If you’re looking at add some keystone daily habits that will improve your life and health, I’ve got five for you.

Daily Habit 1. Movement AND exercise.

You need both an active lifestyle and deliberate exercise. Your daily step count is a great measurement of your activity. If you’re not already hitting 10-15K, start by adding 1-2K steps to you daily total. Once you’ve mastered hitting that new target (this may take a few days or a few weeks), add another 1,500-2,500 steps and repeat until you’ve worked up to your ultimate goal.

In addition an active lifestyle, you need daily exercise. Prioritize frequency over duration and intensity. It’s better to start with 5 minutes every day than three 60-minute killer workouts. Vary your workouts to avoid boredom and burnout. Alternate between strength training, cardio, and active recovery sessions of Pilates and/or Yoga.

Daily Habit 2. Drink 100oz water.

How much water do you drink in a day? You’re first step is to measure and track. Then add 20oz to your current daily intake. When that’s as automatic as brushing your teeth, repeat the process and add another 20oz. Repeat until you get to your ultimate goal. Here are some tips to help you drink more water:

• Start early. Start your day with a cup of warm lemon water. Or, if you’re a coffee drinker, fill your mug with water the night before. You’ll have to drink that 12oz of water before you can start drinking coffee.
• Premeasure your water. When you know your daily target, you can fill either enough water bottles to equal your target or one giant pitcher that’s exactly your target.
• Use a counting method. If you’d rather carry one water bottle, figure out how many of those you’d need to drink in a day to hit your target and place that many rubber bands around the bottle. Each time you finish a bottle slide the rubber band from the top to the bottom or vice versa. You can also log or track on paper (like in your daily planner if that’s with your every day) or in an app on your phone. Download a water tracking app or use the Notes app.

Daily Habit 3. Eat defined meals at a designated place without multitasking.

Rather than snacking or grazing throughout the day, eat defined meals. Instead of eating at your desk, in the car, on the couch, in bed, or while standing in the kitchen, have a place to sit down to eat (preferably at the table). If you tend to multitask, work, watch TV, or scroll while eating, focus on your food. Choose the number of meals and meal times that work best for your body and your schedule and stick to it 7 days a week.

Daily Habit 4. Eat a full serving of protein with every meal.

At each of those defined meals you sit down to enjoy, make sure you’re having a full serving of protein. Protein sources include animal (fish, chicken, meat, eggs, dairy) and plant-based. A full serving of protein is 25-40g. If you’re eating animal sources, aim toward the lower end of the range. If you’re eating plant-based, aim higher. If you’re young (in your 20’s) aim lower. As your age increases, so does your protein needs, so aim higher. Remember, if weight-loss (aka fat-loss) is your goal, you can eat 1g of protein per pound of body weight (or desired body weight if you have a lot of weight to lose). That means if you’re goal weight is 150lbs, you need 150g of protein (or 4 meals with 38g of protein) every day (even weekends).

Daily Habit 5. Create intentional morning and nighttime routines.

You have routines, they just might not be helpful routines that you’ve created on purpose. Start by making one change at a time to each. Here are some ideas:

• In the morning, wake up to an alarm no later than 7a. Use a Zen alarm clock the mimics the sunrise and plays nature sounds.
• The morning is a great time for meditation, journaling, and reviewing your planner for the day.
• If your body need movement, like stretches or physical therapy exercises, do those.
• Drink water or warm lemon water (before coffee).
• Go for a walk without sunglasses to help set your internal clocks for the day. If walking isn’t an option, at least get outside while you journal and/or meditate.
• Finish your morning routine with a high-protein, low-sugar breakfast.
• In the evening, implement the “3-2-1 rule.” Stop eating 3 hours before bed. Stop working (or doing anything potentially stress-inducing) 2 hours before bed. And stop looking at screens 1 hour before bed.
• When the sun goes down, wear blue-light blocking glasses.
• Do some light stretching or self-myofascial release a.k.a. foam rolling.
• Drink chamomile tea.
• Have a gratitude practice (like writing 3-5 things in your journal that you’re grateful for today).
• Read a book, an actually book with pages!
• By in bed by 10pm.
• Charge your phone in a different room and no screens in the bedroom.

Whether your goal is to lose fat, to have less pain, or to feel more energized, driven, and happy all day long, incorporating these 5 daily habits will make a noticeable difference. When it comes to creating new habits, remember to start small. Build the foundation with tiny changes every day. And, yes, aim for every day. If you miss a day or two, no problem! Just try not to miss 2 days in row. When you fall off, get right back on it the next day. You are creating the momentum that will make these habits feel effortless! Remember to keep going. You got this!

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