Building healthy habits isn’t just about making monumental changes in January—it’s about creating small, sustainable routines that can last you beyond the initial weeks of motivation. Whether you want to improve your fitness, eat better, or feel more energized, consistency over perfection is key. This article explores practical strategies for building healthy habits that fit seamlessly into your lifestyle.

 

Oh, January: the month of fresh starts, lofty resolutions, and the sudden overcrowding of your local gym. We all begin the year brimming with enthusiasm, ready to crush our goals and become the healthiest versions of ourselves. But let’s be honest—by February, the sparkle of “new year, new me” fades, and old habits sneak back in like uninvited guests.

So, how do you build healthy habits and make them stick around longer than your holiday leftovers? The secret isn’t in perfection or superhuman willpower—it’s in building sustainable habits that fit your life (and maybe even make it more enjoyable). Ready to learn how to turn January's energy into a year-long lifestyle? Let’s dive in!

 

Why Most Resolutions Fail

Ever set an enormous goal, change your entire routine to accommodate it, stick to it for a week or two, then burn out and give up? Ya, same. 

Can you say failed resolutions?

Here are a few common mistakes we see as expert coaches and accountability partners when it comes to building sustainable habits:

Your Goals Are Too Hard

One of the most common reasons resolutions fail is that goals are unrealistic or require extensive change and commitment from day one. In other words, your goals are too hard. 

It’s easy to get stuck thinking, “I’ll get there faster if I commit to every habit change at once and go all in,” but this usually results in too much change at once, which leads to a higher likelihood of quitting altogether. It is better to aim low, go slow, and get there eventually than to go too hard too quickly, give up, and not get there at all.

You Need a Clear Plan

Failed resolutions also occur when you don’t have a clear plan to get from where you are now to where you want to go. 

Our suggestion? Work backward from your ultimate goal and break down the steps needed to get there. Be specific (and realistic) regarding how long each step will take. Need some help? Download our free goal-setting guide! It will help you identify the goals that are truly important to you and break them down step-by-step.

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Goal Setting Guide

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You Need Better Goal-Setting Language

As you set your goals, make sure to do a few things:

  1. Write them down. Science tells us that physically writing our goals makes us more likely to reach them. In fact, one study found that people are 42% more likely to reach a goal if they write it down.
  2. Write them in the first person. Use “I” statements.
  3. Write them in the present tense, including when writing ten, five, and one-year goals. 
  4. Make them measurable. This usually means assigning a number to the action. X grams of protein per day or X days of 40-60 minute workouts per week. Ask yourself, “Can I concretely say ‘yes I did this’ or ‘no I didn’t’”

You Don’t Have Any Accountability

Sustainable habits require sustainable accountability—from yourself and from the most important people in your life.

How to Hold Yourself Accountable

Make your goals visible. Print them out, put them on your fridge or bathroom mirror, add them to a note on your phone—whatever you need to do to keep them top of mind. 

From there, make sure the most instrumental people in your life know what is most important to you. Not only can they help give you a push when you need it, but they’re also the people in the gym and the kitchen with you as you make necessary healthy habit changes.

 

The Habit Loop

So, how do you build healthy habits? The Habit Loop is one of the best ways to think about how habits are formed.

habit loop

  • Cue: An internal or external trigger initiating the habit. Ex: Feeling hungry (internal), smelling delicious food (external).
  • Routine: The physical, mental, or emotional response to the cue. Ex: Grabbing a prepped snack or cooking a healthy meal in response to your hunger.
  • Reward: Positive reinforcement after the routine is finished that meets the need behind the cue. Ex: Feeling full and satiated after eating your healthy meal.

You can’t change behaviors you don’t recognize; understanding the Habit Loop allows you to assign language to your everyday actions and begin to make impactful changes to one at a time.

