Baby Steps – The Key To Transforming Your Health

I have found that the most important thing when it comes to improving health is to take small(Baby) steps. My observation is that people try to take on way too much at once and as a result in the end fail. People often make commitments that ultimately they can’t continue on with as they are unrealistic. An example of this would be where the goal is to lose 25 lbs and go to the gym to workout every day.

Some examples of these baby steps that you can do one at a time may include:

I am going to go to the gym 3 times per week

I am going to get 8 hours sleep per night

I am going to drink only filtered water

I am going to cut out dairy

I am going to have meat only once per week

I am going to have a shake every weekday morning

I am going to have 5 servings of fruits or vegetables per week

I am going to do 10,000 steps per day

I am going to go for a comprehensive medical(Executive Medical)

If you improve one thing at a time it is much easier as you are only changing and focusing on one habit at a time.

The other strategy I use is that when I commit to something, I am ok if I don’t do it every single time or day. For those that are regular readers of my blog you know that I believe in the 80% rule(doing something 80% of the time). For more on the 80% rule see my previous blog – http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/the-80-rule-towards-balanced-health/

Another reason I think people fail to reach their health goals is that if they go off track, they figure they have blown it so they go right back to old habits. It is ok to “cheat” once in a while as if you make a health change 80% of the time, that is 80% better than you were doing before! For instance, if I say I am going cut our dairy as a health goal, and eat cheese the odd time or have an egg once in a while, I am ok with it as I have cut out dairy 80% of the time. So to summarize this point, give yourself forgiveness to go off track once in a while and be ok with it.

To share one of my goals this year was for me to cut down on my meat consumption and only consume meat once per week. This is part of my overall goal to ensure that 90% of foods I consume are plant based and or non-processed. Are there weeks where I have meat or fish more than once per week? Of course, however, there are other weeks where I consume zero meat or seafood. The good thing is that prior to this commitment I was consuming meat every single day and many times twice per day. So the reality is that even if I “cheat” every once in a while I am 90% better than I was prior to committing to this goal.

Another simple goal I committed to was to alkalinize my system every morning by having fresh squeezed lemon or apple cider vinegar with water each morning. This is a very simple strategy that ensures that you start every day in the right way(See prior blog – morning routine)

The most frequent question I get asked is: “If am going to only change one thing, what should that one change be?”

I think this is a question that you need to answer yourself based on your habits however the blanket answer would be to start every day with a Healthy Shake. If that is the only thing you change, you are totally changing your diet in a great way. You will ensure that you start every day with your full complement of healthy fruits, vegetables, fats, fibre, and protein. Even if you live the rest of the day they way you currently do, you will notice a dramatic change in how you feel and the energy you have. For more and the recipe, please see previous blog –The Morning Shake – The Key To A Great Day http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/the-morning-shake/

In summary, I suggest you just commit to doing one small health improvement. Once you have mastered that improvement then commit to something else. The important thing is to just commit and take a baby step. All of your baby steps will add up and will give you dramatic changes in your overall health.

Yours In Great Health, Kev