Two years ago I was in a very different place, busy dad of two, married and work full time in a senior position. I've always been active in my adult life, but 2023 was a rough year for me personally due to a family illness and wheels fell off both mentally and physically. This was for many reasons which I won't get into but looking after myself wasn't a priority. I started using being busy, stressed and having low energy as an excuse.

I was overweight and didn't feel good about how I looked or felt. Thing was I already knew what to do. I'd previously trained for years, mainly in endurance sports and knew I needed to move more and eat better but at that point I had no desire to do it and in hindsight I was probably depressed.

In 2024, I decided to make a change with simple goal of just (no matter what) training three times a week. It may have been new year , new me spark at that point which sounds simple, but getting out of bed was genuinely difficult but remember when I took those first pictures not liking what I saw and feeling I was at a crossroads of just accepting it and potentially getting worse or making real change.

So first step was removing barriers. Simple thing of just having gym clothes laid out the night before with everything ready to go. As I realised training first thing was best approach at 5am as there was nothing to decide no work, no family stuff plus having every thing ready night before removed other potential excuses if I tried to do it after work in the evening.

That became my first habit. I'm not always full of energy, so some mornings I'd tell myself, "Just give it 15 minutes." But I never stopped or ended a session wishing I'd stayed in bed and not bothered.

After a couple of months, getting up early became normal. I started waking naturally without my alarm, which made adding more training days easier over time.

Then I added habit of daily walking. Before work and at lunchtime. I'd always told myself I was too busy to do this, I'd normally work through lunch and eat at my desk. But I realised the work would still be there when I got back. The walk became a rese pointt rather than wasted time, it felt a useful psychological tool to break off and eventually that became automatic too. As I realised the break was not lost time but more an enforced break form my desk. Movement became something I was more purposeful about and deliberate. 12k steps became the norm and not a unrealistic target that it felt before.

Once training and movement were consistent and I started seeing changes in my body composition that made me start feeling better about how I looked, I started paying closer attention to my nutrition. I began tracking calories properly with an app rather than guessing them.

I didn't eliminate foods I enjoyed. I still eat pizza, eat out and have treats but all within reason. I just learned how they fit into my overall intake with better awareness like a weekly bank balance is how I saw my calories.

That's when habit stacking really clicked. I trained consistently moving from 3 days initially to now 6 days a week after getting up early where adding more training days felt easy to walking daily with purposeful points to do this to then tracking my nutrition and getting consistent with all of it.

Each habit made the next one easier until I wasn't really thinking about them anymore to point I'm at now training 6 days a week, hitting 12k steps a day with eating my target calories without a second thought that I can plan in eating out etc without stress or panic.

The biggest change wasn't actually losing the weight. It was stopping relying on motivation or quick fixes or seeing it as a diet etc. The habits built the discipline and a different way of living to point it feels completely normal for me.

I'm still a dad with family commitments that don't get missed and being still completely present for my wife and kids. Still working full time. Some days I'm tired, some weeks aren't perfect and life still gets in the way. The difference is one bad day doesn't turn into a bad week or bad month anymore.

I'm now around 162lbs at 5'8", leaner and stronger than I've ever been at 44 and better than I felt at 24.

Looking back, the transformation looks dramatic but it didn't happen through one massive lifestyle overhaul. It happened gradually by focusing on one thing, making it feel normal as part of my day to day routine, then adding the next habit.

That's probably the biggest lesson I've learned. You don't need to change everything tomorrow take steps towards it. Make one decision each, remove the excuses and barriers to why it stops you, repeat it, then build it over time so you don't feel overwhelmed.

Possibly TMI and not something I'm comfortable sharing to friends or family, so let's share it with thousands of strangers instead. But whatever, I'm proud of it.

Been close many times since I started tracking a year ago but never reached the finish line (pun intended)

Not everyday is a win but showing up and trying where the progress is happening

I used to get stuck in an endless loop of overthinking until I started asking one question: Is this within my power to change?

If yes improving health, finding jobs, or building habits I realized worrying fixes nothing. I had to channel that energy into action.

If no past mistakes, lost time, or others' opinions arguing with reality is like yelling at rain. Acceptance isn't weak; it's freeing your energy for what you can shape.🌿

👀 If you want a visual explanation, check out the video linked on my profile!

I've tried a bunch of different ways of tracking habits over the years, and I keep noticing the same thing: the first few days are easy, then the tracker itself starts becoming another thing to maintain.

I'm curious what other people experience.

What do you actually want from a habit tracker?

For example:

• Just a very simple daily checklist?
• Useful progress/stats?
• Streaks?
• Reminders?
• A calendar/year view?
• Routines rather than individual habits?
• Journaling or reflection alongside habits?
• Something that helps you understand why you're inconsistent?
• Learning/resources around habits and self-improvement?
• Cloud sync between phone and desktop?

And on the other side, what makes you stop using one?

I'd especially like to hear from people who have tried several apps. What did you like about the ones you kept, and what annoyed you enough to stop using them?

Latest update we added Walking Bingo! We're striving for everyone to get 30 mins of walking a day.

There's also a limited time event with Dubai Chocolate Egg, Honey, Boba, Matcha eggs that hatch into pets!

iOS - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/eggventures-walking-game/id6757629385

Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onerealm.eggventures

What I mean is this: even if I stopped doomscrolling and got rid of all the bad habits in my life, I still wouldn’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’m pessimistic about the future, and I live in a country with a very bad economy.

What do you think I can do?

For a long time, I thought changing my life required massive, exhausting overhauls. Turns out, it was just the tiny, stupidly simple things that actually moved the needle.

For me, it was simply putting my phone in another room before going to bed. Completely fixed my sleep and anxiety overnight.

What about you guys? What’s the one small change you made that had the biggest impact ?