Stacking Small Habits for Transformation
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~ Welcome to the podcast. Welcome to today's podcast. I know I'm not looking at the camera. Okay. ~[00:00:00] Welcome to today's podcast. We've reached the end of the month and together we have gone through 25 daily habit challenges.
Each day was simply about trying a habit for that day, seeing how it felt and noticing its impact. Now it's time to take things to the next level. Here's your challenge for today. Pick three habits from this month that you're ready to commit to, to do every single day. For the next month, I'll still be introducing a new daily habit.
So you'll actually be practicing four habits total for that day, the three you choose and committed to for the month, and then whatever daily habit challenge it is for that day that I introduce by building this month after month, you'll end up with as many as 36 healthier habits. To do by the end of the year, and that's the power of stacking small challenges as they add up to [00:01:00] transformation.
Here's the important mindset shift. This is not about perfection. Some days you may forget life gets busy. Some days you'll run outta time, and that's okay. Just get back to it the next day. It's consistency that matters, not perfection. So consistency comes from practice, not perfection. It's like training a muscle as you do each habit.
More and more then it'll get wired into your brain and it'll become routine.
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~Let me start over. Okay. And ~you may not notice it right away, but over time you will find that you are having these healthy habits as a routine. And I'd like to share my own journey. You know, when I went through medical school, I gained about 80 pounds through medical school and residency
you know, medical school was the worst thing I did for my health. ~I, ~I jokingly say, but it really was because, you know, all the things that we know that we need for good health, you don't do, I , wasn't allowed to sleep. 'cause I'd be on call, I'd be, I'd have to go to, you know, [00:02:00] my rotation like at seven in the morning, be there all day, and then be on call and be up all night.
Until seven in the morning, and then even the next day I would be on my rotation until like, you know, three to 5:00 PM the next day. And then I'd go home and try to make up for that sleep that I lost. So I'd be up 36 hours straight. And this wasn't just one time, this was repetitive through the month and over a span of, you know, four years of med school and, ~and.~
You know, through med school and residency, which is like seven years. So all of that takes a toll, and it's hard to undo that in a short amount of time. ~It takes, ~it takes time. I've been working on myself for years because I still have the same stresses and things that I'm learning to deal with, and through really a mindset, I got myself out of perfectionist mode.
I would go on these hardcore diet plans and I would lose weight. And I'd be able to stick to them for a couple months, but then life would get in the way where I couldn't follow through or I'd [00:03:00] feel like, oh my God, I've just screwed up everything. I had one bad meal, and next thing I know that one bad meal turned into a.
Three months of bad meals. And I realized, especially as I studied functional medicine and got board certified in obesity medicine, that there are a lot of bio hormonal biochemical changes that happen and. It wasn't just a matter of willpower. Yes, the mindset plays a role. It wasn't just a matter of calories in versus calories out that matter to some extent.
But there are all these other factors that play a role that I wasn't aware of, and as I became aware of them, I'm starting to do things. And I'm not perfect and I'm okay with that, but I have been able to see my progress from when I started a couple years ago to now where I do make a lot more better choices.
I'm trying to stay more active. I still have ways to go. I am a work in progress and I've gotten a couple comments where. A couple people have mentioned that they don't feel [00:04:00] they can take health advice from me because I don't look healthy and, but you know, if you look at my health parameters, my blood pressure is good.
I'm not on blood pressure medicine. I don't have diabetes. I have I good connections and you know, I'm controlling my cholesterol. So I do struggle with my weight though, and that's no secret. It, but I'm not gonna let that stop me from trying to help you and give you information so that you can ~implement, ~implement it.
We all have our own struggles. We all have our own journey, and I'm excited to share with you and I as I find things out for myself, I wanna share them. I hope you do the same for me, and I've learned so many things from my patients just as much as they've learned from me and. A lot of my patients relate to me because they know I'm not this perfect doctor who works out hard seven days a week,
and who doesn't want you to just eat a protein bar or think you're a failure or judge you because they'll accuse [00:05:00] you of not doing the right things, even though you might be. But a lot of my patients know I have the same struggles. And to them that is more important because I understand and I'm not judging, and I try to help them.
And as you practice these habits, you'll be able to implement them more and more. And I have some exciting things coming up for in the future. To try to do things as a community. If that's something you think would be interesting, let me know. And if you are the kind of person who does want that doctor who's in perfect shape, then I'm not the channel for you.
And that's okay. There's so many other wonderful functional medicine physicians out there that have social media accounts, and I hope to aspire to get to my goal weight and. Get in better shape and increase my longevity. And as I'm doing things to help that, I hope to share that along the way. And if you can't relate to that and you wanna judge me, I'm okay with that because [00:06:00] it's a fair argument.
I get it. But I also get the fact that we're all human and knowledge and implementation are different. And you know, I'm human and I struggle the same. And I hope you will join me on my journey and I hope to continue to share information so you can pick and choose what may benefit you and work with your healthcare provider as I'm working with mine to be the healthiest that you can be and optimize your life.
I am doing more now with my life than I was five years ago. Five years ago I was burnt out and. My numbers were not as good as they are now, and, but yeah, I'm just working towards it. So I hope you found this helpful and I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress. So please share and if you know someone who would benefit from this information, then um, please share it with them.
Thanks for listening or watching, and have a fantastic day.
