Accessing Your Motivation: How to do what you know…

Does this statement sound familiar?  “I know I should work out, but I just can’t get myself to.”  Or “I know what foods make me feel good, but when it comes down to it, I eat what I don’t want to eat.”

Isn’t it frustrating?  We know what’s good for us, and we truly want to do what makes us healthy.  So why can’t we just do the things, already?!?

If you find yourself stuck in this cycle with a particular behavior or habit you want to perform, there are two things that will help you stop doing what you don’t want to do, and finally do what you want.

1. “Don’t should on yourself”¹

I heard this quote years ago from a talk about setting boundaries, and I thought it applied so well to setting up healthy habits.  You see, when we try to guilt ourselves (or others!) into doing the healthy thing, it may work for a bit, but eventually, guilt isn’t enough to motivate us to keep performing the behavior.  Having a guilt trip (even a self-imposed one!) tramples on our autonomy, our ability to choose, and we humans don’t enjoy losing our right to choose.  Thus, we’ll retaliate, often passive aggressively, by doing the exact opposite thing.  

Instead of putting yourself through a guilt trip, work on accessing your true desire behind why you want to start that healthy habit.  You can do this by asking yourself “Why do I want this?” a few times so you can get to the bottom of what’s really motivating you.  Check out our blog post here and this helpful article from Precision Nutrition on how to this.²

2. Recognize decisions are made based on emotion rather than logic

You know this to be true if you’ve ever planned to get up early to exercise then when that alarm goes off, you hit snooze and stay in bed!  This happens to all of us because when the moment comes, we make decisions based on emotion rather than logic…even if we’re typically logical people!  

Instead of planning to do something you know you won’t be happy about when the moment comes (then getting upset with yourself at your apparent lack of willpower!), figure out how to make it easier to do what you wish you were doing.  How can it be easier for you to incorporate that workout?  How can it be easier to choose the foods that make your body feel good?  This can take a little thought and creativity, but it will keep you from getting back into the cycle of feeling guilty and like you lack willpower or motivation.  As James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, states, the systems you have in place, rather than your goals or habits, are what help you actually do the things you want to do.³

If you could use help to stop “shoulding” on yourself and come up with creative systems to finally implement healthy habits, check out wellness coaching!  You can get started by signing up for a free session here.

Sources:
¹Jones, A. (Host). Yes to you, means no to something else. [Audio podcast episode]. In Boundaries. http://catalysthome.org/. 
²Beers, E. (n.d.) Forget bikini bodies and big arms: Here’s the real secret for getting motivated to transform your body. Precision Nutrition. https://www.precisionnutrition.com/weight-loss-motivation
³Miller, D., Peterson, J.J. (2020, May 18). James Clear-the secret to a successful product launch. [Audio podcast episode]. In Business Made Simple with Donald Miller. https://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/c/9/7/c975f37bbbbdab99/EP201_JamesClear_Edit2.mp3?c_id=73002320&cs_id=73002320&expiration=1625709915&hwt=d1b5073095b2274f01425a039cc152db

Photo Credits:
Photo by Julien L on Unsplash
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Win-Learn vs. Win-Lose: Why having the mind of a…

You’ve heard the phrase “win-win or win-lose,” right?  It’s this thought that a situation only has two outcomes:  you’re either winning and achieving what you wanted, or you’re losing and you failed.

The great part about this phrase is that it’s high stakes, and sometimes that can be extremely motivating to us!  Anyone else thrive off of writing those college term papers last minute??  That impending deadline can set us up with the higher stakes we need to get in gear and get writing.

But when it comes to pursuing our health goals, having a win-win or win-lose mindset does us a disservice.  

Think about it: if we achieve the goals we set for ourselves, we feel like winners.  But if we don’t…well…let’s just say feeling like a loser isn’t all that motivating.

Fortunately, there’s a different way to think about our health goals:  win-learn¹.

