Healthy habit hacks for working mums

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Hi guys, Wendy here. Welcome to the healthy and thriving career moms podcast, your weekly dose of inspiration and motivation for thriving with your healthy habits, especially in the midst of the crazy mum juggle. That you're busy and that taking time for you is not always easy, but I'm here to help. So let's jump in.

So, Hey everyone. And welcome back to episode two of season,

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one of the healthy and thriving career moms podcast. So on episode one, we got stuck into talking about having. We're touching on that, but we really got stuck into the mindset that comes with habits. Cause I really felt like we had to talk about that.

We had to call the hour and yeah, we're going to do more work on that, but we just had to throw the seeds. So that you guys were aware of how much your mindset and the story that you're telling yourself as a

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working mom influences your habits, your behaviors, everything that you do. And so today I really wanted to talk to you about identifying what habits you need.

I want to also speak to you a little bit more about five key areas and pillars that I work with my career moms in my coaching and what those look like. I also want to talk to you about how to create a habits effectively and the art of habit stacking, because this for me was such a game changer. And

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also just want to remind you with all of this, that it is progress over perfection.

Remember that highlight where we spoke about in the first episode, this is about your journey. Not anyone else's, it's not about benchmarking yourself against anyone else on social media or any mum in the playground or whatever it is. It is your journey that you're going on. How you. Can be the healthiest and most thriving career mom.

And that's not healthy in the sense of, as I said before,

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running marathons and doing all the things and being absolutely in the best shape of your life, but it's healthy, not just from a physical point of view, it's healthy from a mental point of view. And I think as a working mom that carries so much more weight sometimes because we often underestimate how much that affects us day to day.

So let's get stuck in. I want to talk to you about identifying what habits you need, because this is such a personal, personal thing. Everybody needs different habits to

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help them thrive. Now for me as somebody who has ADHD. So that's something I will talk about in later episodes, but that's something that I only recently came to learn about in the last 18 months that I had been living with undiagnosed ADHD.

Well, my whole life, I just hadn't put an official diagnosis to it. But as someone that has this and is, there's a lot of misunderstanding around ADHD, but one of them is that. People will say to me, oh, but you seem so put together. And it's like, well,

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that's not what it's about for me. It's about having sort of an abundance of focus for things and also about sometimes getting quite overstimulated when there's lots of different things going on.

And one of the ways that I cope with that. Is through exercise. So for me moving my body every day is fundamental to me and my mental wellbeing. And yes, it's nice from a vanity point of view, in the sense of, yes, maybe things

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fit better or things are a little bit firmer or whatever it is from doing that exercise.

But actually I'm the person who exercises because. I need to, because it helps me and it helps me to thrive in my life. Now I'm not saying don't exercise. That might not be the thing for you, but definitely we all need to move our bodies. But within that, as an example, think about for you, what that looks like.

I think far too often, we're looking and going, oh, And this is so true

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for me. I need to run like my husband is such a good runner. I have got so many amazing girlfriends who are amazing runners. And I just look at them longingly thinking. I just want to be like you, I want to love right. But I don't, I was that person at school who did sprinting.

Cause I was like, cool. I can get that done quickly. Or I did the javelins and the shop puts and all that kind of stuff when it came to athletics. But yeah, the whole long distance running thing I tried, cause we used to have this cross country at school and

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you could get badges for how many laps you did.

And I was always quite competitive and I was like, oh, but you know what? I just had no interest in. I never have I find it the most boring thing in the world. So the worst thing I could do was be like, right, I'm going to commit to training for an ultra marathon or even a marathon actually, because really I know in myself that I'm setting myself up to fail.

Now there's a difference between a stretch goal and a strain goal. And I think sometimes we are guilty as working moms are setting ourselves.

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Strained goals where we feel like we're having to stream so hard for things. And then it just becomes not very nice and we don't want to do it. And then we quit.

Chastise and get into the blame game and all that stuff that comes with it and the negative thinking. So for me, it's thinking, okay, well within the exercise category, what do I really enjoy doing now? I love lifting weights. I enjoy it again. I never thought that would be something, a sentence that would come out of my mouth, but as I've got

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older and I've recognized, yes.

Weight bearing exercise, playing such a key part to your overall fitness. Like I love lifting weights and it's so fun. Cause when me and my husband do our, we actually share a PT session every week. He's like so good at some of the cardio stuff. And I like when it comes to the weight stuff, I'm just, I just like blitz them and it's just, I have this little smug look on my face anyway.

Um, but it just he's much fitter than me, but I can really rumble him on the, on the weightlifting and stuff like that.

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It is about choosing what you enjoy doing. Another thing I love doing is I love going for power walks. I love going for really long walks. I love doing exercise classes at certain exercise classes.

I absolutely love if you had to tell me that I have to go sit there and do some very long. Stretching meditation thing. I would probably lose interest. That's just me personally, but I also recognize how incredible that is. So it's about doing you and not conforming to what everybody else is

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doing. You know, I know like pelotons are a massive craze at the moment.

