Not Getting Results? Here’s Why

This is how you make your healthy habits stick!

Fast forward to 6 months from now…

Where do you hope your body is at?

• Stronger, with muscle you can actually see and feel?
• Leaner, with less body fat?
• More energy, better balance, stronger bones, less pain?

Whatever your goal, the only way to get there is with consistent healthy habits…

…Continuing to show up day after day, week after week, month after month.

But if you’ve struggled to actually stick with your habits, you’re not alone.

😳 Most people abandon their workout programs by Day 10.

😳 And most people give up on their diets by Day 6.

(Those stats aren’t looking good for seeing changes and accomplishing goals.)

So, how do YOU avoid this trend and stay consistent with your habits?

One of the very best ways is with “habit stacking”.

For years, I’ve used the habit stacking model in all of my training programs, and it has lead to astonishing results for women that struggled for years with habit consistency.

Habit stacking is picking just ONE habit, becoming proficient and mastering just that habit, and then gradually adding in another habit.

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Why This Matters

If you want lasting changes in your body, your healthy habits have to stick.

I may not know your exact story, but I hear from women in midlife all the time—women who want to feel stronger, move better, lose weight, or simply have more energy.

These improvements don’t happen overnight.They take months, sometimes years, of steady, consistent effort.

The best way to stay steady is to build your habits one at a time, so you avoid frustration, burnout, and slipping back into the all-or-nothing cycle.

FITNESS SIMPLIFIED

Even though it feels more productive, you have to stop trying to change everything about your workout routine at once.

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Fitness Tip to Make Your Habits Stick

Stack One Easy Fitness Habit on Top of Another

How to use “habit stacking” to reach your fitness goals

One of the fastest ways to fail is trying to overhaul everything at the same time:

Get up early, work out 5 days a week, follow a brand-new lifting plan, run 30 minutes every day…

That’s way too many new habits— it’s overwhelming!

Especially as a woman in midlife when overwhelm is the #1 thing derailing progress.

Nothing is going to stick and you become another 10-day stat.

Instead, fitness habit stacking might look like this:

✅ Weeks 1–2: Walk 10–15 minutes every day

✅ Weeks 3–4: Keep walking daily + add a posture stretch and a core strengthening exercise

✅ Weeks 5–6: Keep the walk, stretch, and core work + add bodyweight moves like squats, hip hinges, and shoulder exercises

Master one habit, keep it going, then stack on the next.

The habits start to feel like second nature—”this feels so natural to do!”—rather than a battle.

It may feel slower, but it works.And it’s how real, lasting change happens.

Best Way to Build a Lasting Fitness Routine

  1. If you’ve been COMPLETELY sedentary, start with the easiest thing… a few minutes of walking per day. That’s a great place to start!
  2. If you’re already walking a bit, start to include a posture stretch and/or a core exercise each day. It will feel so good!
  3. If you’re ready for a touch more, build in some full body strengthening moves that don’t use any equipment. 💪

Extra tip: If you miss a day or a few, that’s ok! Consistency does NOT mean you’re doing it perfectly everyday. Just pick up where you left off, keep showing up and moving forward.

Did You Know...

  • Staying consistent with the basics will make you MUCH stronger, healthier, and less prone to disease over time than chasing big, erratic bursts of effort.
  • It can take up to 90 days of steady follow-through for a new habit to stick. So keep it easy, be patient with yourself and don’t give up!

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NUTRITION SIMPLIFIED

Why do most diets fail by Day 6?

Usually it’s twofold:

• It involves improving every area of your nutrition all at once (full plate, pantry, fridge overhaul).

• It begins with the hardest habits to change (like cutting out sugar or completely giving up your favorite foods).

Trust me on this one—if you want your eating habits to stick, then you have to do it differently.

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Nutrition Tip to Make Your Habits Stick

Improve the Easiest Nutrition Habits First (like water) then Build Up

How to “habit stack” your nutrition

This simple progression has been proven to help women stick to better eating habits long-term (it’s the exact progression I teach in the Jumpstart 30 program):

1. Drink at least 5 glasses of water a day

2. Eat slowly and mindfully (about 15 minutes per meal), paying attention to how your food makes you feel

3. Eat protein with every meal

4. Eat produce with every meal

5. Add a healthy fat source to your meals

6. Include a handful of leafy greens with any meal

7. Enjoy one “splurge” mindfully. Pick your absolute favorite thing!

Just like with fitness, you only add the next habit when you feel confident about the one you’re working on.

Right now, maybe you just need to master drinking water.

And if you drink a glass of water with the chicken salad over greens in the recipe below, you’ve hit several habits in one meal—water, protein, and leafy greens.

That’s real progress.

Chicken Salad Wrap

More ideas to Master the Easiest Habits

  • Drink a glass of water with each meal to help you eat more slowly
  • Eat some Greek yogurt on the side with your breakfast cereal for more protein
  • Have a handful of baby carrots and grapes with lunch for more produce

MINDSET SIMPLIFIED

Why Habit Stacking Works

The habit stacking concept is rooted in “behavior change psychology”, and it’s extremely effective for creating lasting changes that lead to results.

Why is it so effective?

✔️ It keeps you laser-focused on one thing at a time, reducing overwhelm, confusion and decision fatigue

✔️ It gives you an easy “go-to” habit to fall back on when life gets too hard to do all of them

✔️ It builds good character traits like patience, perseverance, and flexibility.

It takes wisdom and maturity to say, “I don’t need instant results. I want lasting change, so I’ll go slow and build one habit at a time.”

‍🐢 We’re on team tortoise, not the hare.

Because slow and steady really does win the race.

You can do this!

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Mindset Tip to Make Your Habits Stick

Slow and steady gets lasting results.

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THE TAKEAWAY

Lasting change doesn’t come from overhauling everything at once. It comes from showing up, stacking one habit at a time, and letting those wins build. No matter where you are in your habit stacking journey, stay the course, and keep stacking. Team tortoise always wins.

  1. Stack One Easy Fitness Habit on Top of Another
  2. Improve the Easiest Nutrition Habits First (like water) then Build Up
  3. Slow and steady gets lasting results

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Self Care Simplified podcast

Ep 422. The Only 4 Nutrition Habits You need to Feel Amazing

Ep 416. Are You Thinking About Habits All Wrong? with Monika Packer

Ep 360 - THIS is Why Your Habits are Inconsistent!

SPECIAL RESOURCE

Want a simple routine for your posture that you can begin doing today? These amazing neck & shoulder stretches will instantly relieve your tension and painful knots. Your posture muscles will LOVE you after this, plust it’s GREAT for traveling or at work!

Seated Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief

Until next week... Be strong‍

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