James Hill:

Welcome to Weight Loss And, where we delve into the world of weight loss. I'm Jim Hill.

Holly Wyatt:

And I'm Holly Wyatt. We're both dedicated to helping you lose weight, keep it off, and live your best life while you're doing it.

James Hill:

Indeed, we now realize successful weight loss combines the science and art of medicine, knowing what to do and why you will do it.

Holly Wyatt:

Yes, the “And” allows us to talk about all the other stuff that makes your journey so much bigger, better, and exciting.

James Hill:

Ready for the “And” factor?

Holly Wyatt:

Let's dive in.

James Hill:

Here we go.

Holly Wyatt:

Today, we're talking about something that's often underrated, but I think incredibly powerful, your routines and rituals. And I think this is really true, especially during summer, which is why I'm excited about this episode, because let's be honest, summer has a way of throwing structure out the window. Summer can be a free-for-all, I think, when it comes to managing your weight.

James Hill:

Yeah, that's right. The longer days, vacations, kids out of school, spontaneous social events. It's a fun season, but it's also one of the easiest times to lose your rhythm when it comes to weight management.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, we've seen it time and time again. People do well in the spring. They're actually kind of getting excited about the summer, but by August, they're completely off track. They're frustrated. And I think the difference is that they haven't had intentional routines and rituals that anchor them, that go with summer very specifically.

James Hill:

Yeah, I love it that we're talking about routines and rituals. These are a key to long-term weight management. So if summer's ever left you feeling a little unmoored, or if you're determined to stay steady this year, this episode will give you a playbook for staying grounded, healthy, and still enjoying the season.

Holly Wyatt:

And Jim, I love the timing of this. We were specifically doing this right kind of before summer. I know I think summer officially starts like June, I don't know, 20th or something. But when do you think summer begins kind of in your mind?

James Hill:

I think Memorial Day.

Holly Wyatt:

Exactly. That's exactly what I think. So May 26th. So I thought we'd get this episode out there so people can put this in play right after or maybe even Memorial Day weekend.

James Hill:

So, Holly, why does summer disrupt people's routines?

Holly Wyatt:

Oh, I think there's lots of reasons. A big one, I think, is there's just a lot less structure. School's out. Work schedules sometimes shift. Sometimes people suddenly working maybe not on Fridays or coming home early on Fridays. Travel increases. You go on vacation. So there's lots of less structure. And really, summer just represents a time when things are changing, right? Things change.

James Hill:

But you often hear about getting ready for bathing suit season. Is that a little like New Year's resolution where you sort of get excited and then as the summer goes on, it wanes?

Holly Wyatt:

Well, I think that's the spring. People are getting ready in the spring.

James Hill:

Oh, so you've already done. You're ready for bathing. Okay, got it.

Holly Wyatt:

You're either ready or you're not, right?

James Hill:

We often talk about routines and rituals. And the reason is that these are so critically important. Holly, most of your behavior is automatic. Much of what you do during the day, you don't think about it. You get out of bed, you have a routine. You drive to work, you have a routine. Most of our behavior is automatic. And it's a series of habits, routines, and rituals. And we always say that the goal is looking at those that are not helping your weight management and changing them to ones that do help your weight management.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. And Jim, you asked me, why do I think summer tends to disrupt people's weight management routines? And I talked about less structure, but I think it kind of also comes into that there's a lot of spontaneous stuff. Right? That'swhat's going on. And that's where I think routines and rituals can really help. You have a lot of spontaneous stuff. If you have some routines and rituals, it's really going to kind of help with that spontaneity. How do you deal with it? Because I know in the summer, there's more barbecues, there's more happy hours. There's more staying up later because you got more daylight. I tend to go to bed later at night. A lot of people say summer is a time when they drink a lot more alcohol. I know we did a show on alcohol, but there's a lot more opportunities to consume alcohol, I think.

James Hill:

Yeah, because the day's longer. You have more hours, Holly, in the evening to consume more.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. So I think those are a lot of the reasons why these routines and rituals become more important because everything is kind of less structured, more spontaneous. You tend to kind of let down. You want to have some fun. And for some people, that means kind of letting everything go. And that's why I think these routines and rituals are really, really important.

