Ways to "stick with it" ?

[Carol]

Got together with my trainer friend again yesterday, and got a chance to ask him the question.

He says he recommends being a BRAT :lol:

He phrased this more eloquently than I am recalling but his points were essentially:

B - Buddies. Find someone to join you in some kind of physical activity. Make friends at the gym. Get together will someone at the office to take a walk at lunch. Join a hiking group. Go on a bike ride with a date, etc.

R - Routine. Developing a regular routine will help turn the task in to a habit. Developing a routine with another person/people will help reinforce the habits even more.

A - Ask for help. Some folks get in to a good routine, only to have their rhythm broken by some kind of disruptive change. Illness, injury, family issues. If you find yourself in trouble...ask for help as soon as you can so you can get help in rebuilding or changing your routine to something that works for you again.

T - Targeting. Setting a long term goal is good, but don't neglect short term targets either...such as making sure you go to the gym three days a week every week this month. Make sure you take the stairs instead of the elevator, etc.

 

[Nomad]

1. Know WHY you're training/eating better/changing your habits

Answering "to be healthier", while a noble reason, is very nebulous. I have been cross-training, working weights and running lately, in order to be a better martial artist. I want to be stronger and faster to be better at what I love. This is a great motivator, and will also affect how I train and what I focus on outside of class.

2. Set realistic goals

The more specific the goals are the better, and they should have a timeframe. You want these to be measureable (eg. run a 6 minute mile by the end of July, or lose X number of pounds by September). The idea here is to hold yourself accountable without beating yourself up if you don't reach your goal; the gain is really in the striving, not necessarily in reaching the goal. Mark them out on a calendar, and track your progress towards the goals.

3. Have a plan

Once you set your goals, have a plan of how you're going to get from where you are to there. If you plan to lose 10 pounds in a month, you need to plan out your daily caloric intake (based on your current weight), and any additional exercise that will help burn them away. This is a place where good books and the internet are invaluable resources. All plans should be adaptable; emergencies, illnesses, injuries, etc. can all derail a plan.

4. Write it down

Anything you do that affects your goal, whether positive or negative, should be written down. For the weight loss goal above, writing down a daily log of what food you eat at what time, how much of what type of exercise you do, and a daily scale readout is invaluable. Forcing yourself to write it down gives a clear indication when you slip, and helps reinforce good habits.

Anytime you try to make a lifestyle change, accept that sometimes along the way, you WILL slip and fall back into the old pattern. This is not meant as an excuse, but it is important to recognize when it happens and use it to reinforce the new habits (review goals, increase determination). It's equally as important to avoid the guilt reflex, which will have the tendency to make you want to give up on the goal and fall back into the "easy" patterns. If you chow down on 600 delicious calories of cheesecake, it's not an excuse to stop eating better; it's an opportunity to say "OK, I messed up. That won't happen next time".

 

[Jenna]

Over the weekend I had a chance to work out with a friend for a short time. My friend is a young fellow that occasionally moonlights as a personal trainer. We were talking about exercise, nutrition, and all that good stuff, when he mentioned something that I've heard before.

There are a lot of diets and/or exercise plans that work, when they are followed. The challenge for many people is following them for an extended period of time, enough so they aren't so much a "diet" or a "workout" but more like an adopted part of a lifestyle. I asked him how he gets his clients to stick with a routine for that long. He admitted that it was difficult. Unfortunately our conversation was cut short so I didn't get a chance to ask him the question that I'd like to throw out for discussion....


What are ways that you use (or that you teach) to help a routine become a habit/lifestyle change?

Hey Carol common sense I know and but I try to break down a longer term goal into several short term goals coupled with appropriately levelled rewards for achieving those goals. If achievement of the short term goal requires a greater sacrifice or a greater degree of "suffering" or if I simply enjoy the route to that short term goal less, then I absolutely must make the reward for its achievement proportionately pleasanter I like pleasant rewards Likewise if the incentive is not sufficiently pleasant - particularly when the interim goal is not such a stand-up-and-shout achievement in itself - then I am less likely to achieve it.
Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna

 

[Kacey]

The hardest thing to do - in anything - is to change a habit. Start small, and make one small change at a time - park farther away so you have to walk farther; use smaller plates so you put less on the plate; turn the TV off while you eat and concentrate on eating slowly (watching TV causes people to not notice they're no longer hungry - eating quickly causes you to eat too much before you realize you're full); change one ingredient in a recipe for something better for you (for example, use squash instead of potatoes in stew) - things like that. As you get used to the small change - once it becomes a new habit, replacing the old one, make another small change. Keep going until you reach where you want to be.

The biggest mistake people make is trying to change too many things at once - followed closely by telling themselves that they'll stay on that diet until they lose the weight, get in shape, etc.... and then reverting to the habits that caused them to need to lose weight, get in shape, etc., and starting the cycle again. Only by changing habits slowly and methodically can a person prevent the fall back into the habits that needed changing in the first place.