OTTER's CalorieKing blog
Tuesday, Mar 25 2008 - Tools for New Habits (or, How NOT to become a statistic!)
View OTTER's food & exercise for this day
As mentioned on my blog last week, those who begin a new diet as a New Year's resolution statistically "fall off the wagon" on March 18. I think it is not just New Year's Dieters, but everyone starting something new that requires behavior change, new habits, new knowledge, really any CHANGE, is statistically likely to "fail" before 90 days have passed.
We're not machines
That's right, if my new routine does not factor in basic human elements, I will fail. There are holidays, vacations, celebrations, bad moods, good moods, generous co-workers, overtime hours or underemployment issues, all manner of opportunitites and temptations to pull me off a rigid path.
Be Seasonal
Try a seasonal approach.
In the summer season it is easier to exercise out-of-doors (hence more exercise), easier to eat fresh fruit, easier to avoid many celebrations. Work within the gift of NOW (what is present).
In the winter, it can be harder for me to exercise outdoors, harder for me to want to drive to the gym. Winter is a great time for using exercise DVDs and finding new exercise DVDs through the library, or joining up with a friend for a timed walk around the local indoor shopping mall.
Foods are seasonal. Moods seem seasonal. I have the biggest "problem" with winter holidays and in my family there are more cold-weather birthdays. All of these could set me up for failure if I'm not willing to work within these realities.
It's A Progressional (Or A Journey)
I'm not great at changing EVERY bad habit in my life and learning BRAND NEW techniques all at once. But I am willing to add a little at a time -- some new skill, a new method of food preparation, join a new group for exercise, read a new book or find some resource on the web. Over time these little steps add up to lots of changes.
Don't let your motivation make you race
In my youthful adult years, I often would sign-up for a competition (judo, body building, powerlifting) to MAKE myself change quickly. Fear was the motivator. I guess a common example of an outside motivator is wanting to look nice for a wedding (my wedding, my daughter's wedding, whatever). But I found the fear motivator didn't last.
My motivations now feel very different. Good health, less pain, feeling good about going hiking with the hubby, and (because I am a woman of faith) "going with God."
Sometimes a Cigar is just a Cigar, but Food is too often MORE than just food!
So, I'm not a CalorieKing University Graduate, and I haven't yet reached goal weight, and I've been on diets before with some successes, but none of this makes me an expert. Yet already I can see that my food is more than food to me! It is the the thing I have used to comfort myself when I am feeling blue, rejected or dejected. Food is what I use when I am happy. Food is what I turn to when I am bored. Food is what I turn to when I am angry. In other words, food has been a CRUTCH. And the hardest part of these slow changes I am making is learning to deal with all the emotion I've been burying under a ton of food!
Tools for New Habits (part II)
Plan ahead. Not just meals, but also for holidays and celebrations, for office lunch meetings and travel trips.
Plan your exercise as well. Not just what you will do this week, but what are your long term goals. For example, I've entered a walking event for beginning of summer. This should keep me active and going past the 90-day slump.
Simple tools: At the top is a picture of my favorite exercise tools for strength training. I have three sets of small dumbbells, yoga blocks and yoga mat, a Swiss ball, and elastic bands. These tools are easy to use, easy to hide away (when I want to tidy my living room) and I can pack a few of them on business trips so there are no excuses. My goal with these tools is to get too strong to use them! Once I outgrow these, I will be ready to do more interesting and fun routines at the gym or do some interesting and fun routines while doing wilderness hiking.
Statistical Anomaly
my true goal is to become a statistical anomaly. I would encourage each of us to keep trying, keep growing, keep learning, keep changing. Peaks and valleys may come, but remember the long-view can still look like quite the pretty picture!
If you've made it this far THANKS!
And I hope on those glum days when my first solution is to wonder where the nearest "double-bacon cheeseburger-with-large-order-of-fries" can be found that I will remember these tools!
We're not machines
That's right, if my new routine does not factor in basic human elements, I will fail. There are holidays, vacations, celebrations, bad moods, good moods, generous co-workers, overtime hours or underemployment issues, all manner of opportunitites and temptations to pull me off a rigid path.
Be Seasonal
Try a seasonal approach.
In the summer season it is easier to exercise out-of-doors (hence more exercise), easier to eat fresh fruit, easier to avoid many celebrations. Work within the gift of NOW (what is present).
In the winter, it can be harder for me to exercise outdoors, harder for me to want to drive to the gym. Winter is a great time for using exercise DVDs and finding new exercise DVDs through the library, or joining up with a friend for a timed walk around the local indoor shopping mall.
Foods are seasonal. Moods seem seasonal. I have the biggest "problem" with winter holidays and in my family there are more cold-weather birthdays. All of these could set me up for failure if I'm not willing to work within these realities.
It's A Progressional (Or A Journey)
I'm not great at changing EVERY bad habit in my life and learning BRAND NEW techniques all at once. But I am willing to add a little at a time -- some new skill, a new method of food preparation, join a new group for exercise, read a new book or find some resource on the web. Over time these little steps add up to lots of changes.
Don't let your motivation make you race
In my youthful adult years, I often would sign-up for a competition (judo, body building, powerlifting) to MAKE myself change quickly. Fear was the motivator. I guess a common example of an outside motivator is wanting to look nice for a wedding (my wedding, my daughter's wedding, whatever). But I found the fear motivator didn't last.
My motivations now feel very different. Good health, less pain, feeling good about going hiking with the hubby, and (because I am a woman of faith) "going with God."
Sometimes a Cigar is just a Cigar, but Food is too often MORE than just food!
So, I'm not a CalorieKing University Graduate, and I haven't yet reached goal weight, and I've been on diets before with some successes, but none of this makes me an expert. Yet already I can see that my food is more than food to me! It is the the thing I have used to comfort myself when I am feeling blue, rejected or dejected. Food is what I use when I am happy. Food is what I turn to when I am bored. Food is what I turn to when I am angry. In other words, food has been a CRUTCH. And the hardest part of these slow changes I am making is learning to deal with all the emotion I've been burying under a ton of food!
Tools for New Habits (part II)
Plan ahead. Not just meals, but also for holidays and celebrations, for office lunch meetings and travel trips.
Plan your exercise as well. Not just what you will do this week, but what are your long term goals. For example, I've entered a walking event for beginning of summer. This should keep me active and going past the 90-day slump.
Simple tools: At the top is a picture of my favorite exercise tools for strength training. I have three sets of small dumbbells, yoga blocks and yoga mat, a Swiss ball, and elastic bands. These tools are easy to use, easy to hide away (when I want to tidy my living room) and I can pack a few of them on business trips so there are no excuses. My goal with these tools is to get too strong to use them! Once I outgrow these, I will be ready to do more interesting and fun routines at the gym or do some interesting and fun routines while doing wilderness hiking.
Statistical Anomaly
my true goal is to become a statistical anomaly. I would encourage each of us to keep trying, keep growing, keep learning, keep changing. Peaks and valleys may come, but remember the long-view can still look like quite the pretty picture!
If you've made it this far THANKS!
And I hope on those glum days when my first solution is to wonder where the nearest "double-bacon cheeseburger-with-large-order-of-fries" can be found that I will remember these tools!
2 comments so far.
2.
a decade ago
What great advice! I would also like to be a statistical anomaly! Keep going, you're doing great!!
by JANEQE
1.
a decade ago
by BIGGRAMMA