I started my 6-week health reset after a pretty simple NHS Health Check.

My blood pressure was elevated, my “good” HDL cholesterol was lower than ideal (which was the first time I’d ever actually had my cholesterol checked) and I’d put on a bit of weight. More than anything, I just wasn’t feeling as healthy as I normally do.

And I knew why.

For about six months I’d done next to no proper exercise, my nutrition had gradually slipped, and if I’m being truthful, I’d allowed work to take over and my own health had moved further and further down the list.

The timing was interesting though, because at the same time I was starting to change the way I worked with people.

Through my role in Health & Wellbeing Coaching in the NHS, I’d been learning a lot more about behaviour change, habit formation and the psychology of actually making changes that last. I’d read and studied plenty of it, and I was already starting to use some of it with the people I work with.

But I hadn't fully integrated it into my own life.

So this felt like a good opportunity to do that.

Rather than just trying to “get fit again”, I decided to treat the next six weeks as a bit of an experiment. Could I take what I'd been learning about behaviour change and actually apply it to myself? And, probably more importantly, what would I learn from doing it that I could then take back into my work with other people?

Six weeks later, I think I've learned quite a lot.

Some of it confirmed things I already knew. Some of it changed the way I think about making changes. And some of it was just a useful reminder of how different knowing what to do is from actually doing it.

So I thought I'd share the main lessons, pretty much in the order I experienced them.

I think they'll be particularly useful if, like me, you've let your health and wellbeing slip for a while and you're trying to find your way back.

This is a longer post than usual. I normally try to keep things below 750 words, partly because I like these to be small, easy-to-read bites and, let’s face it, our attention spans aren’t what they used to be.

Today though, I don’t really care about that. This one is as long as it needs to be.

If you’re interested in the subject, I’m sure you’ll read it. If you’re not, you probably wouldn’t read past this intro anyway.

Lets go...

20 BIGGEST LESSONS FROM MY 6 WEEK HEALTH RESET...

1. Change starts when you face reality

I had known for months that my health had slipped, but knowing wasn’t enough. The health check made it real. It gave me a clear picture of where I was and became the tipping point that moved me from thinking about change to actually doing something.

It reminded me not to bury my head in the sand. It’s much easier to change something when you’re willing to look honestly at where you are, even if the numbers aren’t what you want to see. Especially after 40 when health is the greatest wealth.

Awareness comes before action.

2. Create space for change

Looking back, part of the reason my health had slipped was that work and responsibilities had taken over. I was trying to fit healthy behaviours into a life that was already full and i was overloading my nervous system.

I realised that sometimes before adding more, you need to create some space. When you’re already overloaded, another list of things you “should” be doing can just become another source of pressure.

Sometimes the first change is creating space to change.

3. Start smaller than you think

Normally I would have started with the whole plan. Perfect training programme, perfect nutrition, everything mapped out from day one.

This time my first goal was simply to turn up at the gym. I even gave myself permission to leave after 15 minutes. Taking away the pressure made starting easier, and once I was there, I usually did more anyway.

Lower the bar. Make starting easy. Drop perfection.

4. Become the person, not just chase the result

At first I wanted to improve my blood pressure, cholesterol and body composition. But I quickly realised that constantly focusing on those outcomes wasn’t going to create lasting change.

Instead, I started thinking about the person I wanted to become. Someone who exercises, eats well and looks after their health. Each small action became another bit of evidence that I was becoming that person. It's about creating a new identity.

Don’t just chase the outcome. Build the identity.

5. One change can lead to another

Exercise was the only thing I deliberately changed at first, but something interesting happened. I started drinking more water, walking more and naturally making better food choices.

Getting one behaviour moving seemed to create momentum elsewhere. I didn’t necessarily need to overhaul everything at once.

Start somewhere. Positive change can spill over.

6. Make the healthy choice easier

Choosing the right gym made a bigger difference than I expected. It was close to home, I enjoyed being there and it fitted easily into my routine.

The same became true with nutrition. If the right food was bought, prepared and available, eating well became much easier. I started seeing my environment as part of the solution rather than relying on motivation.

Make the behaviour you want easier to do.

7. Use principles rather than perfect plans

I’ve followed plenty of diets over the years. Most of them worked while I was following them, but eventually I stopped.

This time I created some simple nutrition principles instead. Protein with meals, plenty of vegetables, mostly whole foods, healthy fats and minimal ultra-processed food. They gave me enough structure without needing to follow a rigid plan. Your life situation is unique. One size doesn't fit all. Create your own principles or get some help creating them.

Principles give you structure without needing perfection.

8. Make fewer decisions

Something surprised me when I changed my nutrition. It didn’t feel like I was using much willpower.

