Building Better Habits

Nutrition spans across so many domains of our lives. It’s not just about what we eat. Nutrition is about sleep, recovery, our mood and emotions, how supported we feel, and movement— both purposeful exercise, and just moving about through our daily lives. Don’t let this overwhelm you because even though nutrition has so many factors to it, they are intertwined! For instance, bad sleep means you may make poorer choices with food, not have enough energy to move, and make you irritable. Conversely, a good night's sleep means you have time to prep food, exercise or go for a walk, and feel refreshed and happy.

So, how do we make sure we get good sleep? How do we make sure we make better food choices? How do we make sure to move? We do this by building habits.

We’ve all heard “it takes 21 days to build a habit.” Is it true? Eh, science says no and that it’s actually a variable amount of time.

Okay so, what do we concretely know about habits? We know that once you form them and consistently practice them, they become part of your lifestyle. Sometimes we think “how did we ever live that way?!”

This edition of building habits will focus on sleep. We’ll give you tips and tricks to help you succeed in building better sleep habits.

• Have a set time you start winding down for bed
• Create a calming environment
• No screens
• Don’t engage in high intensity exercising 2-3 hours before bed
• Move throughout the day
• Take Magnesium

Some of these are easier said than done.

Maybe you have an inconsistent schedule and you can’t have the same set bedtime every night. That’s okay. How about picking a time that works for you that day? Or if that feels too hard, pick two times per week that you will stick to your determined bedtime.

Maybe you have loud neighbors and despite your room being calm, you can still hear them. How about getting a sound machine? Or getting some earplugs?

No screens can be tough in today’s age. Maybe you fall asleep to the TV or maybe you scroll through your phone to wind you down. If you need that time, let that be part of your wind down routine, rather than when you’re in bed. If that’s too hard, start with trying it two times per week, and progressively increase it.

We can infinitely improve our habits by making little changes. These little changes accumulate over time and have a huge positive impact on our lives. It does not happen overnight. It takes dedication and effort, but the more consistent we are, the easier it becomes.

So, what actions will you take to help prioritize your sleep?