Is Your Momentum Faltering?
The proper way to get back on track when life happens
This week marks the midpoint of January.
The time when people often begin to let go of their New Year’s resolutions and goals for healthy habits.
Momentum is all about “staying in motion” and not getting stuck, even when things aren’t going perfectly.
In the words of Dory from Finding Nemo:
🐟 Just keep swimming!
🐟In this issue, we’re going to dial in on strategies to keep your momentum with your new habits all month long and ultimately ALL YEAR LONG!
Why This Matters
Last Friday, January 9th, was “National Quitter’s Day”. This informal name is tied to the second Friday of January, which is when most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions due to struggles with consistency and realistic goal setting. Sadly, these people fail to achieve the results they really want for their bodies, simply because they weren’t able to stick with something long enough.
FITNESS SIMPLIFIED
So, how do we channel our inner Dory 🐟?
Last Tuesday’s issue was all about starting small and building up.
The next brick to layer on is a plan for when life happens. Because life always happens!
Fitness Tip to Keep Your Momentum
Create A Backup Plan
The best way to keep your momentum going toward your fitness goals is to not just have a Plan A.
But build out a Plan B, C and even D to be used if the main one fails.
🫤 Child up all night with a fever?
🫤 Work or family travel experienced all kinds of delays?
🫤 Unexpected meeting or appointment pops up that you cannot miss?
These situations threaten the energy behind your goals, and you can easily get derailed.But with a solid backup plan in mind, you keep on truckin’ toward the 2026 you want!
EXAMPLE: If your Plan A is a 30-45 minute, full gym workout, then:
👉 Plan B = 15-minute bodyweight only workout
👉 Plan C = 15 minute walk
👉 Plan D = 5 minutes of stretching5 minutes of stretchingAnd, you give yourself grace to roll with life as it happens.
This is how healthy habits are built!Here is a PERFECT “Plan B” routine.
Balance & Mobility Routine
- Leg Swings (6/side): Stand up straight with one hand on a wall or a chair; Swing your leg forward-back, and side-side in as big of swings as possible using the strength of your muscles, not just momentum.
- Diagonal Arm Swings (6/side): Extends arms in front of you with thumbs pointing up. Pull thumbs apart and arms back as far as possible—one arm high, one arm low in a diagonal. Turn your thumbs around and bring back to the start position.
- Single Leg Deadlift with “T” Reach (6/side): Stand on leg with your knee slightly bent; hinge forward at your hip while extending your other leg out behind you, reaching arms out wide into a T” like an airplane.
- Walking Knee to Chest Hugs (6/side): Standing tall, pull one knee up toward your chest, then release and step forward, repeating with the other leg.
- Walking Hamstring Stretches (6/side): Kick one heel to the floor in front of you then press your hips back to feel a hamstrings stretch; stand back up straight, then step forward with other foot and repeat.
- Prisoner Walking Hip Circles (6/side): Place hands behind your head and squeeze your elbows back for good posture; pick one knee up to the side and rotate it around forward, then step it down. Repeat with the other leg and keep progressing forward.
Extra tip: This simple routine also works as a great “warm-up” for a walk! Just spend 3 minutes going through these moves before you head out for your walk and you’ll have accomplished a well-balanced routine without a lot of effort.
Did You Know...
- While the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes per week (or an average of about 30 minutes/day) of moderate intensity activity, it’s best to gradually build up to that over the course of 2-3 months. This will help ensure you maintain your consistency and momentum, while avoiding injuries from doing too much too fast.
- If you have an optimal time of day to workout (e.g. first thing in the morning), you also need to determine a Plan B & Plan C time for when your Plan A time doesn’t work for some reason. If the morning comes and goes, you can remind yourself that you still have other good time opportunities to exercise.
- Most people set their overly ambitious plans when their motivation is at peak levels. The key to staying consistent is to set “motivation-proof” plans that are small, clear and realistically achievable even when your motivation is at its lowest.
NUTRITION SIMPLIFIED
Trendy diets are tempting!
Especially when Mrs. Smith down the road had such success.
But maintaining balance and moderation with your nutrition will always win in the long term.
Nutrition Tip to Keep Your Momentum
Have One Intentional Splurge Per Day
It’s true that women will do shocking things to try and lose weight.
Often that looks like jumping on a fad diet bandwagon, only to quit…. after 6-10 days.
A recent survey on dieting showed that people try an average of 162 diets throughout their lives.
That’s an average of 2 diets per year! 😱
When longevity, health and even fat loss are your goals, a much better plan is to eat a balanced, non-restrictive diet that can survive any situation.
Here are a few red flags for diet plans:
🚩 Severe calorie restriction
🚩 Avoiding certain foods or entire food groups
🚩 Meal replacement strategies
🚩 Tedious counting and measuring
🚩 Anything with the words “cutting out”It’s so much more sustainable to eat with balance and moderation.
Don’t white knuckle anything!
Instead of: 🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🥗🍩🍪🍬🍭🌰🍫🎂🍰
Try this: 🥗🍓🍇🍕🥦🍎🍔🫐🥦🥒🥑🍩
The easiest way to remember this is to aim to have one intentional splurge a day, while eating primarily healthy PROtein & PROduce (PRO’s!) throughout the rest of your day.
This baked oatmeal is so lovely, fresh and delicious first thing in the morning.
Perfect for those who prefer breakfasts on the “sweeter” side.
Citrus Baked Oatmeal
More ideas to help you eat slowly
- Have some simple bagged salads on hand so you always have leafy greens available.
- Grab a rotisserie chicken at the store for easy, pre-made protein to add to your meals.
- Decide now what your FAVORITE splurge item is, then practice saying “not yet” throughout the day to any other foods that aren’t that.
MINDSET SIMPLIFIED
Doing “something” is infinitely better than doing “nothing”.
This is how you can keep your momentum going —not just for a week, but all year long.
Give yourself permission to say:“Today was good enough and that counts.”
When you set up a “Good, Better, Best” mindset around the habits you want to keep, you create space for real life.
On harder days, good keeps you moving.
On stronger days, you reach for better or best.
Mindset Tip to Keep Your Momentum
Something Beats Nothing
THE TAKEAWAY
Midlife isn’t about perfection; it’s about consistency with compassion. The win isn’t doing it perfectly. The win is showing up—again and again. National Quitter’s Day is behind us and the rest of the year is ahead. Make this the year you set achievable goals AND have a backup plan so that you keep on moving forward.
- Create A Backup Plan
- Have One Intentional Splurge Per Day
- Something Beats Nothing
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Self Care Simplified podcast
212. The 3 Most Common Mistakes When Setting Health & Fitness Goals
238. How to Break Down Big Goals, Follow Through, and Actually Get Results w/ Cara Harvey
426. Quitter’s Day? The REAL Reason Why Most Goals Fail
SPECIAL RESOURCE
Eager to declutter your kitchen and set yourself up for success on the nutrition front? Check out this article for some guidance on getting set up for success.
Until next week... Be strong
