Moving toward our health goals, like all other parts of life, requires us to make many decisions each day. While this is something we are used to, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Choosing what’s best for us in every moment and every situation can be exhausting, and although it’s difficult to count the number of times we have to make a choice, it’s easy to notice when we’re tired of deciding. Although we cannot avoid having to make decisions, we can help ourselves make the process a little bit easier.

The first thing we need to do is get clear on what is most important to us right now. Our health goals change over time, and it’s important we know what we are currently working on. Some examples of priorities could be gaining strength, losing body fat, improving our numbers in our bloodwork, or having more energy. 

Having an idea of our main objectives for this season is the first step of making the decision making process easier.

Once we know what’s most important to us right now, we can take a look at our current schedules, routines, and obligations. It is at this time we may notice expectations from others or habits we’ve created for ourselves that are actively standing in our way of reaching our goals. 

It’s up to you what you do with that information, but I’d recommend working toward removing as many obstacles as you can, while being honest with ourselves about which parts of our schedules we cannot change, or are bringing immense value to those we love. 

Having an honest assessment of our current time availability will help us plan out our health-related activities. We cannot call our health goals a priority if we don’t actively prioritize them, and this is why it’s important we add our healthy habits, like our workouts, to our calendar and treat them like we would treat a meeting with someone else. 

You cannot show up as your best self for others if you don’t show up for yourself. 

Having these activities planned out will relieve the stress of having to decide when you will do them each day, as you did all of that work ahead of time and now may only need to make minor adjustments.

Now that you have an idea of what you’re facing and prioritizing this season, let’s dive into your health habits specifically. What things do you currently make decisions on every single day that can be automated or chosen ahead of time? For example, instead of choosing what to eat for lunch every day, you could plan ahead, grocery shop, and meal prep once or twice a week. This will help you eat nutrient-dense meals without having to think about them each morning or night, relieving some of the mental load and stress of the decision. 

The same thing can be said for your workouts. Instead of figuring it out as you go, you can create a weekly or monthly plan to help you stay on track and not have to decide on every exercise for every workout every day. 

Making healthy choices is challenging and requires us to put in a little extra work to be successful. We will never be able to avoid making decisions, but taking time to plan them out ahead of time will help us feel our best. Being proactive and batching decisions will greatly decrease the stress we feel, and for that, our future selves will be grateful.