Are You Missing the Power of a Nutrition Keystone Habit?

Have you ever noticed in your life there are certain things that if you do them, other things seem to fall in line almost naturally?

Nutrition has become a very important area of my life. I’ve learned so much about myself as a result of nutrition: my preferences, my cravings, my addictions (sadly), basically, my habits.

As a kid, I loved playing with dominos. They key was the first domino. If it was in the right position, it would be a catalyst for all of the other dominos to fall.

A keystone habit has a similar domino effect. Once the keystone habit falls, other habits will fall next as a result of this first catalyst domino.

A Keystone Habit creates a chain reaction which change and rearrange your other habits as you integrate the habit into your life.

The Keystone Habit becomes small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives. They have a ripple effect into other parts of life, creating positive change unexpectedly. Charles Duhigg, in his NY Times best seller book, The Power of Habit, was key in introducing us to the concept of a keystone habit.

Let me give you an example: Keeping a Food Journal

If someone focuses on weight loss, they may choose to keep track of what they eat. If this is a new habit, it would be difficult at first remembering to even write down what they had eaten.

But once someone developed the habit of recording what they had eaten, they learned so much more. In fact far more than they would even realize about their behavior.

They learned certain patterns they never even realized. They seems to always snack around 10am. If they ate unhealthy for one meal, they were FAR more likely to eat unhealthy for the next meal until the cycle was broken. They tend to snack right before bed due to the munchies watching tv.

Research shows that those that stuck with this keystone habit of keeping a food journal lost twice as much weight as everyone else because the journal heightened their awareness.

So how can you develop a Nutrition Keystone Habit (NKH) in your own life?

1. Define WHAT Is Your Nutrition Keystone Habit

Every person is unique in this area. What may be a keystone habit to you may completely fail for me.

The key is really looking at your pattern already and looking for clues to uncover your NKH.

Let me give you some examples:

• Buying healthy food
• Creating meal plans for the week
• Purging the kitchen of any and all unhealthy or tempting foods
• Healthy snacks
• Strong first meal of the day
• Eating family dinners

You may find more than one that resonate with you but remember, a keystone habit is like a domino and effects everything else.

2. Define HOW To Implement Your Nutrition Keystone Habit

Once you decide WHAT is your NKH, now you need to determine HOW to implement it into your daily routine.

For example, my NKH simply came down to planning ahead. When I don’t plan ahead, I react. And my reaction defaults to quick and easy / eating out / ordering in / little to no “true” nutritional value.

Planning ahead looks like this in our house:

• Pre-chosen (not reactionary) groceries
• Meal plans for the week (lunch and dinner) which include the benefits of desired leftovers
• Prep (extra grilled chicken breasts / cut-up vegetables)

Ironically, my same NKH of planning ahead at home with the family, holds true for me on the road. I choose hotels with a great breakfast. I choose restaurants that will allow me to stay within the style of eating (Paleo) that is best for me. I also find a Trader Joe’s of Whole Foods for healthy snacks.

Why? Because planning ahead is my Nutrition Keystone Habit and affects everything else for me nutritionally.

Once I have a plan, everything else seems easier for me in nutritionally and I find my greatest gains and successes.

Closing Challenge…

So, have you thought of your Nutrition Keystone Habit yet?

If so, do you know how to implement it into your everyday life?

It takes thought and time to determine your NKH but once you do the difficult work of figuring it out and leveraging it, everything else should naturally become easier.

Motivated, busy professionals need to find “tricks of the trade” that can produce exponential results. And the area of nutrition is a key place to start.

I challenge you to think through and find your Nutrition Keystone Habit to leverage and affect everything else.

Be willing to learn about yourself. Think about your nutrition habits and which one trumps all the rest. There will be your NKH. You will be surprise what will happen as a result.

Closing Question…

What is your Nutrition Keystone Habit and how will you implement it into your daily life?