How to Create Lasting Lifestyle Changes.
While most people think of making lifestyle or behavioral changes in January by the way of New Year’s Resolutions, sometimes it is nice to try make those changes in a less stressful and well just warmer time of year. Memorial Day weekend just past ushering in the unofficial start to summer. People’s will to work gets a little less and their impulse to play, relax, or just be increases. Maybe your kids are out of school or the summer, or if you work for a company that let’s you work four ten hour days so you can have long weekends during the summer, or it finally just hit you that your July 4th plans actually involve a bathing suit. Why not make a few changes now that could last you a lifetime?
Be Specific and Set Smaller Goals within the Bigger Goal.
Saying you want to exercise more or eat better are broad statements. Saying you want to exercise 5 days a week or eat green leafy vegetables with every meal is more specific and easier to keep track.
Going from 0 to 5 days of week is a big leap so why not give yourself some ramp up time. Start with I will exercise one day a week or I will take a five minute walk at least once a day 5 days a week. When you can achieve that goal for a week bump that time up to 10 minutes a day and maybe one day at the gym, etc. Keep working your way there.
Same goes for if you are making diet changes, the goal might be to eat green leafy veggies with every meal, but start with one meal a week or one meal a day and work your way up slowly to every meal.
By setting up smaller goals within your larger goal you can feel the joy of success every step of the way making the next small goal seem attainable and before you know it you are exercising 5 days a week and not only eating green veggies, but making better food choices all around.
Schedule the events and make them a “non-negotiable” item.
Life is busy, habits are hard to break and make so the best way to make sure you start to change your behavior is to schedule or plan for the new behavior. It is hard to ignore a calendar reminder to your phone or even better a paper calendar hanging on your wall forcing you to face your new commitment. While it may be a bit easier to schedule a 5-minute walk or a trip to the gym on your calendar you can add “eat broccoli for dinner, or add spinach to eggs for breakfast. It will look goofy to an outsider, but who knows maybe you will inspire them to make that choice as well.
You wouldn’t skip out on a meeting with your boss or an important customer/client if you weren’t feeling all that great or maybe just because your PJs feel so good. Make your new behavior that you have scheduled just as important. It is on your calendar and you must respect that time as time you cannot get out of. This is especially key in the beginning, it will always be easier to say no, but if you force yourself to say do what you promised yourself you will not only get the boost of having completed a small step toward a big goal, you are on your way to making that new goal a habit.
Find some support and learn to forgive yourself.
Breaking and making habits is hard work there will be times that you will fail and that is fine. The key to failing is learning to forgive yourself and get right back on the wagon. So you didn’t get that walk in or you missed that yoga class you had scheduled on your calendar. It happened, you feel bad, now realize there will be a chance the very next day to get right back on track.
Sure you were too exhausted to go to the store so you just ate a tuna sandwich with absolutely no veggies, tomorrow you will hit the store a restock the fridge. Failure is part of life; it only defines you if you let it stop you completely. In other words no: “I missed today’s workout I am never going to reach my goal, so I give up”. You missed a day and tomorrow is brands new day that you get to prove to yourself you are worth this lifestyle change.
No man (or woman) is an island, we all need help and when trying to create lasting changes in our lives we need a lot of support. The key to a support system is to have one that works for you. If you need a friend to tell you to suck it up and sweat then run don’t walk to that friend on days when you are feeling not so much like sweating and contemplating skipping your work out date. Maybe you can even use this friend as a workout buddy and then you have to show up or you know you will be letting your friend down.
Hangout with people, who just love veggies or who eating habits you admire, let their choices help you to make the right choices while you are building this new habit.
Reward yourself and keep track of your process.
Sure you when you reach your big goal you know you will reward yourself with looking great in your bathing suit, losing X number of pounds, or actually getting your daily recommended servings off veggies in your diet.
But the key to reaching that goal is to celebrate the little victories along the way. You worked out everyday for at least 5 minutes for 5 days. Reward yourself with a gold star on your calendar, or a new work out outfit, or a leisurely morning spent at the local coffee shop enjoying some coffee and people watching or reading a book.
While you don’t want your reward to hinder your progress of the goal, you should give yourself a pat on the back for all the hard work you have put in already.
Keeping track of your process not only helps you to stay honest it is a good way for you to be able to look back and see how far you have come. You could journal your feelings before and after you set goal. The further you get in you can see just how far your attitude has changed as you progress to your new lifestyle.
Not big on journaling, no worries this is where that non-digital calendar hanging on your wall will help. The more days with big Xs on them will encourage you keep up the good work. If you choose the Gold Star method of reward on days you feel like skipping out or falling into old patterns you can look back and see that gold star and know that you want to make sure you get another one. Maybe for every gold star you give yourself the actual reward gets bigger. Ten gold stars in month might equal a new work out shirt, but 25 gold stars might mean a new pair of shoes or tickets to your favorite band or play.
These simple (easy to say) steps can help you with your weight loss and exercise goals you can also use them to create any lifestyle change you wish to see in your life. Who knows you may get so good at changing your lifestyle, that you end up actually achieving one of those New Year resolutions you made this year, last year, or even ten years ago. Who knows you may even change your entire life so that is finally resembles exactly what type of life you have always wanted.