This month, I'd like to return to a frequent theme of the Building Healthy Habits group: small changes are the building blocks of sustainable healthy habits. A recent doctor's appointment underscored that point for me.

I'm seeing a specialist and he was doing an initial assessment of where I am physically. He commented on my strong upper body strength. That surprised him, he said. He doesn't usually see older women with strong upper body strength. He asked me what exercises I do. I'm sure he was waiting to hear bicep curls and shoulder presses at the gym, but no. I told him that I enjoy boxing in virtual reality using the app, Supernatural. I love it! I find the music I love, I start a workout, get transported to far away exotic locations, and spend 10 or 15 minutes smashing targets and upping my score! It's a great cardio and strength building workout.

My goal is to do Supernatural 4 times a week, 10 or 15 minutes per session. Like My Fitness Pal, it tracks my workout streak, and that motivates me to meet my weekly workout goal. On the surface, it wouldn't seem like an hour or so a week swinging and punching at targets would make much of a difference at all. But I've been doing this routinely since December 2021. I've now done 816 workouts. And that’s what explains the changes in my upper body strength. Small changes, done repeatedly, and given time to show their impact.
I know many of you have similar small changes success stories! Please share them with our group! If you are new to our group and just starting out, what small changes could you implement now that would lead to large noticeable impacts come January, 2025? It's easy to write off the end of the year as, “I'll just start in January” but there is no better time to start than now.

Happy November! Let's make it a great month!

--Denise (@themedalist)

(banner image courtesy @ evgeniya Adobe Stock)