September Mixed Bag: Make It A Habit

We rarely have big plans for Labor Day Weekend. That’s because my husband is in education. Due to school starting after Labor Day here, he likes to make it a habit to relax for the few days before the crazy starts. I’m mostly happy with that plan. It gives me a chance to savor the still-summery sunshine while making plans for the new season.

I love September because of its dichotomy. It’s warm and sunny but the mornings are crispy and cool. The leaves are only just starting to yellow but there is still plenty of green. I feel wistful for summer but highly motivated to start new things for fall. September is the perfect time to work on new habits, which is what I’ll mostly be writing about this month. I’m reading a great book on habits, trying a new way to get more plants in my diet and waiting impatiently to pick back up with some seasonal habits that I’ve come to love. Welcome to this month’s Mixed Bag!

Tiny Habits

If you’ve been following the blog for a while you know I’m a huge fan of James Clear’s Atomic Habits. I practically know the book by heart and make it a habit (pun intended!) to apply Clear’s strategies on a daily basis. This month I’m reading BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits. Fogg espouses many of the same strategies but applies a specific design framework for behavior change. Fogg is the founder of Stanford’s Behavior Design Lab so he’s got some major credibility. I’m excited to try out his methods on some new habits I’m trying to get going this fall. I’m not quite finished with the book yet but I’m going to devote September’s weekly blogs to decluttering habits, applying everything I’ve learned from both books!

Eat 30 Plants This Week

One habit I’m already playing with is eating 30 (different) plants each week. If you’ve been around since last September you may remember me sharing my experience with Zoe Nutrition. I learned so much about my gut biome and how important it is to have diversity. While I took a lot from that experience, I didn’t do a great job implementing my learnings. 

Zoe has a weekly podcast and their most recent episode is titled ‘How to eat 30 plants this week.’ After listening I felt like I could combine what I’ve learned from Tiny Habits and the podcast episode and actually make it a habit to get 30 different plants into my diet every week. That’s going to help me in all kinds of ways (health-span, strength, menopause-belly, longevity, etc.) so it’s a great habit to experiment with! I’m excited to get started and I’ll keep you posted on how I’m doing! In the meantime, check out Zoe Nutrition – it’s a great resource and the british accents are an added bonus!

Waiting For My Favorite September Habits

When something only happens once or twice a year it takes a while to recognize that a pattern is occurring. But once you recognize it you start to make it a habit and take it for granted. Until it doesn’t show up and then you get really mad!

Let me explain. During the pandemic I got into 2 new things: doing Power Zone Challenges on my Peloton and watching the Great British Baking show. I did my first Power Zone Challenge with 2 of my cousins and it was a fun bonding experience. My daughter recommended The Great British Baking Show to me and I reluctantly tried it and fell in love, immediately binging all of the earlier seasons. (I am in general not a fan of reality shows of any kind.) Now, 4 years later September has emerged as one of the 2 times a year I do a PZ Challenge with my cousin and the month that the new season of GBBS is released. I begin to look forward to both as the summer winds down. One is great for my health and the other is great for my happiness!

Which brings me to the annoying bit. September is here and I am still waiting for the announcement of the start date for both. I keep trolling the websites to no avail. It’s so annoying!

I don’t really have a moral to this story except to say that when a good habit emerges, your mind really becomes attuned to it and looks forward to it. That’s good information to know and use when you are trying to turn Hard Things into Good Habits.Oh, and if you are a Pelotoner and want to join me for the next PZ challenge (a great way to grow your fitness!) you can sign up here, it’s free! And if you have not yet discovered the joy of The Great British Baking Show go get caught up on Netflix – it will put you in a good mood immediately!