Have you ever thought about your habits and how they impact your health goals? Oftentimes habits just “seem to happen” and we aren’t even aware of them! This post provides insight into habits and provides 42 easy habits to track. Be sure to sign up for the free PDF “42 Habits to Track for Weight loss” and have it delivered instantly to your email!
A “habit” is just a term that is used to describe something that you do on a regular basis that you might not even think about doing because it is automatic. And sometimes habits can be especially difficult to change or give up! But difficult doesn’t mean impossible! Oftentimes we form a habit out of convenience or because there is a reward attached to it.
➡️ You brush your teeth because you don’t want to have bad breath all day.
➡️ You grab a glass of wine after work to relax from a stressful day
➡️ You snack at night while watching TV because it helps you decompress and relax
Habits can be good, bad, easy, difficult. But when we do them over and over again, they can be difficult to change or break.
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How to leverage habits for success
There is this really cool psychological trick about habits and how they affect your life.
Habits can be short and simple, and they can also be leveraged to make power moves towards success.
I didn’t come up with this on my own, but rather learned about this concept from James Clear in “Atomic Habits: an easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones.” (one of my absolute favorite books!)
You see, you can do something called “habit stacking” where you take a habit that you already do on a daily basis, and add another simple habit.
For example, say you want to start doing sit-ups in the morning. Well, instead of just starting a new habit, you “stack” it with something that you already do. For example, if every morning you wake up and brew coffee as your usual habit, you can “stack” your new habit by simply saying “then I…” so it would look something like this:
Every morning I wake up and brew coffee, THEN I do 10 sit ups while I’m waiting for it to finish.
And this can snowball into an entire morning routine that is efficient and linked to things that you already do!
If you haven’t read “Atomic Habits” I highly recommend this book which gives so many tips regarding habits and habit change.
What’s the difference between habits versus routines, habits versus goals, and habits versus behavior?
Habits are actions that you already take, often without even thinking about them. They are easy. They are automatic. And they may or may not make your day better, but you do them anyway.
Habits are similar to routines, but I think of routines as a stack of habits that actually accomplish something. You have a morning routine to get ready for work. You have an evening routine to get ready for bed. They are typically a bunch of habits with an end result.
And that end result can also be viewed as your goal! So you come up with a specific result or goal that you are trying to achieve. You stack habits to form a routine, then end with the completion and achieve the result you are looking for.
Somewhere in between all of this you can place behavior, which is just the way that you act during all of this!
So why am I bringing all of this up? Because there are things that we do every single day that we aren’t even aware of. And once you become aware of how habits, routines, and goals impact your day, you can choose to change or modify them to get new results!
My patients who are focusing on improving their health often talk with me about habits. What habits should I track? Do I track habits every day? Which habits make the biggest impact on my life?
I’m here to tell you that every single person has their own health and wellness journey, and there isn’t a “one size fits all” approach. For any habit to stick, it has to be personalized and fit into your own life! And if you are looking for more information regarding ways to naturally boost metabolism, check out this blog post “10 Proven ways to Boost Metabolism Naturally” and consider incorporating these ideas into your new habit routines!
Below is a list of habits to track that can start your brainstorming session!
Nutrition Habits to Track
Tracking nutrition is important because it brings awareness to what you are putting into your body. By tracking nutrition habits, you can figure out what your current patterns are and which habits you want to change.
- Veggies/ Whole Food
- Hydration
- Caffeine
- Alcohol
- Food and Symptoms
- Protein
- Times/ Hours you eat
Movement Habits to Track
Moving increases the amount of energy that your body uses on a daily basis, so tracking movement habits are a great way to motivate you to move more! You can do this with friends to keep each other accountable, or you can track your progress over time!
- Daily Steps
- Exercise Sessions
- Weights
- Total Active Minutes
- Stretching
- Being Outside
- Sports/ Hobbies/ Fun
Stress Habits to Track
Chronic stress is one of the things that can wreck your weight loss efforts. It can cause sleep issues, increase abdominal fat, and make it harder to lose weight! So by tracking your stress habits, and seeing patterns over time, you can begin to incorporate habits for stress management.
- Daily Stress level
- Relaxation Techniques
- Digital Detox
- Set Goals
- Plan ahead
- Try something new
- Affirmations
Mental Health Habits to Track
The everyday business of the world that we live in can really affect mental health. By tracking mental health habits, you can bring awareness to how you feel. Then use new mental health habits to fuel you and replenish you!
- Self care
- Time with Friends/family
- Gratitude
- ROAK (Random Acts of Kindness)
- Happiness level
- Accountability partner
- Coach/ mentor to help guide and support you
Physical Health Habits to Track
When it comes to weight loss goals, tracking habits of physical health can help you tremendously! By tracking physical habits, you can measure progress and see which efforts are working and which habits you would like to change.
- Vitamins/ Supplements
- Weight
- Body Measurements
- Blood pressure/ Blood sugar
- Energy level
- Health check-ups (and diagnostics)
- Non-scale Victories (clothes fitting better, confidence)
Routines Habits to Track
And lastly, routines are a great way to help you form new habits. These routine habits can help track your consistency.
- Morning routine
- Evening routine
- Skin care
- Meal planning
- Chores/ declutter
- Exercise
- Stress management
Conclusion
If you would like help developing habits to track for weight loss, I am always available to you! Just get in touch! And if you want to take advantage of the limited time offer on Habit Tracking Templates, click below!
