sabotaging through your unhealthy habits are so early-aughts. Still, creating — and keeping up with — healthy habits is hard work. Instead of charging after ginormous goals and overwhelming yourself, make smaller changes that will make the fancy schmancy ones that much easier. You know, like these:
1. Exercise in the morning. It’s the best time to establish and stick to a workout routine.
2. If mornings ain’t your thang, shoot for a midday workout instead. Word is they help boost your productivity at work.
3. Empty your cupboards of all junk food. When you want to indulge, go out and make an event of it — you know, so you don’t pull a Cookie Monster.
4. When something’s bothering you, talk about it stat. Don’t waste your time — or sanity — on being passive-aggressive.
5. Swap your annoying alarm clock ringer for your favorite song.
7. Don’t settle for anything less than what you want.
8. Say no.
9. Call more. Text less.
10. Ditch soda, even diet ones.
11. Use cinnamon in your coffee instead of cream and sugar.
12. Being that dinner plates today are the size of hubcaps, keep your portions under control by using smaller plates.
13. Drink enough water. Use the WaterIn app to make sure.
14. Don’t Hoover your food. Chewing is good for you.
15. Stop and smell your coffee, which can help lower stress.
16. Pay yourself to exercise, then buy yourself something pretty.
17. Use the 20/20/20 rule to keep your vision intact: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
18. Get rid of acne by sleeping with a clean towel on your pillow as well as your pillowcase.
19. Eat more probiotics to aid digestion and boost immunity.
20. If your job involves a lot of sitting, aim to get up every hour to walk around and stretch.
21. Add more strength training to your workout. (More than three-quarters of adults over 45 don’t meet the muscle-strengthening requirements set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Don’t be one of them.)
22. Stretch every time your pet does.
23. Don’t hold back your yawns. They cool down your brain and boost alertness.
24. Laugh more.
25. Don’t forget to brush your tongue.
26. Drop the occasional f-bomb. It helps to reduce pain.
27. Visualize exercise goals before you attempt to achieve them, and you’ll up your chances of doing so.
28. Take a warm shower before bed to help induce sleep.
29. Prepare your workout clothes before bed (or if your body’s as allergic to working out as mine, sleep in them).
30. When making dinner, make an extra serving so you can take it to work for lunch the next day. It’ll save you money and improve your health.
31. Don’t look at setbacks as failures. Find a key takeaway within the experience and use it as a tool to improve your lifestyle.
32. Drink more tea. It hydrates you like water with the added bonus of antioxidants.
33. When you buy not-so-healthy snacks to indulge in, portion them out in advance so one cookie doesn’t lead to eating the entire bag.
34. For every two hours of sitting, shoot for 30 minutes of exercise.
35. Make your playlist as long as your workout so you know when to stop.
36. Bag and freeze smoothie portions in advance so you can toss in the blender and go.
37. Save on your gym membership by using YouTube workout vids instead.
38. Stop going grocery shopping when you’re hungry already!
39. Eat within 30 minutes of waking up. It doesn’t have to be a full-blown meal or anything, just make sure your stomach gets as much chow as you can stand in the morning.
40. Speaking of breakfast, eat before your coffee so you don’t end up suppressing your appetite.
41. Take the stairs.
42. Sit at the table and eat your meal, even if it’s just takeout. This will help you eat less and enjoy it more.
43. Carve out a chunk of time each day to relax and restore your body from the day’s stresses.
44. Eat more fish.
45. Swap out your office chair for an exercise ball.
46. Exercise doesn’t have to suck. Find routines you enjoy so it feels like a workout and not just work.
47. Park your car farther away from your destination to squeeze in more cardio.
48. Use oil and balsamic vinegar as salad dressing instead of store-bought, which has millions of ingredients in it you don’t need.
49. Switch from iceberg lettuce to spinach, which is full of vitamin K, A, calcium and iron.
50. When eating out, nix binging by taking half the meal home with you.
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