In this blog, we’ll talk about keeping that drive and motivation through not only January but the whole year. We are talking about creating good habits with healthy eating, exercise, and healthy mentality that goes along with it.
Every habit has 3 components, known as the “habit loop:”
First, there’s a cue which triggers the habit to start and makes your brain go into autopilot mode. “Just do it.”
Second, the behavior itself— the action you put with your resolution.
Third, and then a reward, is when the brain learns to remember and crave this pattern. The reward is the feelings of the endorphins from the workout, the energy you get from the nutrition, and the happiness you feel after you accomplish your goal that day. You can also reward yourself by buying yourself a new shirt or go to a movie. Some of my clients will put in one dollar for every workout they do and at the end of month they will buy a new shirt or pants or a 30-minute massage.
So if your resolution is to lose weight and the activity you’ve decided on is to exercise 2-5 days a week, you will need cues and rewards to get that action to become habit.
Your action can be a time of day (will you go to the gym at 6:30 a.m. before heading to work?) and also a reminder (your gym bag sitting next to the door). When you actually go out for a run, you need to trick your brain into liking the activity by offering it a reward.
You have to give yourself a reward that is actually, at some point, going to inspire a craving, and to help your brain associate this behavior with something it enjoys. If you work out for five days that week, and that was your goal, then reward yourself with a new shirt or an hour of reading (if you are a mom and need a break).
I want to help you stay committed to keeping your goals throughout the year. Here are some tips to get your goals on the right track:
1. Specificity: If your resolution is to “lose weight,” “eat healthier,” or “exercise more,” you haven’t really laid out how exactly you’re going to get where you want to go. If you want to actually accomplish something, make sure your resolution focuses on the “how” you’re going to get somewhere, not where you hope to go.
Like I said last week, make steps to get to your goals—whether it is weekly, monthly, or yearly goals. What action steps will get you there?
The way I do my goals is that I have a daily check-list of goals I want to accomplish and also weekly ones, too. I have it on a check list so I can check them off as I go and see what I have already accomplished.
I try to do the goal I least like right away so I have no excuses.
2. Be Realistic: If you’re a busy working parent with 12 hour work days and three kids to get out the door every morning, do you really think heading down to your basement gym at 4:30 a.m. is going to last? Be realistic with your goals and better to err on the side of easy than bite off way more than you can chew.
Schedule your workouts in like an appointment in your planner; do what you can. Don’t think you NEED an hour to get a workout in. The all or nothing mentality will hurt you more than help. I used to be that way. It can play mind games with you.
3. Patience: Healthy living isn’t a race with a finish line. Instead, it’s a never-ending marathon. Studies on habit formation suggest it may take the better part of a year to truly forge a new one. Slow and steady definitely wins this race, whereby small steps will eventually get you a long distance. While a January flying leap is likely to only land you on your face. You have the whole year to get your goals you want. One thing is don’t rush the starting line – you will tucker out too fast.
4. Stop the Self-Sabotage: Don’t be hard on yourself. I hear this a lot from clients, “What’s wrong with me?” or, “Why do I always give up?”
Instead ask yourself, “What can I do today that will help get me back on track, even if just a little bit?” If you ate out and got off track with your nutrition, just get back in the game after and eat healthy the rest of the day. One meal is not going to make you gain five pounds.
Brush yourself off, pick yourself up, and get to it instead of asking yourself, why can’t this work?
5. Anticipate obstacles. There will be road bumps along the way. Your child might be sick, which happened to me the last couple of weeks, but I still made it important to get the workout in. I woke up early and my hubby took over for that hour and then I took over. If you are single parent, try to get small workouts in while they are sleeping. You can do all kinds of exercises in a small room!
Instead of looking in the future and getting frustrated of how much you have to do to get through those goals, think back to what you have already changed and be proud! Let’s just say you were a pop drinker but stopped drinking pop, be proud that you were able to accomplish that.
Here are some energy tips for the New Year; you can try out one, two or all of these for the New Year.
-Create a daily self-check-list and let it be the motivation.
-Take 10-20 minutes to start your workout routine; once you are there you can add time and intensity.
-Go one day a week without sweets. Eat fruit instead.
-Choose water or decaf tea instead of caffeinated coffee or drinks one day a week. Add lemon, lime, or cucumber to make your water a little more flavorful.
-Embrace you brilliance. Write down 10 things you do really well and revel in it.
-Go for a walk or play an active game with your kids at home after dinner. We get outside in the cold and put on our winter wear and have fun in the snow with my little one.
-Add an extra serving of leafy greens to your dinner. Kale is a yummy alternative to spinach a day, I will make kale chips in the oven and you can’t even tell you are eating greens!
-Stretch out for 10-15 minutes at night before bed, it will relax you and also relieve any tight muscles from your workout or sitting at your desk. I have a foam roller and I will roll on that for about 10 minutes at night and feel so relaxed. It is like having a deep tissue message.
Last tip: And one last tiny little secret – you don’t need to wait until New Year’s to decide to make positive and healthful changes in your life. Any old day can be the start of a brand new year!