“You don’t need perfect habits. You need sustainable ones.”

You know what makes the holidays extra exhausting?

It’s not just the cooking, shopping, and hosting.

It’s the voice in your head that says: “I’m too busy to fit my self-care in?”

So you skip your workout because you don’t have time for the full 45 minutes. You abandon your morning routine because you can’t do the whole thing. You blow off healthy eating because one cookie turned into ten.

All-or-nothing thinking is killing your consistency. And during perimenopause—when your body desperately needs consistency—this perfectionism is working against you.

But here’s the good news: There’s a better way.

Meet Your New Best Friend: Floors and Ceilings

This concept has transformed how my clients approach their health habits – thus I’m sharing it again. It’s from my award-winning book, Create the Vitality You Crave, and women tell me constantly that this one shift changed everything.

Here’s how it works:

For any healthy habit, you set two versions:

The Floor: Your absolute minimum. The version that takes 1 -5 minutes. The thing you can do even on your worst day.

The Ceiling: Your ideal goal. The version you do when you have time, energy, and bandwidth.

The rule: On any given day, you commit to hitting your floor. If you can do more? Great. Go for more. Some days it may be the ceiling, but on another, it may be in between. However, the floor is your non-negotiable.

Why this works: You stay consistent without the pressure of perfection. And consistency—even imperfect consistency—beats perfection every single time.

Why This Matters MORE During Perimenopause

Your body is already under stress during perimenopause. Hormones are fluctuating. Sleep is disrupted. Energy is unpredictable.

Research in Menopause (2020) shows that regular movement, stress management, and blood sugar stability significantly improve perimenopausal symptoms. But here’s the catch: it only works if you’re consistent.

And perfectionism destroys consistency.

When you think you need to do it “all or nothing,” you end up doing nothing. Then you feel guilty. Then your cortisol rises. Then your symptoms get worse.

Floors and ceilings break that cycle.

They let you show up—even on the hard days—without burning out.

Real Examples: What This Looks Like

Let me show you how this works in real life:

Movement

• Floor: 1 minute of stretching or 5 squats
• Ceiling: 30-45 minute workout

Stress Management

• Floor: 5 deep breaths
• Ceiling: 20-minute meditation or yoga session

Healthy Eating

• Floor: One plate with protein, healthy fat, and vegetables
• Ceiling: Full meal prep with balanced macros all day

Sleep Routine

• Floor: Turn off screens 1 hour before bed or use the night time screens or glasses to block blue light
• Ceiling: Full wind-down routine (magnesium, dim lights, reading, etc.)

Hydration

• Floor: Drink one full glass of water when you wake up
• Ceiling: Half your body weight in ounces throughout the day, and add the salt so it’s absorbed efficiently.

Connection

• Floor: One 2-minute check-in text with a friend
• Ceiling: Hour-long coffee date or phone call

See how doable the floors are? That’s the point.

The Science Behind “Good Enough”

Here’s what research tells us about habits and consistency:

A study in the European Journal of Social Psychology (2009) found that it takes an average of 66 days to form a habit. But here’s the key: missing one day didn’t derail the process.

What DID derail it? Giving up entirely after one miss.

Translation: Hitting your floor keeps the habit alive. And keeping the habit alive—even imperfectly—is what leads to long-term change.

Another study in Health Psychology Review (2016) found that small, sustainable changes are more effective than large, unsustainable ones for lasting behavior change.

Your 1-minute floor beats the 45-minute ceiling you never do.

How to Use Floors and Ceilings This Holiday Season

Here’s your action plan:

Step 1: Pick a 1- minute version of these important “daily vitals”.

Don’t try to overhaul your entire life.  Start with one of these habits, if need be,  tha will support your hormones and nervous system:

• Movement
• Stress management (think deep abdominal breaths)
• Blood sugar stability (eating protein regularly)
• Sleep
• Hydration

Step 2: Define Your Floor and Ceiling for Each

Write them down. Be specific. Make your floor so easy it feels almost silly.

Remember: If you can’t do your floor on your worst day, it’s not actually a floor—it’s a ceiling in disguise.

Step 3: Commit to Hitting the Floor Daily

No matter what. Even on Christmas morning. Even when you have company. Even when everything feels like chaos.

The floor is your anchor.

Step 4: Celebrate the Floor

This is critical: Reward yourself for hitting the floor.

You’re not “just” doing 1 minute of stretching. You’re building consistency. You’re training your nervous system. You’re proving to yourself that you can keep commitments even when life gets hard.

That’s huge.

Step 5: Go for the Ceiling When You Can (But Don’t Require It)

On days when you have more bandwidth? Great. Do the full workout. The full meditation. The full routine.

But don’t make the ceiling your standard. The floor is your standard. The ceiling is a bonus.

Why This Works for High Achievers

If you’re a high-achieving woman, you’ve been conditioned to go big or go home.

But here’s the truth: Your body doesn’t need perfection. It needs consistency.

Your hormones don’t care if you meditated for 20 minutes or 5. They care that you gave your nervous system a chance to reset.

Your bones don’t care if you lifted weights for an hour or did 10 squats. They care that you loaded them consistently.

Your sleep doesn’t care if you had a 2-hour wind-down routine. It cares that you turned off the screens.

Floors get you the results. Ceilings are just icing on the cake.

The Real Gift of Floors and Ceilings

Here’s what I want you to understand:

Floors and ceilings aren’t about lowering your standards. They’re about honoring your reality.

Some days you have capacity. Some days you don’t.

Some days you’re thriving. Some days you’re surviving.

Both are okay.

Floors let you show up on the surviving days so you can thrive on the other ones.

They remove the guilt. They eliminate the all-or-nothing trap. They keep you moving forward even when forward is slow.

And during the holidays—when everything is extra and your hormones are already making life harder—that’s exactly what you need.

1. Pick ONE habit you keep abandoning because you can’t do it “right”
2. Define your floor (1-5 minutes, ridiculously doable)
3. Hit that floor every single day for the next 7 days
4. Notice how you feel when you’re consistent without the pressure of perfection

That’s it.

No pressure to do more. No guilt if you don’t hit the ceiling. Just commit to showing up—even if it’s just for one minute.

Because one minute of consistency beats zero minutes of perfection.

Want More Support?

If you’re ready to build sustainable habits that actually support your hormones (instead of burning you out), I can help.

Join my email list for weekly tools, science-backed strategies, and encouragement as you navigate perimenopause and menopause—especially during the most overwhelming seasons.

Plus, you’ll get updates on my upcoming book where I dive even deeper into habit-hacking, hormone health, and how to thrive (not just survive) this phase of life.

Book a free 15-minute call to see if hormone consulting is right for you.

Because you deserve habits that work WITH your body—not against it.

Here’s to your consistency, your sanity, and your peace this holiday season.

You don’t need perfect habits. You just need ones that stick.

Here’s to your vitality and hormonal balance this holiday season.

Lori