If you’ve ever found yourself saying,
“I know what I should be doing, I just can’t seem to stick to it,”
then this article is for you.
Because I don’t think the problem is usually a lack of knowledge.
Or even a lack of willpower.
I think we often start in the wrong place.
We try harder before we’ve understood what our body is asking for.
Very often it’s actually learning how to look after ourselves with as little effort as possible, that way we get a chance to really recover because recovery isn’t something we earn once everything else has been done.
It’s not the reward for finishing the washing, replying to the emails or ticking off every job on the list.
Yet so many of us live as though it is. Most of the women I talk to are trying sooo hard that they are exhausting themselves in the process.
They know that drinking more water would probably help. They know they could eat fewer sweet things, more vegetables, move a little more or go to bed earlier. The information isn’t the problem.
The difficulty comes when life gets on top of us, you’re in pain, or you’re simply exhausted. That’s when the healthy habits you’ve been trying so hard to establish are often the first things to disappear.
- You promise yourself you’ll go for a walk, but you’re too tired.
- You plan a healthy meal, but reach for something quick because it’s been a long day.
- You stay up later than you intended because it’s the first time all day you’ve had a moment to yourself.
Then, almost without thinking, you blame yourself.
“I’ve got no willpower.”
“I just need to be more disciplined.”
“Why can everyone else do this except me?”
But what if your body is simply doing exactly what it has been designed to do? To protect you.
- If you’ve had a poor night’s sleep, your body naturally looks for quick energy.
- If you’re stressed, it encourages you towards comfort and familiarity.
- If you’re dehydrated, you might mistake thirst for hunger.
- If you’re in pain, movement becomes much less appealing.
- If you’ve been looking after everyone else for weeks on end without taking time to recover, your body starts asking for rest.
This is exactly what happened to me 15 years ago, and my body simply stopped. I’d really like to help yours to keep going without that type of collapse.
None of it means you’ve failed. It simply means your body is responding to the what’s happening in the now. It’s not trying to sabotage you, it’s simply trying to protect you. So give it a helping hand, take notice when it cries for help
The biggest change I see in my clients isn’t when they discover a new food or supplement. It’s when they stop fighting their body and start listening to it.
Instead of asking,
“Why can’t I stick to healthy habits?”
they begin asking,
“What do I need to do to help my body?”
The answers are often much simpler than they expected.
Only this week I was talking to a lady who felt she was doing all the right things. She even made sure she had twenty minutes to herself each day.
As we talked, I asked her what those twenty minutes looked like.
She smiled and told me they were often household chores, or watering the garden.
Without realising it, she’d come to think of being productive as resting.
She wasn’t doing anything wrong. She’d simply become so used to always doing something that she’d almost forgotten what it feels like to stop.
As we explored a little more, we talked about the fact that she’s 51 and is concerned about the changes that menopause brings (one of my favourite topics). I suggested that giving herself more opportunity to recover in the evenings might not only help her energy, but also improve the quality of her sleep and support her body through this next stage of life.
That conversation reminded me that our perception isn’t always reality.
Sometimes we need someone to help us notice what we’ve stopped noticing ourselves.
That’s one of the reasons I use my Healthy Habits Framework.
Rather than trying to change everything at once, I encourage people to think about what they need, about which of their batteries is running low.
The aim isn’t to charge every battery overnight. It’s to work out which one is asking for your attention.
When you understand where to start, everything else begins to feel much more manageable.
Over the coming weeks I’m going to be exploring this idea in more detail.
We’ll explore each of the four batteries and how understanding them can help you work with your body instead of against it.
Because lasting health doesn’t come from trying harder. It comes from understanding yourself a little better. Your body has been talking to you all along.
Perhaps it’s time to start listening.