Everyone's got a Peloton and. I'm very seriously considering it. And now I'm going to get a load of messages from people saying, get one, get one. And yes, I am. I've also sort of saying to my husband and mom and to my mom who lives with us, I'm saying, oh, you know, I think it would be good for all of us in the middle of winter when we might not want to go out for those walks and those runs and things.

So, yes, I think I just might end up getting from myself and putting it in my office. But there you go. It's thinking about what works for you

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and then working backwards on what the action steps are you going to take. So rather than being like. Um, I say, let's use running as a topic. I'm going to go running and I'm going to go out for 10 kilometers four times a week, or whatever it is and doing this really big strangle when you're going from no exercise to loads of exercise at saying, well, actually, could I do the couch to 5k that by the way, is an amazing app.

If you haven't got stuck into it, like I would highly recommend it. It's so cool. You can like pick whose voice you're going to have coaching you and all sorts of things, but it is

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amazing. And I know so many people who've got incredible benefits and clients of mine from using the couch to 5k. And it's actually saying Ron, I'm going to log into the app and I'm going to do that three times a day.

And I'm going to go out, whatever it is, 20 minutes, half an hour, max, that's something that you feel like, yeah, I can stick to that. You could even put a little chart up on the fridge and you could like cross off a box every time you do that habit in a week. So you've set your goal three. So you have three blocks per week, times four, if there's maybe five weeks in a month, 15 blocks.

And every time you

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do that, Crossover block. And you're like, yes, that sense of achievement. I did it. I did that habit. I performed it and I absolutely love sharing habit trackers with my clients because I think they're so powerful visually for you to see. Okay. Did it take it off the box? I love taking things off the list.

I will write something on my to do is just so I can tick it off so that. And yeah, then it's saying, okay, so how do I facilitate that happening? How do I make it easy for

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that going out three times a week to happen? Well, depending on what time of day you're doing it, say you want to get it done. First thing in the morning, say, you've, you're able to do that.

You've got childcare or your partner can get the kids ready for school or whatever. It's making sure that your workout gear is there. Like you practically have to trip over it before you get out of bed, because it is there. It is in your face. It is ready to roll with you. And it's again, even if it's making sure that your water bottle is by the front door, that your trainers are.

Create the

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conditions that make the habits then easier to do, because it takes such a long time for our brains to rewire, to reprogram for habits. I mean, there's all sorts of things. A habit takes 21 days on 30 days and 90 days, and then habit takes as long as it takes you. But that, to be automatic for that, just to be what you do, I'm gonna say that again, a habit is just takes as long as.

As it takes it to become an automatic response or just to be

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what it is that you do as part of your life. So for me, when I'm planning out my week, yes, I'm that person who plans out my week. I will make sure that my exercise is included in my schedule because that's just what I do is what I need to cope with all the things in my life.

And it's. So I know that we're really getting stuck on exercises as an example here, but I just really want to kind of bring this to life for you in terms of how you actually go about. Making habits, but maybe

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it's a habit around eating and maybe eating more nutritiously or being more organized. And so maybe it's something like meal planning that you need to do.

So while yes, we've all been there. We've made a lovely meal plan for the week and then completely not stuck to it. It's creating the conditions that help you stick to it. So it's the grocery delivery, the online shop or whatever that you have delivered to you. On a certain time at a certain day, if you can be organized to book all your slots up in advance so that, you know, right.

I'm getting my groceries

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on this day, I'm planning out this many meals and then it's also potentially booking in a slot in your diary where you're going to batch cook three, four meals on a Saturday or Sunday, so that you have those ready for the week ahead. So the overarching goal is to eat healthier and then we breaking it down.

We're going okay. So we're going to meal plan. What does that meal planning entail on lunch? But my delivery slots, et cetera, et cetera, and breaking it down because how often will we be like, right, I'm doing this, I'm going to do this

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new, amazing habits. And they were like, day one, failed rubbish. I'm so rubbish.

Oh, why can't I stick to the road? All this stuff in our brains. So really that is identifying what habits you need. So think about it. Do we need to work on stress? Do we need to work on sleep? Exercise nutrition. Do you have a lot of mental clarity? Do you have a lot of physical clutter? Do we need to actually just spend some time decluttering your environment to

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create the optimum environment so that you can thrive?

I know for me, when things are a mess and things are just organized, my husband always laughs. He's like, oh, I know you've got a lot in your mind when you start tidying up and cleaning things, because that's just your way of like processing and sorting things out in your mind. I'm like, yep. He knows me.

Well, Nearly 14 years of marriage. That, that is how I process. So yes, if you ever see me clearing up, you know, I'm processing through my brain, but it's thinking about what it is for you thinking about those

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five key areas that I've mentioned. And then another thing that I just want to add into the mix is thinking about something.

I love to do as a busy working mom and that's to habit stack. So it comes along with that whole creating the right environment for yourself, but it's thinking about, okay, so I want to move my body more. Okay. Exercise, like in terms of that category. So what I will do, and as moms we've got all the chores we've got all the lists is our think.

Okay. So

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I've got to get my daughter to school. I've got to walk the dog. I also want to get some exercise. And I also maybe want to listen to a really great podcast. That's going to nourish me, or someone's recommended that I really listened to this podcast. How am I going to fit it in? So here's what I like to do.

