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If you’re anything like most of the women I work with, you probably don’t need another list of things you’re supposed to be doing for your health.
You already know you should drink more water. You know you should move your body. You know you should eat more vegetables, get enough protein, sleep more, manage your stressโฆthe list goes on and on.
The problem usually isn’t knowing what to do.
It’s figuring out how to actually fit all of those things into a life that already feels pretty full.
Between work, kids, appointments, errands, family responsibilities, and trying to have some semblance of a social life, taking an hour to meal prep or spending an hour at the gym every day may not be realistic. And when the only version of โhealthyโ you have in your head is the perfect version, it’s really easy to feel like you’re failing before you even start.
But here’s something I want you to remember: Healthy habits don’t have to take a lot of time to matter.
Sometimes the little things you do consistently are much more valuable than the big things you do for two weeks and then abandon because they’re impossible to maintain. Here are a few simple habits that take 10 minutes or less and more importantly, can actually fit into a busy life.
You don’t need an hour-long workout to benefit from movement. A quick walk after dinner, walking around the block between meetings, taking the long way back to your car, or even walking around your house while you’re on the phone all count.
If you have time for more, great. But if you only have 10 minutes, don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s โnot enoughโ and doing nothing. Ten minutes is still movement. And if you can get outside for a few minutes after a meal, even better. It’s a simple way to add a little movement to your day without having to carve out another giant chunk of time.
One of the biggest shifts I encourage my clients to make is to stop thinking so much about what they need to take away from their diet and start thinking about what they can add.
Maybe you have toast for breakfast. Could you add an egg? How about adding some berries to your yogurt or maybe some sliced almonds or walnuts.
Maybe lunch is a sandwich. Could you throw some fruit or vegetables on the side? It doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need to make a completely different meal. Sometimes making your existing meal just a little more balanced is enough.
I’m not going to tell you that you need to carry around a giant gallon water bottle and finish it before bedtime.ย If you’re currently not drinking much water, start smaller.ย Add one glass. Maybe it’s the first thing you have in the morning or with lunch. You can keep a water bottle next to your computer so you actually remember it exists.ย The goal isn’t to go from โI barely drink waterโ to โI’m suddenly drinking 100 ounces every day.โย The goal is to make drinking water a little easier than it was yesterday.
This one can make a surprisingly big difference. Before you go to bed, take five minutes to think about what tomorrow looks like. Do you have a busy morning? What are you going to eat for breakfast?
Are you going to be running from one appointment to another? Do you have a snack you can throw in your bag? Are you going to be home late? Is there something easy you can pull together for dinner?
You don’t have to meal prep your entire week. Sometimes five minutes of planning is enough to keep you from standing in front of the refrigerator at 7:30 p.m. wondering what you’re going to eat.
I know. You’re busy.
Sometimes you really do only have 10 minutes to eat lunch between patients, meetings, kids, or whatever else your day has thrown at you. But when you can, try giving yourself those 10 minutes without scrolling your phone, answering emails, or doing three other things at the same time.
You don’t have to eat slowly for 30 minutes. Just give yourself a few minutes to actually taste your food and notice how you’re feeling. Are you still hungry? Are you satisfied, content? Do you want more?
This isn’t about becoming perfectly mindful at every meal. It’s just about getting out of autopilot once in a while.
This can take about 30 seconds. When you find yourself reaching for food, and you’re not sure you’re actually hungry, pause for a moment and ask yourself what might be going on.
Are you hungry? Are you exhausted? What emotion are you feeling? Stressed, bored, frustrated or do you just need a break?
And sometimes the answer will still be โI’m hungry, and I want to eat.โ That’s okay.
This isn’t about using mindfulness to talk yourself out of eating. It’s about understanding what you need instead of automatically reacting to whatever you’re feeling. So go ahead and eat but do it mindfully and make sure you actually enjoy it!
You don’t have to track every gram of protein you eat. Instead, just start asking yourself a simple question: โWhere’s my protein?โ
Maybe it’s eggs at breakfast, Greek yogurt with a snack, chicken or turkey at lunch, fish at dinner, or beans or tofu in a meal. You don’t have to completely redesign your diet. Just becoming more aware of protein and making sure it’s showing up regularly can be a really helpful habit.
This one takes approximately zero effort. Grab an apple.Throw a banana in your bag. Keep berries in the refrigerator. Have an orange with lunch.
We have somehow made nutrition so complicated that people are afraid to eat a banana because they heard it has โtoo much sugar.โ Please don’t let the internet make eating fruit complicated.
Fruit is nutritious. Eat the fruit!
I’m not suggesting that 10 extra minutes of sleep is going to magically solve all of your problems. But if you’re routinely staying up until 11:30 scrolling on your phone and you’re exhausted every morning, going to bed 10 minutes earlier is a pretty reasonable place to start.
You don’t have to suddenly become the person who is in bed by 9:00 every night. Just start nudging your routine in a better direction.
You do not need to do all of these.
Please don’t turn this into another giant checklist of things you’re now going to feel guilty about not doing. Pick one, that’s it.
Maybe this week you take a 10-minute walk after dinner. Maybe you add protein to breakfast. Or you start keeping fruit on the counter so it’s easy to grab. Maybe you spend five minutes at night figuring out what you’re going to eat the next day.
Then do that one thing consistently. Because this is what I want you to understand about healthy habits: They don’t have to be impressive to be effective.
The goal isn’t to completely overhaul your life overnight. It’s to make small changes that actually fit into the life you already have. And honestly, that’s usually where the lasting changes happen. You don’t need more rules. You don’t need to wait until Monday and you certainly don’t need a perfect week.
Start with 10 minutes. Start with one thing. And let that be enough for today.
xoxo