I think part of the reason was that my principles had already made many of the decisions for me. Instead of debating what to eat every time I was hungry, I had a simple framework to run the decision through.

Make good decisions once, rather than relying on willpower every time.

9. Put it in the diary

I learned this one the hard way. Saying “I’ll exercise after work” sounded like a plan, but quite often it didn’t happen.

Once I started putting specific training sessions into my diary, they became much more concrete. Deciding when and where something will happen removes another decision later.

If it matters, decide when you’re going to do it.

10. Make progress visible

Six weeks felt like a long time to wait for another health check, and I realised I needed feedback along the way.

I started tracking a few simple behaviours, my steps, training and body composition. Seeing progress gave me motivation, but it also helped me notice when something was slipping and make adjustments.

What gets measured, gets managed.

11. Track what helps, not everything

I’ve gone too far with tracking before. At one point I had a WHOOP and found myself paying far too much attention to every number it gave me.

This time I deliberately kept things simple. A basic pedometer and a few ticks on a tracker were enough to change my behaviour without taking over my life.

Measure enough to create awareness, not obsession.

12. Setbacks are feedback

Not everything went perfectly. I ate too much pizza one night, missed workouts, drank a few beers and ended up with cellulitis halfway through the reset.

Previously I might have seen those things as evidence that I’d messed up. This time I tried to get curious instead. What happened? What triggered it? What could I do differently next time?

Failure is feedback.

13. Consistency doesn’t mean perfection

Getting cellulitis taught me this better than anything else. Suddenly exercise was completely off the table.

I couldn’t follow the original plan, but I could still eat well, rest, recover and look after myself. I realised that consistency isn’t doing exactly the same thing regardless of what happens.

Consistency is sticking to the direction, not perfectly to the plan.

14. Get back on track quickly

I missed workouts throughout the six weeks. The difference this time was that I stopped making a missed workout mean anything more than that.

One missed session didn’t mean the week was ruined. I just did the next one. The quicker I returned to the behaviour, the less chance there was of a small wobble becoming another six months of doing nothing.

You don’t need to be perfect. Just keep returning.

15. Build a system that can bend

My original exercise plan gradually changed. I reduced the amount of cardio, moved sessions around, used weekends more and added extra recovery when work became demanding.

In the past I might have seen changing the plan as failing to stick to it. Now I see adjusting the plan as part of making it sustainable.

A good system should adapt to your life, not fight against it.

16. Recovery matters too

One of my biggest lessons came during a particularly demanding week at work. I didn’t necessarily feel stressed, but I could feel that my overall load was higher.

Exercise is another demand on the body. Sometimes training harder was exactly what I needed. Other times walking, sleeping, slowing down or taking a rest day was more useful.

Health isn’t just about what you do. It’s also about how well you recover.

17. Enjoyment makes consistency easier

I deliberately chose exercise I enjoyed and food I actually wanted to eat. That sounds obvious, but I think I underestimated its importance in the past.

If maintaining your health constantly feels like something you have to endure, you’re probably going to stop eventually. Enjoyment reduces how much you have to force yourself.

The easier it is to enjoy, the easier it is to repeat.

18. Goals and systems need each other

I started with some clear outcomes. I wanted better blood pressure, improved cholesterol, less body fat and better fitness. Those goals gave me direction and something meaningful to work towards.

But the goals weren’t what produced the results. The things I repeatedly did each day did that. I’ve stopped seeing it as goals versus systems. I think we need both.

Goals give you direction. Systems move you towards them.

19. Willpower shouldn’t be the whole strategy

There were definitely moments when I needed willpower, particularly when I was tired, busy or slightly hungover.

But most of the time, the changes became easier because I had designed things that way. Food was available. Workouts were scheduled. My environment supported me. Decisions had already been made. Habits were becoming more automatic.

Don’t just try harder. Make the behaviour easier.

20. Stop starting again

This is probably the biggest change in how I think about health.

My old approach was familiar. Start Monday. Perfect food. Perfect exercise. Push hard. Slip up. Feel like I’d failed. Fall off the wagon. Start again.

Rinse and repeat.

I don’t want to approach change like that anymore. There isn’t really a wagon to fall off. There’s a direction I want to move in and a system I can keep adjusting as I learn more about myself and as life inevitably changes.

You don’t need to keep starting again. You just need to keep moving forwards.

I hope some of these lessons help you. This experiment has certainly changed the way I approach my own health and, importantly, the way I’ll work with people going forward.

And if you’ve made it this far, well done! This turned into a long one.

I’ve also recently started personal training again and I’m blending it with health and wellbeing coaching for people who feel like their health has slipped and want some support getting back on track.

I’ll send out some more details about that on Saturday morning.

Dan