How to Start Again After Falling Out of a Routine

How to Start Again After Falling Out of a Routine

You know when you have finally got yourself into a decent routine, everything seems to be going reasonably well, and then something happens that throws the whole thing out the window?

It might be a holiday, a particularly busy few weeks at work, the kids being off school or just a run of days where you have had too much going on.

Before you know it, the walks you were doing regularly have stopped, you are ordering more takeaways than usual and you are going to bed later than you should.

The annoying thing is that you know you felt better when you were doing those things. You had got used to eating a bit better, getting out more and generally feeling like you were making an effort.

But somehow, getting back into it feels much harder than it should.

You keep telling yourself you will start again tomorrow, then tomorrow comes and you find another reason to put it off.

So how do you actually get back into a routine when you have fallen out of one?

First, Stop Making Such a Big Deal Out of Starting Again

I think this is where a lot of people make things harder than they need to be.

You have been out of your routine for a couple of weeks, so you decide you need a complete reset. You are going to start eating perfectly, exercise every day, stop snacking, get to bed earlier and sort everything out at once.

It sounds great when you are thinking about it on Sunday night, but by Tuesday you are back at work, somebody needs picked up, dinner is late and you have already missed the walk you promised yourself.

Suddenly the whole thing feels like another failed attempt.

But why does getting back into a routine have to mean changing everything overnight?

If you were going for a walk three or four times a week before things got busy, why not just go for one today? If you had been eating reasonably well, why not start by sorting out a decent dinner tonight?

You are not trying to become a completely different person. You are just getting back to doing a few things that were working for you before.

There is no need to turn it into a massive event.

Work Out What Knocked You Off Track

Sometimes the reason is obvious. You went on holiday, got ill or had a particularly busy period at work.

Other times, things just gradually slipped.

You missed one walk because it was raining. Then another because you were tired. Before long, you had not been out for three weeks.

Or maybe you started getting home later, so cooking became more of a hassle and takeaway seemed like the easier option.

It is worth looking at what actually happened, because there is not much point going back to exactly the same plan if the same problem is still there.

If you stopped walking because evenings became too busy, maybe lunchtime would work better. If you stopped cooking because you were getting home exhausted, perhaps you need a few easier meals rather than another collection of complicated recipes.

And if your previous routine needed an hour of exercise every day and perfectly prepared meals, perhaps it was never going to fit around your normal life for very long.

Sometimes the answer is not trying harder. It is changing the routine so that it is a bit easier to keep going.

Do Not Try to Make Up for Lost Time

This is especially common when people are trying to lose weight.

You have had a couple of weeks where you have eaten more than usual, not exercised much and perhaps seen the scales move in the wrong direction.

So you decide you need to make up for it.

You start eating very little, promise yourself you will exercise every day and try to undo everything as quickly as possible.

The problem is that you can end up making the next few days miserable for yourself.

You are hungry, tired and trying to do far more than you were doing before. By the end of the week, you have had enough.

There is really no need for that.

If you have been eating more than usual, just return to a normal, balanced eating routine. If you have not been moving much, start getting out for a few walks again.

You do not need to punish yourself for having a holiday or a busy fortnight.

And you definitely do not need to skip meals because you had a takeaway at the weekend.

Make the First Week Easy

One thing that helps is lowering your expectations for the first week back.

You might have been going to the gym four times a week before you stopped, but that does not mean you need to jump straight back into four sessions.

Start with one or two, see how you get on and build from there.

The same goes for walking. If you have not been out much lately, a twenty-minute walk after dinner is a perfectly reasonable place to start.

You can also make food a bit easier for yourself.

Get a few things into the fridge that you actually enjoy eating. Have something quick in the freezer for the nights when you cannot be bothered cooking. Make sure you have something for lunch rather than leaving it until you are absolutely starving.

None of this is particularly exciting, but it is usually the boring things that make a routine work.

There is no prize for making your first week back as difficult as possible.

Stop Waiting for Monday

We have all done this.

You decide on Wednesday that you need to get back into your routine, but rather than doing anything about it, you tell yourself you will start properly on Monday.

Then Thursday and Friday become days where apparently nothing counts because you have already decided the real effort does not begin until next week.

