The Myth of the Easy Tweak

We hear it all the time…blasted from commercials and plastered on magazine covers.

The promise of easy results.  A simple “tweak” to my diet that effortlessly brought in major weight loss.   A little-heard-of vitamin that immediately corrected my raging moods.  A secret superfood that cleared out my cellulite.

The promise of the easy tweak…is really the myth of the easy tweak.

Here’s why.

Tweaks only produce real change when our foundation is strong and well-established.  A can of paint really can do wonders for a room — but that assumes the walls aren’t falling down.

I think it is in our very nature to want major change without majorly changing.  I get it.  And I also know that to try majorly changing a life that already feels tapped-out seems overwhelming.

Small shifts and baby steps don’t have to fall into the category of “easy tweaks” –` if they are directed at our foundations first.

I think of our foundations in four critical areas.  Four minimum requirements for solid well-being.

1.  How you handle stress.

2.  How you eat.

3.  How you sleep.

4.  How you move.

When we’ve cared for these four fundamental categories, tweaks to the system really do produce huge results.

This isn’t about perfection.  Our sleep doesn’t have to be perfect before we can experience a true and deep sense of vitality and well-being, but a chronically sleep-deprived mama simply can’t function anywhere close to how she is meant to.

Same goes with how we feed ourselves.  We don’t need to be the poster-child for the cleanest diet out there, but incrementally shifting our diet to one that gives our body the raw materials it needs to experience the mental, emotional, and physical health is essential.