So I leave the house, got the dog off to school. We go, we walk to school because we are able to do that. It's a good 15, 20 minute walk for us. It's really good exercise. So I walk one way, drop my daughter. And then she's had some exercise and fresh air. We've had

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some time to chat as well, which is great.

It's Craig connection that really aligns to my value on family. And then on the way back, I will listen to a podcast. So now I've done nearly 30 minutes of moving my body. I have spent some quality time with my little girl. I've walked the dog and I've moved my body and that's taken me half an hour. That is habit stacking.

It's creating those good habits on top of each other. And so when you go, so another one and this, I can't even take credit for, this is my lovely friend,

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Steph cuddle, who does this? It makes me laugh. And I think of every time I go to the toilet, she'll be so pleased to know every time she goes to the loo, she does like five squats, maybe it's 10 steps, steps.

Amazing. She's so fit in. It's such an inspiration, but she does these squats. And I just think, well, that's genius. If I think how much I drink in a day, I drink so much water. I'm always drinking something, either pebble tea or fifth stick or coffee. I love a coffee. Yes.

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Health coaches drink coffee. So yeah, it's all about balance.

Isn't it. So I go to the toilet a lot. So imagine if I did five squats every time I went to. So I went six, seven times in a day. That's nearly 50 squats near enough. I mean, you could round it up that you doing just from going to the loo habit, stacking are even said the other day, like this is where you're going to laugh at me.

This is where, where my math skills, like I'm really good at business numbers and things like that, but asked me to do maths live on a

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podcast. So, so I was laughing with my PT the other day. Cause I was say. Imagine if I did cause I was doing it, I was doing a plank and I was saying, you know, one minute of planking, quite insignificant on its own.

But imagine if you did a plank for one minute, every day of the week. So seven minutes of planking, not amazing, like really insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But if you did that every day for a month, that's great for weeks. Nearly

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half an hour, it adds up to, and you're doing that. And then you add that up over the course of a year.

And actually what that translates to is an incredible amount of significant time that you are blanking. It's you know, if you consider seven minutes, Tom's four weeks in a month, that's nearly 28 minutes of planking. And you times that by 12, you've done nearly 336 minutes. Of planking.

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Okay. Now that sounds like a lot five and a nearly six hours of planking in a year.

Can you imagine how much stronger your body is going to feel and be just from that one minute plank, but this is the thing with habits is that on their own, they seem so insignificant, but when they're compounded over time, the difference that that makes. And that's the key that I think with habits you've really got to embrace and get your head around is the fact that they are seemingly

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insignificant, but are hugely significant in the long term.

And that is something I feel has always been a strength of mine is to be consistent. People will often say to me, oh, you're so good. Or it's easy for you or they'll make comments like that to me. And I just think, well, what you don't see behind the scenes is the consistency of what I do things in my life, in all the different areas and the habits.

And I just love to cultivate an environment that makes it easier for me.

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Like. I assume that I just love to work hard and be busy and do all these things. But actually I think deep down dare I say, I feel pretty lazy sometimes. Like I want to take the path of least resistance. Like I really have it's for me has been a way, like, I feel to kind of not cheat the system.

That's not what I'm, I'm trying to say, but it's really thinking about. Well, actually, if someone says to me like that whole planking thing, I'm like, well, I can do that. I could not

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do five and a half hours of blanking, but I could do one minute a day, or I could read 10 pages of really good book, or I could listen to one podcast every day of the working week that nourishes my brain and helps me in my business.

Or I could exercise three, four times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes. Those are literally. Compounded habits over time that lead up to really, really significant things. So I hope today's episode has really inspired you on the power.

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All of those small habits and it's helped you to identify what habits you might need.

And I gave you some examples of some of the areas. I know we went into a lot of detail on the exercise analogy, but also thinking about what, if it's eating healthier, what that looks like, and also talking about creating a great environment for your habits and using habit stacking to help you. Compound and pull those good habits all together to actually save you time, which hello as a busy mom, like that is exactly what we need.

And

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also you'll find a reminder, as I said, at the start of this podcast episode. That it is all about progress over perfection. And I just really want to remind you of that. You amazing, amazing woman, and just know that you are enough as you are. So thank you so much for tuning into today's episode, do all the good things that we can do to get those podcasts out and shared with people and spread the love and the message.

With other working moms. And I look forward to talking to you very, very soon. Take care, have a great

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day. So what kind of busy mom are you take my free quiz and find out which of the full profiles you might be. You'll get your results straight away, and I'll even send you my top tips based on your results to support you on your journey, to healthy and thriving.

Go to the link in my show notes and take a couple of minutes to find out what you are. Thank you for listening to the healthy and thriving career moms. But more resources to support you on your journey. Visit my website, wendygriffith.co.uk. And please also come join our

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Facebook community healthy and thriving career mums.

This is a safe, no judgment space where we share and inspire each other. And if you got value from today's episode, I'd be so grateful. If you would share this with other career moms who would benefit to either through social media or leaving a five-star review, you can find me at Wendy Griffith, live healthy on Instagram and Facebook until next time God.

Stay healthy and keep thriving.