Becoming a new mom really turned my world upside down in the best way. I went from building my business, working out 4 days a week, making healthy food and having plenty of free time… to being a full time stay at home mom holding a baby the entire day, with a body that still feels a bit different. Needless to say my habits have changed, which is totally OK.

Now that I’ve had time to adjust to my new normal, I’m ready to reevaluate my habits and figure out where to modify and rebuild. I think of it like a puzzle. To me, this is fun stuff! I’m sharing my process for a habit reset so you can use this as an example if you want to do the same.

Understand my new environment/schedule

• Our routine will continue to change so I’ll take this into consideration.
• I am not going to magically have a bunch of free time during the day – she seems to only get more demanding 🙂 so plan for very little ‘me’ time.
• Her needs come first as much as possible. She will continue to need me for nursing and naps for awhile so I’ll take this into consideration.
• I do have access to help a couple hours of week.

 

What would I like to change? Look at the 5 main life areas – health, career, finances, spirituality, relationships. What would I like to change (if anything) in each?

• Health- I would like to eat cleaner (less empty food with little nutrition, more veggies). Do more cardio and body weight workouts.
• Career- On hold
• Finances- Be more aware of my spending, don’t spend unnecessary.
• Spirituality- No issues.
• Relationships- I need to find more moms that I can spend time with and relate to. I would also like more time with my husband.
• *Bonus: Self care – Make sure I have time to myself to reconnect with ‘me’ outside of being a mom

 

Be realistic and choose just a few things to work on first.

• Exercise
• Healthy meals
• Relationships

 

Modification

This is where I try and solve the puzzle and see what solution will potentially fulfill my ‘needs’ in order to create new habits. I say potential because this can be an experimental process to see what works.

• Exercise- What is currently getting in my way? I no longer have the time to go to the gym because I can’t leave Teagan at those times and can’t leave for more than 1 hr. What could I do instead? I have the ability to walk, dance and do quick in home workouts with T.
• Healthy meals- What is getting my way? I rarely have two hands free all day . Teagan likes to be held, and even in her sling her hands get in the way of trying to chop vegetables. What could I do instead? Get help. Have partner chop veggies for me. Buy pre-cut veggies. Wear her on my back. Meal prep so I only have to cook a couple times a week.
• Relationships- What’s currently getting in my way? I don’t spend as much time with my husband as I’d like because I go to bed with my baby as soon as he gets home from work. What could I do instead? Using time on the weekend, we can take Teagan for a walk. That keeps her pretty occupied and allows us to talk to each other and catch up.

 

Implement

I will try these new solutions and check back in with myself in two weeks to see what is working and where I need to modify. To hold myself accountable I will put a reminder on my calendar each day to briefly think about my new habits. I will also commit to sharing my results with my Facebook group.