Ways to Establish Health & Fitness Habits

Author: Shaela Daugherty, Founder & CEO: SD Fitness + Wellness

When was the last time you thought about your habits? Chances are you have habits every single-day that you do (whether good or bad, known or unknown). Here are some simple habits you may have: you wake up, you go to the bathroom, you make your coffee, you eat breakfast, etc. Those are all things you do almost every single day. THOSE are habits! Those habits make up your morning routine, your daily rhythm, your nighttime routine, etc. They keep your life going day in and day out.

Whether you realize it or not, habits are small significant daily actions and practices that build your overall lifestyle. Maybe when you think about habits now you view them as small and inconsequential, but they actually make up achieving your goal. 

It’s like compound interest. I often use this example with my clients when it comes to using the whole-foods nutrition supplement Juice Plus+, I tell them it’s like their retirement. They are making a decision daily by taking the supplement and putting it into their health “retirement.” Once they are taking it every day, over the course of time their nutrition is compounded. Their nutrition and health gets better and better over time because of the small daily action of taking JP+ consistently. It’s the same with any habit, the small actionable step you take every day through a habit, compounds over time to help you achieve your goals.

Don’t get me wrong, we will all deal with setbacks, we will all be in various seasons and phases of life, but in the long run, as James Clear says (in his book Atomic Habits):

"The quality of our lives depends on the quality of our habits. With the same habits you will end up with the same results, with better habits, you can do anything."

So what does this have to do with your health and fitness? Well, EVERYTHING. It is the very foundation of your entire wellness journey. See culture and the world offers you this perfect body and lifestyle on a silver platter, they say: if you do xyz in 6 weeks you'll reach your goals and you'll be done. That’s just not sustainable.

The number ONE reason I get my clients is because they don't have healthy lifestyle habits. They are sick and tired of failing at everything else and they feel they have no where else to look. They’ve tried everything else out there, and it wasn’t working or sustainable, so I am usually their last ditch effort to reach what they feel are unattainable and impossible goals.

But guess what, your goals are not unattainable or impossible, they are very possible, and we will achieve them, as long as you are willing to work slowly and build the habits necessary to achieve them.

Imagine this scenario: Envision yourself 3 years from now – what type of person do you want to be? Okay now, envision you are there, and you hear a knock on the door – it’s all the habits you either did or didn’t implement over the last 5 years that have led to who you are in 3 years. What habits and daily practices led you there?

Okay that was a future example, let’s talk right now. Knock Knock, Whose there? It’s your habits from the last 5 years. What worked? What didn’t? How have those habits led you to where you are right now and today?

Habits ARE what make up your wellness journey. Your fitness, your nutrition, the whole shebang. And you know why that’s hard to hear? Because it’s not big and flashy. It’s very counter culture.

Maybe you are like some of my clients that came to me and just wanted their body to change now. Maybe you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and you just want to be better and “arrive.” But the only way to achieve your goals in a sustainable way is by having daily practices and habits that help you reach your goals and then sustain those goals.

There are different types of habits, but the habits you need to focus on in your wellness journey are identity based habits – these are goal achieving habits. These are the type of habits that move us toward achieving our goals. They not only help us achieve our goals, but they help us become the type of person we want to be in Christ. They are not only our spiritual disciplines, but our physical disciplines as well.

Your habits reenforce the type of person you want to be – they help make up your identity in Christ. 

Let me reiterate here that your identity should be in Christ, and if you are here and don’t know what that means or you aren’t sure you truly know who Jesus is or if you have trusted in Him, let’s chat.

But for those who do know who Christ is – you identity has to be in Christ first before we can begin to grow in your faith and in your wellness journey.

Once you know your identity is in Christ, then you can ask yourself these 3 questions to get you started on building healthy habits:

1. What type of habits have NOT worked in the last 5 years that got you where you are today? 
2. What type of healthy and fit person or lifestyle would you like to be in 5 years? 
3. What are some current habits you already have in GENERAL (like waking up, getting coffee, etc.)? 

In all of this, your action will proceed motivation. You are not always going to feel motivated, but you CAN always act. The more you act, the more you will begin to feel motivated. So now that you understand WHY habits are important, ask yourself the 3 questions above to help you understand what type of healthy and fit lifestyle you want to lead.