The power of one: anchoring a healthy lifestyle with a single habit

Have you ever found yourself bursting with motivation to overhaul your diet and dive into a new workout regimen, only to feel overwhelmed and burn out within weeks? Or maybe you’ve made such minimal changes — like swapping one processed snack for another — that you didn’t see any real benefits to your health or motivation? Or perhaps you felt like you had to get everything perfect from the start, which led to putting off making any change at all.

These patterns are common and can make lasting change feel out of reach. Recognizing this, it’s helpful to shift your focus toward small, meaningful steps that set the foundation for sustainable progress. This means beginning with just one thing—one habit that’s significant enough to increase health and/or motivation over time, yet reasonable enough that you can easily incorporate it into your life and commit to it for the long haul.

Consistency Counts

The key to making the Power of One approach impactful is choosing a habit that you can make non-negotiable. It will keep you tethered to your long-term goals no matter how hectic life gets.

Focusing on one health behavior can keep you grounded during times when routines are thrown off (e.g., holidays, increased family demands, travel). If some of your other health habits get paused from time-to-time, your keystone habit serves as a guide to keep the pendulum from swinging all the way back into “I give up” territory.

One non-negotiable healthy habit can build a strong foundation for lasting wellness! #HealthyHabits #WellnessJourney #SASLife
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Before You Choose

Here are a few tips to help you select your non-negotiable habit:

Assess Your Goals: What aspect of your health is your priority right now — energy levels, gut health, weight management, or something else?

Consider Your Current Schedule, Budget, and Energy Levels: When do you have time and energy for a little something extra? Would taking something away (i.e., eliminating a detrimental habit) be a better choice right now?

Make It Meaningful: Do you want to start a totally new behavior or prioritize a slightly easier version of habit that frequently gets dropped when life is stressful?

Keep It Simple: Your non-negotiable habit should be straightforward and easy enough to integrate into your daily routine, even on the busiest, most stressful days.

Looking to Start with Nutrition?

Check out some ideas below to inspire you to come up with your keystone habit.

Start your day with protein.

Why it Matters: Including protein in your first meal helps make it more satiating, stabilizes blood sugar levels, and provides the building blocks that help us feel and function our best all day long.

How to Implement: Plan your breakfasts ahead of time. Pre-prep ingredients or choose quick options like Greek yogurt + string cheese + fruit.

Only eat while sitting at a table.

Why it Matters: Sitting in a place where food is the focus for all meals and snacks allows you to eat more mindfully, improving digestion and satisfaction, and helping you to be more aware of how much you eat.

How to Implement: Avoid eating while standing, working, or watching TV. Bring what you intend to eat or drink to the kitchen table or other designated area and take your time to savor the flavor.

Put a limit on sweetened beverages.

Why it Matters: Sweetened beverages (even those that use no-calorie sweeteners) could increase insulin, making us hungrier. Sugar sweetened beverages also increase the risk of developing diabetes and other chronic diseases.

How to Implement: Opt for water or unsweetened coffee or tea. If going cold turkey seems overwhelming, avoid sweetened drinks on an empty stomach, reduce sweeteners in drinks over time, and/or reduce the number of sweet drinks you drink in a week.

Fast for 12 hours each night.

Why it Matters: An overnight fast supports metabolic health, improves digestion, and promotes better sleep.

How to Implement: Ideally, you’d stop eating/drinking anything other than water at least 2-3 hours before bedtime, but you can always delay breakfast the next morning after a late dinner if needed. Check out more intermittent fasting tips here.

Take any nutritional supplements you need consistently.

Why it Matters: Vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients support all of the biochemical reactions that happen in your body. Speak with a trusted health care provider or registered dietitian to help you decide if and what supplements may support your health and nutrition plan.

How to Implement: Set an alarm in your phone as a reminder when starting a supplement routine. Use a pill case if you have trouble remembering whether you’ve taken your supplements. Look here for help deciding on products.

Prioritizing stress-management , sleep , or movement ?

Look here and check out some other habit-building hacks.

Focusing on your core health habit helps you maintain a semblance of routine when life is unpredictable. This approach helps you build trust with yourself, translating into increased confidence that you’ll be able to tackle more changes when you are ready.

To get started, remember:

Be Consistent: Make a commitment to your priority habit every day. Consistency is what turns actions into lifelong practices.

Track Your Progress: Use a simple journal, your notes or calendar app, or a more specialized app to track your adherence and help you stay accountable and motivated.

Lemony Broccoli Salad

Makes 10 servings
Recipe Adapted from Food & Wine
PRINT RECIPE

Ingredients
1½ lbs broccoli (about 2 large crowns)
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
juice from 1 large lemon
finely grated zest from 1 large lemon
1 Tbsp honey (optional)
1 small shallot or ½ red onion, minced
salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
½ cup raisins
½ cup sliced almonds

Instructions

Cut broccoli florets into bite-size pieces, and slice broccoli stems into ¼- ½ inch thick pieces.

In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil with vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, and shallot/red onion and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss in the broccoli and raisins and mix well until all pieces are evenly coated.

When ready to serve, top with sliced almonds. Leftovers will keep well for 3 to 4 days in the fridge, covered.

Notes

For best results, chill the salad for at least 30 minutes (or even overnight) before serving to allow the flavors to blend and the texture to improve.

Frozen broccoli also works well. Make sure it has been fully thawed and blotted.