5 ‘Bad Habits’ to Kick This Year

If you follow me on instagram or subscribe to my email list you’re probably sick of hearing me rave about the book Atomic Habits. So I’ll skip the unsponsored ad and dive right into 5 health and fitness habits you need to be rid of this year.

1. Thinking a goal is “too small” for you.

The purpose of ridiculously small goals is not to insult you, it’s to make the barrier to entry so small that there is no doubt you will succeed.

Telling myself that I only have to read for 60 seconds at night before switching to Netflix forces me at least open up that book and then have to decide to put it away. Making the goal of going for a 60 second walk forces you to put on your shoes and necessary layers. Making the goal of eating one vegetable a day forces you to put a vegetable in your grocery cart.

If you find yourself repeatedly not doing something that you want to be doing, make the goal smaller.

2. Thinking a goal is “too big” for you.

You know what a big goal is? A bunch of small goals put together. Break that behemoth of a goal into smaller and smaller chunks until you are no longer too paralyzed by fear to start.

It’s 2021, everyday people are doing incredible things not just Olympians. Want to climb a mountain? You can do it. Want to do 5 pulls ups? You can do it. Want to have a non food focused/ happy relationship with your body? You can do it.

You can literally do anything. And if you’re not sure how, there’s a coach for that.

3. Not eating foods because you don’t like them.

I used to be an incredibly picky eater and part of me still feels like that is true. However, as I’ve gotten older and become a much better cook I’ve realized that usually I just hadn’t found the right way to cook something.

Broccoli, blueberries and beets are all amazing for you. Even if you don’t love them, there’s probably a way to prepare them that makes them tolerable. No one every craves flossing their teeth, but we do it anyways. Sometimes eating a healthy food that you don’t 100% love is part of being a responsible adult who take good care of their health.

4. Avoiding your weaknesses.

Your weakness are weak for a reason. You avoid them.

Cardio/running used to be a weakness for me because I never freaking did it. And because I never did it, I wasn’t good at it. That made me like it even less. The cycle continued for YEARS. Until I used the “flossing your teeth” analogy on myself and knew that just because I don’t like something or it’s a weakness, doesn’t mean I get a free pass.

In the world of YouTube dance videos, listening to podcasts on runs or watching Netflix on the elliptical — there’s endless ways to make cardio at least a little enjoyable.

Maybe you hate strength training? If you don’t want to be a little old lady, hunched over and going zero miles an hour you should lift a little. Hire a trainer for accountability or find a class that makes it fun. Or just do it because you know you should and once you get a little better you might not hate it so much or even call it a weakness.

5. Getting by with “okay” form.

The cycle of me getting a new online client looks like this:

They get their program. I tell them to send me form videos. They don’t. I remind them how much good technique can make a difference. They say their form is fine. They start to feel sore in not the “right places” or complain of slower results and finally let me look at their form. Their form is mediocre. I fix it. Chorales of angels sing and 5 puppies get a forever home.

Make this the year of not pretending that okay form gets great results. Great form gets great results. Even if you don’t want to hire a trainer (or send me videos, I’ll critique them for free because I don’t want you getting hurt) there are so many resources out there to cross check your form against for free.

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