Hi Byte Wellness Fam!

How’s summer treating you? Hope you’ve been able to stay cool despite the heat wave that recently spread across the US and northern Europe.

This week, in the Phyte Well Online Community, we took a step back from our Wellness Reset course and talked about how to reach general wellness goals.

Check the workshop recording inside the community to see how small shifts in our environments can help us reach our wellness goals!

You can join the community to get invited to next Wednesday’s next roll call!

Environmental Design

We’ve talked a lot about the science of behavior change. You read that right…no matter how much yoyo dieting you’ve done, reaching our wellness goals doesn’t have to be such a mysterious process. There’s a formula for it.

And, environmental design is one of the most underrated parts of the wellness formula.

What’s environmental design? It’s a set of principles that explain how our surroundings make it easier or harder to reach our goals.

Here are 3 environmental design principles to try at home:

• EASE vs challenge-

  • Make sure we have easy access to the things we want more of and less access to the things we want less of. Think about the last time you sat in front of the TV with a bag of chips or a plate of cookies. How easy was it to eat ALLL those chips or cookies?

• AUTOMATION vs. choice-

  • The practices that turn into habits are the ones that we’re set up to do thoughtlessly (like brushing teeth). We can use triggers (like an alarm) to build a daily exercise habit.

• SOCIAL SUPPORT vs. isolation

  • Humans are social creatures. We grow best in groups. We learn wellness information and standards from our closest circle…and we adopt their habits. So, we should choose our social network wisely.

Discussion Question:

• What was your favorite physical activity as a kid?
  Why? What types of movement make you the happiest now?

Happy Healthy Living,

Dr. Wuse