It is not what you do when your clinician gives some alarming message about your health, but what you do every day even when it is tough.

Have you had a wakeup call in the past that left you wanting to do everything in one day?

Or have you been so fearful after certain encounters that you wished you could do an entire overhaul of the health you now have?

Or perhaps you have not gotten to this point as yet but you know someone who did or is in the process of getting to know the worst news of their life?

It could literally be any one of us at any given point.

This is why sustainable habits over time nurture a better chance, not absolute health. I will not pretend that you would get 100% health for an eternity; we are meant to die at some point, whether at the longevity age of the country or at +100 years.

And living a good life right now does not translate to living the harshest and unhealthiest life. You can enjoy a croissant on a Tuesday while have fruit and vegetables, healthy fats and protein for the rest of the week.

It is the compounded habits that lead to most catastrophic events — the neglect, the denial and everything else associated to the decisions.

A few months ago, I needed to make some changes to my lifestyle just the same. I cut out all sugars, all fats, did a restrictive diet and cut out the fun from enjoying food. Fast-forward to a few months, and I realized, personally, what every patient suffers when they see their doctor at a follow-up visit. Suddenly you binge eat, your habits go straight down the toilet, and you do the exact opposite.

This is why this newsletter exists—to tell you that it is not about the overhaul but about the consistency while maintaining a health connection to the little things that make you, you and the enjoyable moments that make life feel easier. Eating does not have to be disastrous. Likewise, health does not have to feel like a monstrous moment taking all the fun away. Health can be fun and enjoyable.

While consistency is important, we must prepare for hurdles and decisions that pull us off course, winding journeys that derail our plans and moments that question our path.

A perfectly fine goal map for the week can become a disaster by Tuesday. But it is not what you did when it was perfect that changes the ballgame, but what you do when you’re in the center of the disaster. This is what matters in health too.

The goal is not to design the perfect week, free of distraction and hurdles. That would be a bubble with no other humans and things. Instead, it is to build a plan that knows imperfect weeks are coming. It is to build something flexible that it becomes robust.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Andrew Huberman Conference in New York and one statement really struck me, among all the others that laid vibrant in my mind. And it goes, “Don’t let the light die—that place, that place where you’re doing what you really love.”

And I would like to adopt this for health just for a few.

When you were a child you went outside, some of us to the veranda, others to the beach, and some of us to the countryside. I am sure there are those of us who had chores that felt like the death of us at an early age to. The point is, as a child you followed that light, that instinct, you had fun, all while movement happened.

This is health— this movement, following curiosity, expecting nothing, looking for fun.

What is one health behavior that you would love to change that could help you follow the light?

Now complete:

On a normal day, I will: _________________________________

When time is limited, I will: ________________________________

When my routine is disrupted, I will: _________________________

When I miss completely, I will restart: __________________

Do not punish yourself for missing one day, one moment, but follow the light. What is the light within you telling you?

Does the plan fit the person?

As I build on this idea, I ask myself so many questions but it always comes back to, “does the plan fit the person?”

We experience so many barriers in this life that could make chronic illness, or health a huge task yet we do not seem to account for them.

Transportation. Caregiving. Cost. Food access. Competing responsibilities. Emotional stress.

Can the plan actually live inside you?

R-Real Where does the health behavior fit into the person’s existing day?

E-Environment What surroundings make the behavior easier or harder?

A-Access Are the necessary resources, information and support realistically available?

L-Life Disruption What is the backup plan should life not go according to plan?

Perhaps this is not you, maybe it is someone you know. Share the idea with them, see what they think.

Track it. Manage it. Sustain it.

Designed for people living with chronic illness, caregivers, and health-conscious individuals, it transforms health management from an overwhelming task into a structured daily practice.

When life becomes difficult, the first park of my wellbeing I tend to abandon is…”

This is the reflection for this week. When the plan is shaken, what is left of you?

Affirmation for you:

Taking care of me does not have to look the same every day. I do the work. I show up. And I revisit the plan when I am having a hard day.

Full Version: What I’ll do when circumstance allow.

Short Version: What I’ll do when time or energy is limited.

Recovery Version: What I’ll do after completely missing the behavior.

This week’s challenge will allow you to revisit hard goals that keeps you rigid and may cause you to wonder whether you are actually living a life that follows your light.

And every time you come back to this, see it as a form of recalibration for the next week.

Sustainable does not mean unbreakable.

We are meant to be as malleable as copper, flexible like a rope and flowing like a river.

You will miss things.

Motivation will fluctuate.

There will be difficult weeks.

Resilience, a word often used as a badge of honor, is not pretending those disruptions don’t happen.

Building the capacity to respond in hard times is what makes consistency sustainable.