Jumpstart Your Healthy Habits!
When is the last time you thought about your health goals? Whether it was last week, last month, or even last year, now is the time to revisit those goals and jumpstart healthy habits that you may have put on hold.
Getting back into a routine after time off might seem overwhelming at first, but you can do it. Instead of thinking about time lost, focus on the future and everything that you’ll be able to accomplish!
You can revisit, refresh, and restart your healthy lifestyle goals using the steps below.
Revisit: Begin by revisiting your past goals. If you haven’t already, put them down on paper and make them official.
Refresh: This is a chance to think about the future and what you want to accomplish – which may have changed over time. Read over your goals and think about the following:
· Do these goals still make sense for me?
· What worked and what didn’t work well for me in the past?
· What issues have caused or may cause me to get off track?
· Are there any changes I want to make to my goals going forward?
Write out your refreshed goals, making any changes that you think are needed. You will also want to write down three actions that you can do to achieve each goal. Remember, your actions should be:
Specific: Plan your action in detail by deciding who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Measurable: Incorporate measurable and trackable benchmarks to measure progress.
Achievable: Be realistic. Do not set yourself up for failure. Plan for small changes that add up over time.
Relevant: Be practical about what you can achieve. What is the purpose? What is the big picture here?
Time-Based: Build in time-related parameters so you know if you are staying on track within a time frame.
Restart: Now it’s time to put them to the test and try. If you find yourself having difficulties, don’t give up! Pause and reexamine. Revisit your goals, refresh, and restart. The most important thing is to set attainable goals and actions that work for you so that you can achieve better health.
Pathway of Health can help with tools and resources to help you attain your goals. Just let us know.
As you work toward your refreshed health goals, remember to seek out support from those around you. If you haven’t already, you can also join a CDC Lifestyle Change Program, like the Pathway Of Health CDC Lifestyle Change Program for Diabetes Prevention. At Pathway Of Health, a trained lifestyle coach works with a group of participants to help them learn how to eat healthier, exercise more, and reduce stress. The class is specifically designed for people who have prediabetes, a condition where a person’s blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. With support from the Lifestyle Change Coach and each other, participants have been shown to cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes in half. If you have or are at risk for prediabetes and would like more information, contact us at (719) 470-1146 or send us an email at mycoachmarti@gmail.com
Main context courtesy of CDC
