How To Switch Up Your Routine Without Breaking Your Healthy Habits

If there is one thing I know to be true, it is that healthy habit building involves consistency. But what happens when you are consistently performing your habits but you outgrow your habits or routine or are unable to make time for your usual routine? How is it possible to remain consistent in a routine that you’ve grown out of or a routine that you can’t do anymore because of a lifestyle shift? Because you are human and life is full of seasons (the actual seasons- fall, winter, spring and summer- and seasons of life), it is important to transition your routine around them. Shifting your routine from one that fit your life during one season into a new routine that fits the new season of life that you are in now, is so important for optimizing your habits and your healthy lifestyle. You cannot expect to stay on the same path and journey forever, so when your life calls for a shift, it is important that you transition with it. But how can you do this without breaking all those healthy habits you worked so hard to add into your routine? Here are my best tips:

Start Small

You don’t have to switch up your routine all at once. Often is is best to work on switching up one thing at a time- work on getting comfortable with a new habit or routine before changing up another habit or routine. Easing into a new habit or routine, whether that be a new type of workout, adding in new meal prep ideas, or a new morning or night routine will be beneficial to you and your health rather than overwhelming yourself by trying to change too much at once.

Find New Ways To Get In Your Habits

Sometimes all you need is to find a new way to get in your habits, especially if a habit is contributing to your life in a positive way. You can do this by changing up your usual routine format, changing the time of day you perform your habit, changing up the place where you perform your habit, finding a new creative way to get in a habit, etc.

Find Ways To Make Your Habits Doable

Anything from a change in weather to a change in work or family schedule can affect your habits and how you perform them. Instead of overwhelming yourself by trying to force your habits into your current lifestyle, try and make the habits work for you and your lifestyle. Just because you have a lifestyle shift doesn’t mean you have to drop everything that you are working towards but it can mean making adjustments to your habits to fit the lifestyle shift. For example, if a new schedule doesn’t allow you to be able to make your usual 1 hour workout class, perhaps you can find a class or at home workout that is just as effective but one that is shorter, a better location or one that meets your new needs.

Focus On Adding Things In

Try and shift your focus on what you can add in rather than what you have to take away (whether it is something you don’t have the time or energy for or something that doesn’t align with your current lifestyle). Too often we tend to put the focus on what we “can’t do or have”, but when you are making shifts to better your health it is important to keep things positive.

Keep in mind that a routine that feels natural will benefit your health much more than a routine that feels forced. Always choose routines and habits that align with your lifestyle, wants and needs. Health and wellness is meant to take away stress, not add in stress. So if you ever are feeling overwhelmed by your habits and routines, take time to readjust your routine to fit your life in a way that isn’t stressful.