September: The Perfect Time to Refresh Your Healthy Habits

 “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear

September has always felt a lot like January to me. It carries that “new year” energy. The calendar gets updated with school activities, PD days, holidays, and hockey schedules. After a busy, carefree summer, many of us actually crave routine and structure again—and from a health perspective, that structure can make it so much easier to build (or rebuild) healthy habits.

I like to think of September as a reset button for my health. A chance to refresh what’s working and layer in some new habits too.

Refresh Your Healthy Habits - hot people drink water!

Why Routine Makes Habits Easier

This summer, we did a lot of travelling. When we finally came home, my husband commented, “It’s nice to have our systems back in place.” He was right. At home, in the comfort of routine, habits like meal prep, cooking, drinking water, taking supplements, and exercising feel so much easier—because the systems that support them are already set up.

Take my 6 a.m. workouts, for example. They only happen because I have a series of systems in place:

• The night before, I hang my workout clothes in the closet and pick my workout.

• Dinner is usually around 7 p.m., followed by a small dessert.

• By 10 p.m., I’m asleep so my 5:15 a.m. alarm isn’t too painful.

• When I wake up, I immediately put on my exercise clothes, brush my teeth, have a Brüst, fill my bottle with Biosteel, BCAAs, and lemon water—and then I’m off to the basement to train.

So many little steps have to line up for that workout to happen. But because the systems are in place, it feels almost effortless.

Contrast that with our trip to Europe: clothes stuffed in a suitcase, unreliable Wi-Fi for downloading workouts, late nights, different foods (and more wine than usual!), no gym nearby, hard-to-find water and coffee. Every small difference became a barrier. I still managed a few bodyweight Peloton workouts, a couple of jogs, 20,000 steps a day, and some biking tours—but it wasn’t the same. The point is: systems make the desired habit as easy as possible to achieve. Without them, even the best intentions fall apart.

Habits Only Work if Systems Support Them

Educating clients about what to eat, when to eat, how to exercise, or which supplements to take is only half the picture. The other half—the piece that makes all the difference—is setting up systems that make those choices easy and repeatable.

For example:

• Cooking at home more often. Don’t just decide to cook—set up systems. Block time to meal plan, check your schedule, choose which nights you’ll cook and which nights are better for leftovers. Pick a few healthy recipes, make a grocery list, and set aside the same day each week to shop.

• Walking daily. Block 30 minutes in your calendar. Life is unpredictable—meetings run late, appointments come up—so move your “walk” around, but don’t delete it. Stack it with another task: grab groceries, listen to a podcast, or dictate emails while walking.

• Drinking 2.5 L of water. Fill one large bottle in the morning and keep it visible as a reminder. If you’re heading out, pre-fill smaller bottles to take with you.

• Meal prep. Instead of leaving it all until evening, keep your containers on the counter and chip away at prep throughout the day.

• Taking supplements. Use a weekly organizer and make it part of your Sunday prep.

• Meditation. Tie it to another daily activity, like your morning coffee or post-dinner routine, and set a reminder.

  
  

Why September Is the Best Time to Start

This is why I see September as the perfect opportunity to establish new healthy habits. You’re back in a routine, there’s more structure, and that structure gives you the chance to set up the systems that support long-term success.

Because here’s the truth: systems + habits = change.

Your September Healthy Habit Refresh: 3 Steps to Get Started

1. Pick one habit you want to build or refresh (exercise, meal prep, hydration, meditation, etc.).

2. Design your system—set reminders, stack it with another task, or block time in your calendar.

3. Make it visible and repeatable so the decision-making is taken out of it (clothes laid out, bottles pre-filled, groceries prepped).

   
   

Start small, stay consistent, and let your systems do the heavy lifting.