James Hill:

And let's be clear, we're pro-fun, right?

Holly Wyatt:

Oh, yeah. Pro-fun. Absolutely.

James Hill:

I just wanted to get that out there that, you know, it's back to the idea. This doesn't have to be hard, maintaining a healthy lifestyle. And you've convinced me of that. I used to say it's hard, but now I say it's interesting and it's growth. We aren't saying you can't have fun. Summer's a time for fun. Putting some routines and rituals in will allow you to have fun, but allow you to stay within your general goals.

Holly Wyatt:

That's the key. Routine and rituals allow you to have fun and not regain weight. Continue to manage your weight successfully. So it's about having both, right?

James Hill:

It's fun you won't regret later, Holly.

Holly Wyatt:

That's one way of putting it. I don't regret, Jim. You love to go into that direction of regret and pain, but you know.

James Hill:

All right, all right.

Holly Wyatt:

I'll let it happen. So let's maybe differentiate. I know we tend to say, I do, routines and rituals, but they're a little bit different. Well, how do you think, let's define what a routine is and what's a ritual?

James Hill:

Yeah. So a routine is a structured action that you do regularly. Brushing your teeth is a routine. You might go for a walk every morning. You might have every Sunday afternoon you do meal prep. These are things you do and you do them regularly, the regular actions. Where rituals vary a little bit are rituals, I think, of these as routines that have meaning. So I remember the story. I think we told this story in our State of Slim book. The woman who would meet her mother for like coffee once a week and it was a time to catch up and it was important. And they started walking instead of coffee. And the routine was walking. The ritual was, it was a routine that was meaningful because it was a time where they caught. It was way more than the walk. The walk was good, but it was really much more deeper and meaningful. And in that way, rituals, I see it's a little bit more powerful than routines. They're powerful routines.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, because there's something, another reason you're doing them. I always say ritual is a routine with a very personal intention attached to it, something that is meaning to you. For me, my morning routine is really a ritual because I get up and it has a personal meaning to me to start my day and remember what's important. And it's become a ritual for me. So it's something that I look forward to for bigger. It's not just about doing something. It's more than just doing a routine, basically. The other thing I always like to point out is routines, I like to think of them as being fairly easy. I mean, you could say, for instance, exercising every day is a routine, but that's hard for somebody. So I think of routines as being little things that make something hard, like maybe exercising every day easier. So putting your clothes out in the morning so that you're ready to exercise or making an appointment with someone and meeting them three times a week to exercise.

James Hill:

Yeah, having a walking group in the morning of two or three neighbors. So if you don't show up, you feel bad because it's an expectation. And there are days you may want to do it, not do it. And you say, I don't want to let the others down. I'm going to do it.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, I think where some people make a mistake is they put their routine as the big thing. Well, my routine is to eat well. Well, no, that's hard. I mean, I don't want to say hard, but that may be where you're struggling.

James Hill:

Routines are little things that when hooked together, give you the lifestyle you want.

Holly Wyatt:

Exactly, exactly.

James Hill:

So why are rituals and routines particularly important in the summer? And you're not saying they're not important other times of the year, but summer is one that it may be worth thinking a little bit more about how you may develop some that are specific to that season for the reasons we talked about earlier.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. I actually think it's important to reevaluate your routines and rituals almost every season. Things change and you want them to fit.

James Hill:

So we can do one every season on routines and rituals. I love it.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. But in the summer specifically, I like routines that add a little bit of stability. I think summer is unstructured and that's okay. But if it's too unstructured, then it's like we said, it comes September and you're like, what happened? Right? So to me, summer, because it is a little bit unstructured, you want to add a little bit of stability with routines. They help maintain some consistent behaviors, and you can be really strategic with what that's going to be, pick and choose. And they reduce something that we call decision fatigue. I've been using this term more and more, Jim, this idea that people get tired of having to make a bunch of decisions over and over. And your willpower, it runs out by the end of the day. By the end of the day, you don't want to make any decisions. And so guess what happens?

