Have you ever found yourself in this situation?  You decide you’re going to get healthy.  Now is the time and you’ve made up your mind to do so.  You buy new workout clothes and shoes.  You find a running partner or sign up for a gym membership.  You purchase the latest meal delivery service or buy more leafy greens at the store than you know what to do with.  You KNOW this is the time when you’ll start living a healthy life for good.

 

And then…you stop.

 

Life happens, old habits creep back in, and suddenly you’re back to where you started.  Except this time, you’re a bit more skeptical that you could actually live a consistently healthy lifestyle.  You blame it on a lack of motivation and wonder why you can’t just get it together.

For many of us, this is an all too familiar situation, perhaps one that has played out multiple times in our lives.  So, what are we to do?  Is there any hope for actually living a life of health?

There is hope but I think we need to change our plan of attack a bit to see success.

Below are a few thought patterns that can derail us in pursuit of our health goals, and ways we can alter our approach moving forward.

Old thought pattern:  We forget our lives are dynamic.

The healthy habits that may have worked for you in one season may not work for you in a new season of life.  For instance, the habit of going on a run every day after work may no longer make sense for a new mom who needs to pick up her baby from daycare at that time.  Just because she doesn’t get a run in after work does not mean she’s a failure at pursuing her health goals.  It simply means what did work before no longer works now.

New plan of attack.

If you find yourself in a state of transition (new job, new location, new relationship, new baby, etc.), take a bit of time to offer yourself some grace.  Transitions, even if they’re exciting, bring a certain amount of stress with them.  Consider how your life has changed and how you might alter your old healthy habits to new ones that fit your current stage of life.  Journaling or talking this out with a friend or wellness coach can help you brainstorm ideas of what works for you now.  In the case of the new mom above, she may find that taking a walk during her lunch break allows her to get in some exercise time each day, and still enjoy time with her baby after work.

Old thought pattern:  We’ve bought into the quick fixes, rather than the lifestyle changes.

Let’s face it-we’ve all done this!  We think we simply need to find the right diet or exercise program (or both!) and then our bodies will be quickly transformed.  It makes sense that we fall for this, as those attempting to sell us diet and exercise plans know how to coax us into thinking they’ve found the secret to health.  But, the real secret is this:  small, consistent healthy habits performed over the years lead to a healthy lifestyle.  And building these healthy habits slowly makes them easier to sustain for the long haul.  This is much more enjoyable than oscillating between sticking to a rigorous diet and exercise plan and returning to old habits.

New plan of attack.

Are there any quick fixes you’re currently buying into?  If so, use that as a starting point to determine what you’d really like to change.  If it’s a diet, what are some things you’d like to change in the way you eat?  Whittle down what you’d like to change until it becomes a small, manageable goal.  For instance, if your goal is to eat less sweets for dessert, start by eating a piece of fruit in place of your typical dessert one night per week.  After you’ve done that consistently, sub in the fruit for two nights per week, and so on.

Old thought pattern:  We haven’t found what personally sustains us.

Do you ever think “I know what I should be doing to be healthy, but I just can’t bring myself to do it?”  Though making healthy choices isn’t always fun or easy, we can certainly make it more so by choosing things that bring us life.  As Dr. Michelle Segar says in her book, No Sweat, “What sustains us, we sustain.”  If we incorporate healthy habits that help us feel energized, keep stress at bay, and be the best versions of ourselves, we are more likely to continue to perform those habits.

New plan of attack.

Are there any healthy habits you’re trying to stick to, but simply don’t enjoy?  For example, are you attempting to run each morning, but you actually don’t like to run?  What if you explored other forms of exercise to see which one(s) you prefer?  Then, you’re not locking yourself into thinking only one form of exercise is beneficial.  In fact, any kind of exercise that we do perform is more beneficial than not exercising at all.

If you’ve found yourself caught in these thought patterns, know that you’re not alone.  By changing our thinking, we start the process of problem solving to make those small changes that lead to the healthy lifestyles we long for.

 

Written by Brittni Paris, SFC Blogger and Wellness Coach

 

Credits:

Segar, M.L. (2015). No sweat: How the simple science of motivation can bring you a lifetime of fitness. New York, NY: AMACOM.

 

Photo Credits:

Photo by Nik MacMillan on Unsplash

Photo by Sai De Silva on Unsplash

Photo by roya ann miller on Unsplash