How to Get Back on Track After You’ve Let Wellness Slip
Read on to learn about how to get back on track after you’ve let your wellness routine slip, and to listen to this episode of the Feel Good Effect podcast about getting unstuck.
How to Get Back on Track After You’ve Let Wellness Slip
In today’s episode we’re breaking down the 5 steps to getting back on track when you’ve gotten away from wellness.
We discuss what to add to your wellness routine and the science behind how taking baby steps and finding a tribe can help you achieve wellness.
Today, I am going to share the habits, tactics, and mindset shifts you need to know to get back on track when you’ve let your wellness routine slip.
We all have days, weekends, and nights when we lose track of our routine.
This episode will teach you how to ease back into your wellness routine.
Be sure to share a screenshot if you’re listening on social media, and tag @realfoodwholelife so I can connect with you!
I recently was asked a question on Instagram: “how do I get back on track when I’ve let my wellness routine slip?”
I could spend so much time answering this question!
I’ve had my own rough patches, especially after college and after having my daughter, so I really resonated with this struggle.
Even now, I find myself letting things slip from time to time, and I just need to reset and start fresh.
Through my own trial and error and my coaching experience, I’ve come up with a set of strategies, habits, and mindset hacks to smooth out the process of getting back into that lost routine.
Lately, on my website and Instagram, I’ve been talking a lot about letting go of “all or nothing” thinking.
Our brains are actually wired for this type of thinking, and when we add in external messages about how we should be, it’s easy to give into this “all or nothing” thinking.
This mentality will only keep you stuck.
There are two types of reasons you may have let your wellness routine slip:
First, are long term reasons, including reasons such as kids, job, school, relationship change, illness, or caring giving.
In these moments, it’s so important to recognize that it’s normal for wellness to slip.
“It’s not a matter of beating yourself up and saying ‘what is wrong with me, why can’t I do it all?’, it’s about having so much compassion and saying ‘this is a really difficult time- how can I be in this space? How can I be in this experience?’ and find ways back to wellness”
The other time things can slip are short term reasons like vacations, holidays, or drinking.
These short term slips tend to be compounding, in that while you might get caught up in a shame spiral, you also might feel physically badly.
Here are 5 ways to get back on track:
1 | Baby steps.
Start small and build momentum.
There is a ton of research about building momentum by starting small.
When you feel yourself slipping, ask yourself: “what are the baby steps here?”
And acknowledge that baby steps count!
You’re building a runway and working up to something big.
2 | Add.
When we talk about wellness, we tend to think about all the things we shouldn’t do.
Instead, I like to flip the script and think about what we can add, instead of taking away.
Here are the 5 things you should add:
a. More real food: anything with 5 ingredients or less in its most whole form.
Listen to my interview with Sarah Adler, on how to thrive with real food, and definitely check out my Simplified Guide to Meal Prep and Planning for more tips and ideas.
b. More veggies: think about adding veggies to whatever you’re already eating, or eating them as a snack.
c. More water: dehydration affects cravings, sleep, and focus, and it’s so simple to add into your routine.
Have a glass of water by your bed for right when you wake up, on your desk, or in your car– where it’ll remind you to drink up.
Even think about using a straw to make it that much easier!
d. More rest: lack of sleep impacts our wellness choices.
Start by just going to bed a little earlier, reminding yourself that it’s a huge step that will affect your whole life.
e. More mindfulness: micro mindfulness is about being in the moment.
When it comes to wellness, we tend to spend time thinking about where we have messed up in the past and where we want to be in the future.
“All of that past or future thinking takes us out of this moment… and this moment right now, this is everything… because the past doesn’t exist anymore, it’s over, it’s done, and the future hasn’t happened yet”
Listen to my interview with Kait Hurley about how to be more present with meditation for the rest of us.
3 | Don’t let perfect be the enemy of consistency.
Separate consistency from perfection.
When you think about consistency in wellness, do you think about it in terms of perfection and getting it all right, all the time?
Or do you think of it in terms of just doing something more than you don’t do it?
4 | Find your tribe.
Community matters in health and wellness.
Find a tribe, a group that may or may not be family, and lean on them for support.
If you don’t have anyone in your immediate circle, look outside for community.
Search on social media for groups, because there are a ton out there!
Once you’ve found them, explain to your tribe what you’re wellness routine is to make sure you get the support you need.
5 | Gentle is the new perfect.
a. Actively forgive yourself for the slip.
Take a moment and remember a time when you slipped in your wellness routine.
What feelings do you feel towards yourself?
Imagine what it would feel like to forgive yourself.
b. Know the research.
If you’re skeptical, know that this is actually research based.
Showing yourself compassion and forgiveness are highly related to success.
c. Acknowledge that wellness slips are human.
There is no ideal human that is perfect and makes no mistakes.
It’s okay for you to make mistakes, too!
d. Show yourself as much kindness as you’d show someone else in your situation.
If you go back to that memory of when you slipped in your wellness routine, think about if it were someone else: what would you say to them?
“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of consistency. What you do most of the time matters so much more than what you do only some of the time”
Resources
Instagram: @realfoodwholelife
Join our Facebook Group
Simplified Guide to Meal Prep and Planning
How to Thrive with Real Food (& Ditch the Calorie Struggle for Good) with Sarah Adler
Mediation for the Rest of Us, with Kait Hurley
What You Really Need to Know About Mindfulness, with Leah Weiss
3 More Feel Good Effect Episodes You’ll Love
The 5 Biggest Wellness Mistakes You’re Making (and How to Fix Them)
How to Create a Wellness Routine (You can Actually Stick to)