James Hill:

Yeah, no, you don't make the good decisions. You make the easy decisions. I think you're right. I think in life in general, we're faced with too many decisions. Do you really need 50 kinds of bars in the grocery store? You stand there and you spend 30 minutes trying to choose and look at labels and everything. Sometimes I think we have too many options.

Holly Wyatt:

We do. You make decisions all day long, especially maybe in your job. And then you get home and you're like, I don't want to make any more decisions. If you have some routines and rituals in place, you don't have to make those decisions. Those are set. You don't have to think about it.

James Hill:

I like that. It reduces decision fatigue. One of our favorite words is mind state. How do routines and rituals sort of play a role in an optimum mind state?

Holly Wyatt:

I think you can choose your routines to really line up with feeling like you're in control, but also the identity you want. Mind state is a lot about identity and that inner voice. And I think when I put some strategic summer routines in place, it helps me with my mind state. It helps me with that identity and being aligned with it. And that feels good for me.

James Hill:

Okay. I know later on, we're going to actually get into some specific summer routines you can try, but in your mind, what makes a summer routine successful?

Holly Wyatt:

Well, because summer is unpredictable, I do think your routines need to be a little bit adaptable, right? You don't want them to be justvery, very strict. You want to have one, but let it be a little bit adaptable because summer's going to kind of have that unpredictability to it. I think it needs to be anchored. What I mean by that is you do it when you're at home or you do it when you travel because summer you're traveling a lot. And I think it needs to feel light. Like it doesn't want to feel rigid, but at the same time, it needs to be consistent and aligned with your goals so that you know why you're doing it, right? You understand why you put that routine in place. I think sometimes people put routines in place and they just kind of randomly do it. And then it doesn't serve a purpose.

James Hill:

What about during travel or vacation, Holly? I mean, can you develop some rituals and routines that don't take the fun out of your travel and still can help?

Holly Wyatt:

We are going to give some examples that I think can be helpful.

James Hill:

I love it. We have examples.

Holly Wyatt:

Pie in the plate. We got to have some pie the plate. But for me, I have routines that are in place specifically when I travel, when I go on vacation or summer vacation. So you can have two sets. It's like, this is what I do when I travel because maybe I want them to be a little bit different. I want to enjoy food more, but I still have some routines in place. And those may be different than when I'm not traveling.

James Hill:

Oh, very interesting. What kinds of rituals can help reinforce summer routines?

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. So rituals, once again, are routines that have meaning to you. So I like to think about things like morning check-ins.

James Hill:

Yeah, you're big on morning check-ins.

Holly Wyatt:

I know. I know.

James Hill:

Taking that time in the morning to reflect on your day and think about gratitude and planning your day.

Holly Wyatt:

You know why? It's changed my life. I really have put that in place no matter what is happening, no matter where I am, no matter how busy I am, and has made such a big difference in my life. That one simple routine that's become a ritual for me has made such a difference that I think I just want to share it because it's been so impactful. But I know people that tend to do that in the evening.

James Hill:

But you could do it in the evening.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah.

James Hill:

It doesn't have to be morning.

Holly Wyatt:

It's right.

James Hill:

It's taking a time for yourself to set aside and just think about the deeper things in life, right?

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. What's important to you, how you're doing, how you're feeling, are you on track? Just give some time to breathe and think about that and have gratitude for what you have. I believe that's an important part. Another type of ritual that I think is important in the summer are pre-meal rituals. Eat no matter what you're eating.

James Hill:

You're eating wherever you are. You're going to eat. So you're going to have meals.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. And to kind of notice, to pause, to breathe, to notice what's going on, to just kind of take some time and say, I'm going to be mindful about this meal, no matter where it is, no matter what it is.

Holly Wyatt:

That can be a ritual that's important in the summer.

James Hill:

And don't forget the movement side, too. There's the eating side, but there's the movement side. So can we develop some movement rituals?