By Sunday evening, you are promising yourself that this Monday is definitely going to be different.

And sometimes it is.

But there is nothing special about Monday when it comes to making a healthier choice.

If it is Wednesday and you fancy going for a walk, go for a walk. If you have been eating more takeaways than usual, make something at home tonight.

You do not need a new week, a new month or a special starting date.

You can just get on with it.

Remember That Your Routine Does Not Have to Look the Same as Before

This is something people often overlook.

Maybe the routine you had six months ago worked brilliantly at the time. You had more spare time, work was quieter or the evenings were lighter.

But things change.

You might have different hours at work now, more family commitments or less energy than you had before.

Trying to force your old routine into your current life might be why you are struggling to restart.

There is nothing wrong with changing it.

If you used to walk in the evenings but now find it difficult, try getting out at lunchtime. If you used to cook every night but cannot manage that anymore, find a few simpler meals.

And if you previously relied on going to the gym, but the journey there and back is putting you off, there are plenty of ways to be active closer to home.

Your routine is supposed to make life better, not become another thing you are constantly annoyed with yourself for failing to do.

Give Yourself a Chance to Get Used to It Again

Sometimes people expect to feel brilliant as soon as they restart.

You go for one walk, eat a couple of decent meals and then stand on the scales expecting to see something happen.

When nothing much changes, you start wondering whether it is worth bothering.

But getting back into a routine is not always going to produce immediate results.

You might feel a bit stiff after exercising again. You might still be tired. Your weight might fluctuate. You might have a few days where everything feels like more effort than it used to.

That is fine.

Give yourself a bit of time to get used to doing things again.

The first few days are often the most awkward because you are having to think about things that previously happened almost automatically.

Once you have been back at it for a while, you may find that it starts fitting into your day more naturally again.

What If You Keep Falling Out of Your Routine?

If you find yourself repeatedly starting and stopping, it is worth asking whether the routine is actually realistic.

There is not much point building a plan around going to the gym at 6am if you hate getting up early and have never managed to stick with it.

Likewise, if you know that cooking complicated meals after work is never going to happen, stop planning them.

A lot of people create routines based on what they think they should be doing rather than what they will realistically manage.

You might find that three short walks each week are much easier to maintain than promising yourself an hour every day.

Or that keeping a couple of easy meals in the freezer works better than spending every Sunday preparing food for the whole week.

It does not have to look impressive.

It just has to work for you.

And if you keep struggling with the same part of your routine, change that part rather than abandoning everything else.

Getting Back Into a Routine When You Are Trying to Lose Weight

If weight loss is your main goal, falling out of a routine can be particularly frustrating.

You might have been making steady progress before things changed, and now you feel like you are back where you started.

But even if your weight has gone up slightly, it does not mean everything you did before was wasted.

You still know which meals work for you. You know when you are most likely to manage a walk and what tends to happen when you get too busy to eat properly.

You have already learned quite a lot about yourself.

The important thing is using that experience rather than treating every setback as another complete failure.

For some people, managing their weight can still be difficult despite making sensible lifestyle changes. Depending on BMI, medical history and other individual circumstances, professional weight-management support may be worth considering.

At Keltoi, we provide online weight-management assessments for adults across Northern Ireland, reviewed by a UK prescriber. Any treatment is subject to clinical assessment and suitability.

But whether you are receiving medical support or simply trying to improve your everyday habits, having a routine that fits around your life still matters.

The Bottom Line

Falling out of a routine is going to happen occasionally.

You will have busy weeks, holidays, periods when you are tired and days when you simply cannot be bothered.

That is normal life.

The important thing is not allowing a couple of difficult weeks to turn into six months of putting everything off.

You do not need to make up for lost time, and you do not need to restart with some enormous plan.

Just pick up a few of the things that were working before.

Get out for a walk. Sort a few decent meals. Try to get a bit more sleep and make the next week slightly easier than the last one.

You can build the rest back gradually.

And if you find yourself falling out of the same routine every few weeks, perhaps it is worth making the routine a bit easier rather than constantly blaming yourself for not sticking to it.

Sometimes getting back on track is as ordinary as having a decent dinner tonight and going for a walk tomorrow.

That is a perfectly good place to start.

This article is for general information only and does not replace individual medical advice.