I Recently Purchased a New BPA-Free Tupperware Collection

This remark, made by my friend Anna, took me by surprise. Anna is an incredibly skilled legal professional. She possesses sharp critical thinking skills and excels at cutting through nonsense. However, the Anna I recognized seemed to be falling into some unfortunate traps that appeared to be bypassing her inner critical eye.

She has been aiming to shed approximately 15lbs for quite a while and approached me to express how trapped she felt regarding this objective. She mentioned a route she was considering: the new BPA-free tupperware collection.

“Interesting. What made you focus on that?” I inquired.

“Well, I’ve been reading about how microplastics in food containers can disrupt our hormones and lead to weight gain,” she responded. I squinted. To provide context, this was right after she expressed her challenges with maintaining gym consistency, relying too frequently on takeout, and sacrificing dull sleep for adrenaline-fueled scrolling through social media.

So I asked: “What about being more consistent with your workouts or preparing more homemade meals throughout the week?” And Anna replied: “Yeah, but I’ve attempted that a thousand times. If it were that easy, it would have worked by now.”

We’ve All Been There

Ignored or postponed those tough-but-rewarding habit transformations in favor of some ultra-specific, niche magic solution that’s supposed to “transform everything.” Spent countless hours researching the ultimate, most effective workout instead of dedicating those hours to just executing the basic workout you already know how to do. Waited until you felt more inspired, motivated, or just less busy.

Why do we do this?

Purchasing new equipment or a trendy supplement feels like making progress. Watching YouTube videos or reading articles about things you can change feels like you’re taking action. And waiting for the “perfect moment” feels, well, correct.

Except, nothing actually changes until we engage in genuine, consistent action.

We’re smart, us humans. And we’ve devised numerous crafty ways to dodge the basic, unexciting, challenging actions we need to undertake that genuinely drive change.

In this article, we’ll examine how to take an honest and compassionate look at why you might be diverting your attention from taking meaningful action.

You’ll discover:

• What the most impactful health habits truly are
• Three prevalent obstacles to achieving sustainable progress
• A 4-step approach you can implement to initiate positive, productive action
• How to maintain your consistency—and reach your goals

The Actions You Know You Should Take (But Likely Aren’t Doing Consistently)

We all recognize what those essential, fundamental health practices are:

▶ Engaging in physical activity, ideally 30 minutes daily, with a blend of moderate to vigorous intensity, combining both aerobic and resistance training.

▶ Consuming primarily nutritious, minimally-processed foods. If 80 percent of your diet consists of whole or minimally-processed foods, you’re doing an outstanding job. (Translation: “Perfection” isn’t a necessity; pizza can fit into a healthy diet.)

▶ Ensuring sufficient protein intake to support muscle mass, appetite control, and body recomposition goals, if applicable. Aim for around 1.2 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (for most individuals, this amounts to approximately 4-6 palm-sized servings of lean protein each day).

▶ Focusing on obtaining seven to eight hours of quality sleep. While you can’t always control your sleep quality, having some time to unwind before bed can help, as can rising at the same time daily.

▶ Steering clear of or at least minimizing excessive use of alcohol or drugs, including cigarettes. Not enjoyable, we know. But