Practicing What I Preach When Life Gets Chaotic

By Wendy Francis, NBC-HWC | Board-Certified Health & Functional Nutritionist

Over the past few months, life has been a little chaotic.

Between selling my house, packing up years of memories, selling or donating pretty much everything else, planning a move to Florida, traveling back and forth, keeping up with work, and trying to maintain some sense of normalcy, I found myself busier than normal. 

While these are all exciting changes, they also came with something I talk about often with my clients: stress.

Not the dramatic, crisis-level kind of stress. Just the constant mental load that comes from having a thousand things on your mind at once.

And if I'm being completely honest, I started noticing something.

I wasn't practicing what I preach.

As a health coach, I spend a lot of time helping people get back to the basics. Hydration. Exercise. Nutrition. Sleep. Stress management.

Yet during one of the busiest seasons of my own life, I found myself letting some of those very things slip.

Some days I wasn't drinking nearly enough water. My workouts became less consistent. I was making healthy food choices most of the time, but there were days when convenience won simply because I was exhausted.

And, perhaps the most significant change, was my sleep.

I would finally crawl into bed at night completely exhausted and expect to fall asleep immediately. Instead, my brain would decide it was time to review the entire day.

It would replay conversations, create tomorrow's to-do list, think about work the next day, home inspection, paperwork, utility transfers, travel plans, and everything else I hadn't stopped to process during the day.

The truth was simple.

My brain was finally getting its first quiet moment.

Why This Happens

Many people assume that when they can't fall asleep, something is wrong. Sometimes that's true. But many times, especially during stressful seasons, the issue isn't that your brain won't shut off.

It's that your brain hasn't had a chance to process the day.

We move from task to task, appointment to appointment, responsibility to responsibility without ever giving ourselves a few minutes to simply think.

Then we climb into bed and expect our minds to instantly power down.

Our brains don't work that way. If anything, bedtime is often the first opportunity our minds have to sort through everything we've been carrying around all day.

Getting Back to Basics

As I started recognizing these patterns, I knew exactly what I needed to do.

The answer is what I preach to clients and on social media daily. 

Get back to the basics.

Not perfectly. Just consistently.

Make Healthy Foods Easy

One thing that helped tremendously was preparing healthy foods ahead of time.

Whenever I came home from the grocery store, I washed and cut fresh vegetables right away. Carrots, cucumbers, celery, peppers, broccoli, whatever looked good that week. I also made simple healthy dips using Greek yogurt and seasonings so I easily grab a few veggies and dip for a quick nutritious snack. 

When healthy choices are convenient, you're much more likely to make them.

Prioritize Hydration

I started carrying my water bottle everywhere again.

Such a simple habit, but one that makes a huge difference.

Even mild dehydration can contribute to fatigue, headaches, difficulty concentrating, and reduced physical performance. Many of us are walking around feeling tired when our bodies are simply asking for more water.

Exercise Anyway

When life gets busy, it's easy to convince yourself that you don't have time to exercise. Or, all my running around will suffice for exercise. 

I reminded myself that exercise didn't have to be perfect. Some days it was a workout with weights, maybe a walk, or 15 minutes of stretching. Regardless, of what's going on in my life, I always start with a prayer, glass of water and stretching. This is non-negotiable for me. Starting off the day the right way is key but the craziness of the past few months, it was easy after my morning routine to get off track. Being healthy is work and commitment!

The goal wasn't perfection.

The goal was keeping the habit alive.

Give Your Brain Time to Process

This may have been the biggest lesson for me.

Before bed, I started taking a few minutes to review the day. I wrote down anything that still needed my attention tomorrow. I got the thoughts out of my head and onto paper.

Almost immediately, I noticed my mind felt calmer when I went to bed. Instead of asking my brain to remember everything, I gave it permission to let go.

The Lesson

One of the things I've learned over the years is that healthy habits matter most when life gets difficult.

It's easy to drink water, exercise, meal prep, and get good sleep when everything is going smoothly.

The real challenge comes when life gets busy. When you're stressed. When you're overwhelmed. When you feel like you don't have time.

Ironically, those are the moments when healthy habits become most important.

This season reminded me that none of us are immune to getting off track.

The goal isn't perfection. The goal is awareness.

When we notice we've drifted away from the habits that support our health, we simply start again.

Sometimes getting back to the basics is exactly what our body and brain need most.

Sources

1. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Benefits of Physical Activity.
3. National Institutes of Health. Sleep and Stress Research.
4. American Psychological Association. Stress Effects on the Body.