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, we have some of those in the pie in the plate that's coming up, of course. And I think when you travel, those are the ones that you want to put in. You want to make them adaptable, but you want to keep them. And why, Jim, why do you think it's important to keep the movement going when you're on vacation?

James Hill:

Are you talking metabolic flexibility?

Holly Wyatt:

Oh, I am. I am.

James Hill:

You know, sometimes it's a little harder. You may have to plan ahead a little bit more if you're going to take a cruise or if you're going to take a driving trip or et cetera. But it can be done. If you plan ahead, you can find those times to get routines and rituals that involve movement.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. So let's think, what are some routines or rituals that you could specifically do during travel or vacation? Or how, I guess, how could you modify your routines and rituals during travel or vacation?

James Hill:

Well, you could, for example, in the morning, go for a walk. Most any place you are, even if you're in a hotel or something, for most of us, we have places to walk. So think of even getting in 15 or 30 minutes of walking. For me, I get up a lot earlier than my wife does when we're on vacation. And so I have a little bit of time to my own and I can go and take a walk.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. When I go on vacation, I tend to pick one or two, what I call non-negotiable. I'm going to do this. A lot of things are going to be up in the air, but I'm for sure going to get my movement in, Jim. I think that's what you would do. Or I'm going to get my mind right in the morning with my ritual. And I can feel good about that. And what I find is if I pick a couple that are non-negotiable, some of the others come along with it, right? I feel good and some of my other routines that naturally happen. But the other thing I always tell people is when you come back from vacation, don't wait 'til Monday or the next Monday or the next Monday, whatever, to get back on track. Go back to your routines and rituals and your plan that you have for when you're home. And that, to me, is the most important. A lot of times things could go, you know, you could be doing whatever during a vacation, but when you come back and you spend three or four weeks before you get back on track, that's when a lot of the damage may be really done.

James Hill:

Now, it's important to note here. What we're talking about are routines and rituals that actually enhance your fun during the summer, not restrict it. We're about summer fun here. We're saying love summers, love the fun. This isn't really going to give you pain and and suffering. This is to allow you to have fun and again, feel like you're sticking with the lifestyle in general you want to have.

Holly Wyatt:

Right. So the mindset or shift that I always say is you don't want to, I have to do this. Instead, what? I get.

James Hill:

I get to do it. Yeah.

Holly Wyatt:

Get to do this. And what things do you want to do? Do you get to do? Kind of shaping it that way.

James Hill:

So again, it's this negotiating with yourself. If you do some rituals and routines, you don't have to constantly negotiate with yourself to say, should I do this or not? That may be some other times you can do that, but if you put the routines and rituals in, it allows you to do what you want to do without constantly having to negotiate with yourself.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. All right, Jim, what do you think? Should we do some pie in the plate? Should we give them some examples? I know we've talked about what they should be. Let's maybe give some examples of some summertime routines and rituals and here's a list. I think we came up with 10.

James Hill:

The top 10. I mean, that's a hook right there. What's the top 10 routines and rituals for summer weight management? Wow.

Holly Wyatt:

I always want to point out, you don't have to do all of these. Some of them won't fit you, and that's fine. But maybe it's going to spur you into the types of things that might be good for you. You may like some of them and do them exactly like we talk about them. Or you may say, oh, that one's not a good fit for me.

James Hill:

At least try to choose two or three that works. more if they work. And again, these aren't to take away your fun.

Holly Wyatt:

Never.

James Hill:

Well, the first one I like, and I'm glad this is number one.

Holly Wyatt:

All right. You do the first one.

James Hill:

Morning movement. Start your day with some sort of movement. Go for a walk, stretch, do yoga, something before you get started in your day. Just take a little bit of time, move your body.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. And you can do that anywhere.

James Hill:

Exactly. Hotel room, cabin on a ship, camping, whatever.

Holly Wyatt:

And you can even go one step further and say, think how it would be fun to move my body right now. Right? Think what might be new or what might be fun to do. All right. Number two. I'll go for number two, Jim.

James Hill:

Okay. Go for it.

