Some say they can only change the whole set up in one go, there are great examples of this approach working. But for most people, small daily improvements give much better results. Health benefits, feeling of achievement, progress, happiness. It might not feel like an achievement straight away, but a month or two down the line you will be surprised how far you’ve gotten.

Many of us are caught in daily routines, work-kids-eat-sleep (probs no sleep for most), unable to find sufficient time to look after our own wellbeing.

Interestingly, as busy as we are with our non-stop schedules, we actually manage to over-eat and under-move. Would have thought it should be the opposite – under-eat and over-move? Not that this is a better option…

Letting go, overindulging takes no time at all. Trying to get your own health on track is a major struggle. It’s a one-to -one: you vs you.

Here is how you can trigger a positive Catch 22, so whichever way you look at things you are bound to see improvements:

Find a super-easy thing to change, something that you can do without thinking, e.g. start having two cups of veg on your plate with every meal. Research shows we tend to eat everything what’s on the plate whether we really want it or not (hence dangers of the big plates), so the likelihood is you’ll finish your veggies, even if you are not huge on them generally. Consuming more vegetables will make you feel fuller than before, less sugar cravings, more nutrients, more fibre. A week into the experiment you it will strange not to have all that veg on your plate. Two weeks in your body will be asking for more veg, less bread. After three weeks in you will find your waist slimmer and your stride lighter. So you will have moved towards your goal, which is great, your body has less cravings, and if you try stop having veg you body will actually want it, which is also great! Bear in mind you have not actually cut anything out. You have added and replaced.

Same works with exercise: what’s super easy for you? So easy that it seems silly even to suggest it? One minute of squats in front of TV – fantastic! The likelihood is you’ll find this easy, might as well do some push-ups for a minute and hold a plank. That’s 3 minutes, will add jumping jacks for 2 minutes for full measure… Basically, keeping active causes further activity. Before you know it, you are doing 10-15 minutes every day as soon as you are home. Because you can. And because it feels good, and because it’s better than before – progress! Two week in you will feel more active, more positive, confident you are moving forward. If you decide to stop – you know you have moved forward already, and you can start again any time; if you continue – you will progress, get stronger, more flexible, etc. Win-win 🙂

Certain amount of stress can be turned into excitement changing the perspective entirely. Why not use our set daily routines to our advantage too: implement one super-easy change, stick to it and acknowledge your own success, this will give you confidence to try other things.

Let me know how it works for you. I am starting off a sleep challenge for myself: in bed before 11pm. Will post updates 🙂