The Lazy Person’s Guide To Healthier Living

Now that we are settling into the new year, the initial burst of motivation that fueled those ambitious January 1^st resolutions might be starting to flicker.

If you’ve already skipped a few workouts or slipped back into old habits, don’t worry. The problem usually isn’t a lack of willpower; it’s that we try to change everything at once. We commit to drastic lifestyle overhauls that are hard to maintain, rather than small adjustments that stick.

Health doesn’t always require a sweat-drenched workout or a strict diet plan. Often, the most sustainable changes are “micro-habits”—small, low-effort tweaks that accumulate over time to create big results.

Here are four incredibly simple changes you can make today that require almost zero willpower.

1. Start Your Day With Water

Before you reach for the coffee pot, reach for a glass of water. While coffee does hydrate, it’s less effective than a simple glass of water. After sleeping , your body is ready to be replenished and delaying hydration by a few hours can lead to dehydration. Even slight dehydration can cause fatigue, lower concentration, and mood changes.

Drinking water in the first hour after waking up in the morning rehydrates your tissues and helps your brain “wake up.” While it doesn’t magically “flush” toxins on its own, adequate hydration is essential for your kidneys to filter waste from your blood efficiently. It’s the easiest win of the day.

2. Stand up for 1–2 minutes every hour

Research shows that prolonged sitting can negatively impact how your body regulates sugar and fat. The antidote isn’t necessarily a hard workout, it’s simply breaking up the sedentary time. (Though, we still encourage actively exercising, as it is a source of many health benefits.)

Standing up or walking around for just 1 to 2 minutes every hour is enough to get your blood flowing and help improve insulin sensitivity. Set a silent timer on your phone to remind you to stretch your legs once an hour. Your body will thank you.

3. Supplement Your Needs

In a perfect world, we would get every nutrient we need from a flawless diet. In reality, busy schedules, soil depletion, and dietary restrictions can make that difficult.

Taking a high-quality supplement is perhaps the ultimate low-effort habit—it takes five seconds but can provide significant support for your energy, immune system, or gut health. However, remember that supplements are designed to supplement a healthy lifestyle, not replace it. They work best when they are “partners” to the other habits on this list, filling in the nutritional gaps so your body has the raw materials it needs to thrive.

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4. Keep healthy snacks visible

Humans are visual creatures, and our environment dictates our behavior more than we realize. Studies on food choices consistently show that convenience and visibility are major factors in what we eat (1).

If a bowl of fruit is on the counter, you are statistically more likely to eat fruit. If chips are visible, you’re likely to grab those. “Hack” your kitchen by keeping nutritious options, such as nuts, seeds, fruits, or cut veggies, at eye level and within arm’s reach. If the good stuff is the first thing you see, you’re more likely to choose it.

5. Stretch for 30 seconds before bed

We often carry the physical stress of the day in our neck, shoulders, and lower back. Taking just half a minute to do gentle stretching before bed can help signal to your body that it is time to transition to sleep mode.

Stick to slow, static stretches (like a gentle neck roll or touching your toes) rather than vigorous movement. This helps relax tense muscles and can encourage the activation of your parasympathetic nervous system, which is the “rest and digest” mode that helps you unwind (2).

The Bottom Line

Even small changes can have big impacts. Sometimes just taking the first steps in the right direction are all you need to build momentum and keep you in the game. If you’re looking for somewhere to begin, start with these small, easy habits and watch them turn into waves of better health throughout the year. Wishing you a happy and healthy 2026!

What To Read Next: The Habit-Building Power of Supplements, a post about how taking supplements can help you build routine, structure, and even motivation.