Holly Wyatt:

Simply starting each day with drinking a glass of water. You're doing something that you're very purposeful about. So start each day with a tall glass of water, maybe before you have your coffee, your meals, or you look at your phone. It just sets a tone for I'm making choices. And it's not so much that the glass of water is going to do anything magical to your metabolism or anything like that. That's not what we're saying. But it reminds you, I'm in control of choices today. An easy choice is I can start my day with a glass of water. And that just sets the tone for the day, no matter where you are, no matter what, you know, is going to happen for the rest of the day. You're kind of setting the tone for the day with that one.

James Hill:

Okay. I like that. Number three is a five-minute reset ritual. So this is basically a short check-in with yourself. Build in a pause or two to breathe, ask yourself, what do I need to do right now to feel steady? It's just taking a minute, checking on how you're feeling, everything going, okay, anything you need to change. And it can be quick, five minutes.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, it's that pause we talk about. When you pause, then you're able to make more strategic decisions. Instead of reacting to life, you get to decide how you want to act, the choices you want to make. Even just saying, okay, two or three times a day, I'm specifically going to pause and look at what's happening? Am I responding how I want to respond or is life started to push me around or things like that. I think that's an important one. You could even set a little timer on your phone to say, I'm going to do that three times a day. All right. Number four is a big one that I like to put in place in the summer because I do think it's helpful is meal prep and set a specific time and date. So Mondays or Sunday nights or whatever, but try to get into the habit. Just for me, it's just about prepping proteins and vegetables and where I can just have them grab and go. And I do make it fun, Jim. I think about ways that I can make it fun in the summer. Sometimes I go to a farmer's market or get some new veggies, try a new recipe, do it with a friend. But something that I need is to have some food ready to go or I know I'm not going to make the best choices.

James Hill:

And this one can be a ritual if you do it with family or friends. And so, yes, you're meal prepping, but it's also a chance to catch up and share what's going on in your life, et cetera.

Holly Wyatt:

And I know people who've done this virtually. So you're like, well, I don't have time for my friends to come over. Just get on the phone, get FaceTime, whatever. You don't have to necessarily be actually in the same place. So you could be across the country and still do this one with someone that you want to connect with.

James Hill:

Okay. Number five, intentional meal start. Before eating, pause for a moment to think about how hungry are you? What are your emotions? Are you happy, sad, upset, and intention? So it shifts you a little bit out of autopilot, which is sit down and start eating, to think a little bit about, well, how am I seeing this meal? Am I really hungry, et cetera? So just do a check-in before you start to eat.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. So that's a simple routine to do that could really make a big difference. Because how many times have you eaten a whole meal or a big chunk of a meal and you're thinking about something, you're not engaged in eating, but you're eating at the same time. And then you're like, whoa, I don't even remember what it tasted like. Nothing.

James Hill:

It's distracted eating. When we're trying to do something else while we're eating, we don't focus on eating and oftentimes we eat too much.

Holly Wyatt:

All right, I'll do number six. We call this one non-negotiable sleep wind down. Because the days are getting longer, sometimes that starts to impact our sleep. Our sleep period gets shorter and we know that that can be a negative, especially when it comes to body weight regulation. So the idea is to try to choose a consistent bedtime, even if summer nights are running late. And if you can't choose a bedtime because there's some flexibility you need in that, you could get into a routine where you don't do screens. So you make sure you don't look at your screens before you go to bed or you lower the lights or you do something that kind of winds down. So you say, "Ok, I'm going to get as much sleep as I can and the best quality of sleep that I can get."

James Hill:

Okay. Number seven. Again, back to the movement. We talked about maybe doing a first thing morning movement, but just get in the routine of doing some movement every day. It doesn't matter what it is. Anything counts as long as it feels good and it keeps your momentum going. It gets you in this mindset of moving your body. Moving your body is important. And wherever you are, vacation, at home, you can find a way to do some form of movement.