 

Tips for Building Healthy Habits That Stick

1. Start small and focus on consistency.

The goal is sustainable health habits that last beyond January, right? As you get started, set goals that are too easy to fail. Aim low. Aiming low allows you to build confidence and momentum instead of going too hard, failing, and quitting. 

Momentum builds to long-term success and consistency with the goal-supporting habit. Once you’ve hit your “too easy” habit for at least a week, make it a little bit harder.

Let’s look at an example of how this could play out.

Long-Term Goal: Eat 150g of protein per day
Current Intake: 75g of protein per day

Week 1 Goal: I eat 90g of protein per day
Week 1 Goal-Supporting Habit: I drink a protein shake after every workout. I drink my shake between breakfast and lunch when I don't work out.

Week 2 Goal: I eat 110g of protein per day
Week 2 Goal-Supporting Habit: I use a crockpot once weekly to prep at least 20oz of lean protein and utilize it for lunch and snacks throughout the week.

Week 3 Goal: I eat 130g of protein per day
Week 3 Goal-Supporting Habit: I get at least 30g of protein at breakfast. I prep overnight oats at night so they’re ready to go when I need them in the morning.

Week 4 Goal: I eat 150g of protein per day
Week 4 Goal-Supporting Habit: I double-cook dinner every night and use leftovers as lunch for the following day. I use the copy/paste function in my app to quickly move and adjust my meal from dinner to lunch.

See how you can build easy health routines over a month, reach mini-milestones, and build to your ultimate goal? 

This is done slowly and intentionally and ensures that you focus on one habit at a time before adding a new habit. By the fourth week, you will naturally incorporate all goal-supporting habits—making them feel like easy health routines. It would feel overwhelming to try to build all four habits simultaneously. But one at a time is not only manageable, it is motivating.

2. Pair new habits with existing routines.

Also known as “habit stacking,” this concept utilizes actions you’ve already engrained in your day-to-day to make adding sustainable health habits feel natural. 

For example, if you want to drink more water, you could stack this before reaching for your first cup of coffee in the morning. If you want to do 20 minutes of yoga and stretching, stack this before or after your daily workout or before you get dressed for in the morning work.

3. Track your progress.

Tracking progress—whether through an app, journal, or calendar—helps you see streaks and watch the momentum toward sustainable health habits build. This can be motivating when you’re tempted to skip a habit or commitment.

Tracking progress also helps you make knowledgeable changes to your plan or routine when necessary. Let’s dive into that more…

How a Personalized Nutrition Coach Will Help You Build Healthy Habits

The best way to start building healthy habits is to choose one goal and make one small change today. Aim low, build confidence, and watch your momentum (and results!) snowball.

From there, a personalized plan and ongoing accountability from an expert make all the difference in actually sticking to your 2025 goals. WAG Nutrition Coaches have helped over 30,000 people set and reach body composition and performance goals. As experts in nutrition science and the art of coaching, our job is to teach you a sustainable way to stay fit and healthy. Learn more about how a WAG Nutrition Coach will help you build habits that last beyond January and transform your health for life!

4. Be Okay with Adjustments

Many people get nervous about setting goals because they feel set in stone. Although it is essential to take your goals seriously, there is a time and place for an adjustment. Flexibility when building sustainable health habits is a must. An expert coach can help you identify when a goal or action needs to be adjusted or isn’t serving you. 

Want a few more healthy habit-building tips? Click here!

 

How a Personalized Nutrition Coach Will Help You Build Healthy Habits

The best way to start building healthy habits is to choose one goal and make one small change today. Aim low, build confidence, and watch your momentum (and results!) snowball.

From there, a personalized plan and ongoing accountability from an expert make all the difference in actually sticking to your 2025 goals. WAG Nutrition Coaches have helped over 30,000 people set and reach body composition and performance goals. As experts in nutrition science and the art of coaching, our job is to teach you a sustainable way to stay fit and healthy. Learn more about how a WAG Nutrition Coach will help you build habits that last beyond January and transform your health for life!