Holly Wyatt:

And what I love about this, I've done this with the state-of-slimmers before and we call it joyful movement streak. So it's idea, can you do some every day and keep a streak going? What's your longest joyful movement streak? People say I have a 50 day streak going and all it requires is a little bit. It's not that you have to get out and do an hour every day. I mean, you can do it as a goal, but it kind of is a fun way of keeping the movement going in the summer. All right, number eight is called the alcohol pause and plan ritual. I do see alcohol for some individuals kind of going up in the summer, being a little bit more of a problem in the summer. So this routine is really meant for people who tend to notice their alcohol consumption going up. So before saying yes to that drink, you pause and you simply say, "Do I really want this? Will I enjoy it? Will it serve me?" And then make the decision mindfully. And sometimes you may say yes. And sometimes you may say, "You know what? Yeah, I'm okay with saying no this time."

James Hill:

Just taking a minute and say, do I really want it? And if you do, and there are times when I really want it, it's okay. But it's just thinking about it before you do it.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. Once again, the routine is I'm not going to have any, I'm not going to drink alcohol or I'm going to limit my alcohol. That's hard. This is a little easy thing you can do that impacts it.

James Hill:

There are times you probably drink some alcohol. It didn't really satisfy you that much. You really didn't want it.

Holly Wyatt:

Right. Not a big deal, right?

James Hill:

Not a big deal.

Holly Wyatt:

Not a big deal.

James Hill:

But it's okay if you do. We're not saying don't drink. We're just saying take a minute and reflect if you really want it.

Holly Wyatt:

This really shows a routine is not 100%. So in other words, the routine, you may still drink the alcohol. That's okay. It may be that 30% of the time you'll decide not to have the drink. That's still a win. That's how routines help you.

James Hill:

The routine is just asking yourself.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah.

James Hill:

Number nine, end of day check-in. Close your day with 60 seconds. Can be a little more of reflection. What worked? What felt good? What can you carry into tomorrow? Again, just checking in with yourself. How'd your day go? What do you want to do tomorrow?

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. And you can tell I'm big into these reflection pieces.

James Hill:

I can tell.

Holly Wyatt:

I like a morning routine and I like a good evening check-in routine. But they can be short, guys. They don't have to be long, but they can make such a big difference. And number 10, identity anchor phrase. And I love this one. I'm gonna be doing this one, putting this one in place this summer. A daily phrase that reinforces who you are becoming this summer. That's important, right? Who do you want to be this summer? And a phrase that you can say to yourself every day, maybe you write it, maybe you put it on your phone, it reinforces, reminds you who you are becoming. For instance, I'm someone who stays steady in the summer, or I'm someone, whatever it is that aligns with you, but really making that conscious decision and knowing who you want to be this summer and coming up with a phrase that anchors you to it.

James Hill:

Yeah, nice. So 10 tips for routines and rituals this summer.

James Hill:

You don't have to do them all, but see if a few of them are things that you could do. It won't hamper your fun and it'll help you stick a little bit more with your weight golfs.

Holly Wyatt:

Yep. All right. We have a few listener questions that I think kind of went along with this. Here's one of them. I'm great during the week. But I fall apart on the weekends, especially in the summer. Yes. How can I build weekend rituals that really help?

James Hill:

Well, Holly, do weekday and weekend rituals have to be the same? Can't you do some routines and rituals that fit for your weekend that may be different than your week?

Holly Wyatt:

Exactly, Jim.

James Hill:

Is that the right answer?

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah. That's not the right answer. That's the answer I was going to say.

James Hill:

Oh.

Holly Wyatt:

You can have weekday routines and weekend routines. Like for instance, I always start Saturday morning with a walk followed by a mindful breakfast. That might be not something you do during the week, but you could do it on the weekend. You can even name it something fun that reminds you like a strong start to Saturday, right? That's what I do. That's what I get used to. I start my Saturday strong by doing this. And it gives you kind of a sense of intention without being restrictive. And from there, things can stack in your favor.

James Hill:

I always do a long bike ride on Sundays. It's my day to do the long ride.

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah.

James Hill:

Love it.

Holly Wyatt:

Perfect. Perfect.

James Hill:

Okay, Holly, what's the best way to stay consistent when someone's traveling with their family?

Holly Wyatt:

You can have different routines for that. But one of the things that I do when I travel is before I go on a trip, especially with my family or with other people is, I think about one or two non-negotiables. I'm not gonna be able to control everything, nor do I want to control everything, but can I decide on one or two things that I'm gonna stick to, that I'm going to do no matter what? Like, I'm gonna walk 20 minutes a day, no matter where I am, right? That's a non-negotiable. Whatever else happens, it happens. But I'm going to have, that is a non-negotiable. Or I'm going to, my first two meals of the day are going to be on plan or going to be healthy. And then after that, I don't know, right? Something that I'm gonna choose that's non-negotiable. That way, even if the meals or my schedules are different and things don't go as planned, I still am staying kind of connected and true to myself.

James Hill:

All right, Holly, have you ever gotten completely thrown off during summer? And if so, what helped get you back?

Holly Wyatt:

Yeah, so one summer I traveled so much. I was on vacations or I was doing travel for work. It seemed like I was gone more than I was home. And it really, really derailed my routines. And then even when I got back for a few days, I never got back on my normal routines. And I felt sluggish. I felt unmotivated. And it was just really frustrating. And in a way, there was a lot of fun travel. But it actually didn't feel fun because I felt kind of thrown off and sluggish, like I said, and not like myself, basically. And so what helped me get back on is this idea of, okay, I'm just going to start with one thing. I don't have to do everything, but I'm not going to do nothing, right? I'm going to do something. And that got me back going again. It wasn't like starting over every time. I could have something that I did that then made me feel more in control. And from there, other things would happen that would be better too. I tended to have better behaviors. We talk about behavior stacking or hooking together. And so sometimes just starting with one behavior or one routine leads you to other routines. All right, Jim, was there a time when one small ritual made a big difference in your mindset, your motivation?

James Hill:

Actually, one thing that I do in the summer, this is a little crazy, is we live on a cul-de-sac and there's a path out of it and it's a place where people walk and they often walk their dogs. And so one of the routines I do is in the late afternoon, I come home and I sit on my porch and actually I'll do some work, but all the neighbors come by. So it's a chance for me to visit with the neighbors and I'll be sitting on my porch and they're walking, their dogs are coming by and we use that time to catch up. And it's really, really a time to reconnect with neighbors and see how their day is. And it's something that's really added a lot of joy to my day during the summer.

Holly Wyatt:

Sounds like that helps with your mindset.

James Hill:

It does. Helps with my mindset.

Holly Wyatt:

Yes. So I love it because sometimes we think just about food, activity, but that's an example of a routine that's there for your mind, to help with your mind.

James Hill:

Absolutely. All right. Takeaways, Holly. Routines and rituals are not about rigidity. They're about resilience. They help you stay steady when life gets flexible, especially in the summer. They don't take away from your fun. They allow you to have your fun and feel good about your weight management.

Holly Wyatt:

And they don't have to be perfect. They don't have to be complicated.

Holly Wyatt:

You design them to work for you. And when you do that, it makes everything feel easier. And yes, way more enjoyable.

James Hill:

So if this episode sparked a few ideas for your own summer routines or rituals, try some of these and see how it feels. And if you have ones that we haven't covered, let us know what they are.

Holly Wyatt:

Yep. Let us know what's working for you. Also, let us know what you want to hear on this podcast. We love to get your ideas and we do turn them into episodes.

James Hill:

We do. All right. Thanks, everybody. See you next time on Weight Loss And. And that's a wrap for today's episode of Weight Loss And. We hope you enjoy diving into the world of weight loss with us.

Holly Wyatt:

If you want to stay connected and continue exploring the “Ands” of weight loss, be sure to follow our podcast on your favorite platform.

James Hill:

We'd also love to hear from you. Share your thoughts, questions, or topic suggestions by reaching out at [weightlossand.com](http://weightlossand.com/). Your feedback helps us tailor future episodes to your needs.

Holly Wyatt:

And remember, the journey doesn't end here. Keep applying the knowledge and strategies you've learned and embrace the power of the “And” in your own weight loss journey.