With this outlook, we either achieve our goals and feel like winners, or we don’t achieve our goals but recognize there is still something we can learn from them, namely, what didn’t work for us.

This win-learn mindset mimics that of a scientist.

Scientists are all about experimenting to see what works and what doesn’t.  When they set out to do a new experiment, they often formulate at least one hypothesis, which is their educated guess as to what the outcome of their experiment will be. 

The beauty of the experiment, though, is that these scientists get to see if their hypothesis was correct or not.  If so, it adds more proof that the current way of thinking might be true, and if not, it can lead the scientist down another path to find out what really is true.

And you know what?  The best scientists don’t find their identity in their hypotheses always being correct.  Rather, they enjoy the process of experimenting and trying things, and often get surprised by what they uncover.  And those who are willing to move forward and experiment again when their hypotheses are proven wrong help us all progress through their findings.

So how does this relate to our health journeys?  

If you come into the goal setting process like a scientist-willing to try it out and experiment a bit to see what works and what doesn’t-you’re much more likely to stay motivated to find out what DOES work for you.

Why?  Because you’re approaching your goals with a win-learn mindset.  

When you achieve your goals, you can celebrate and take note that what you initially thought might work did indeed work.  And when you don’t achieve your goals, you don’t have to feel like a failure.  

There is no shame, rather, there is beauty in the process of trying.  You can take note of what didn’t work, make tweaks, and then set new goals.  

Your identity doesn’t have to be in whether or not you’re always achieving your goals, but whether or not you continue the pursuit and the process of learning what works.

And lest we forget, there is a great lesson to learn from a scientist you may have heard of-Thomas Edison.  He and his team knew the importance of trying and tweaking and learning through a myriad of attempts…

“This [the research] had been going on more than five months, seven days a week, when I was called down to the laboratory to see him [Edison].  I found him at a bench about three feet wide and twelve feet long, on which there were hundreds of little test cells that had been made up by his corps of chemists and experimenters.  I then learned that he had thus made over nine thousand experiments in trying to devise this new type of storage battery, but had not produced a single thing that promised to solve the question. 

In view of this immense amount of thought and labor, my sympathy got the better of my judgment, and I said: ‘Isn’t it a shame that with the tremendous amount of work you have done you haven’t been able to get any results?’  Edison turned on me like a flash, and with a smile replied: ‘Results!  Why, man, I have gotten lots of results!  I know several thousand things that won’t work!'”²

Sources:
¹Moore, M., Jackson, E., & Tschannen-Moran, B.  (2016).  Coaching Psychology Manual.  Philadelphia, PA:  Wolters Kluwer.
²Rutgers School of Arts & Sciences. (2012, Fall). Thomas A. Edison Papers. The Edisonian. http://edison.rutgers.edu/newsletter9.html#4

Photo Credits:
Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Photo by Hannah Middleton on Unsplash

How Stress Might Be Derailing Your Health Goals

Ever feel like you’re doing everything “right”, and yet you can’t lose weight?

Or perhaps you don’t know where your motivation for working out seems to go.

Or maybe you can’t find a reason why you consistently gravitate toward less healthy foods.

There might be a common culprit for each of these scenarios:

Stress.

Stress can play a large roll in our overall health and our ability to achieve our health goals.  If you answered “yes” to any of the above, read on to find out HOW stress can derail your health goals, and WHAT to do about it.

How Stress Derails Your Health Goals

It impacts the energy in/energy out process¹:

You may have heard the term “energy in vs. energy out”, or “calories in vs. calories out”, especially when describing weight loss.  It’s a simple equation and when the energy you expend (via exercise, daily activity, and simply staying alive) equals the energy you take in (via food that’s eaten and absorbed, etc.), you maintain your weight.  

When one of these becomes greater than another, you either lose weight or gain weight.

Though the equation is simple, the process of increasing or decreasing energy in or out (ex. “eating less and moving more”) is not. 

How does stress fit in here?  

Stress can affect both sides of this equation.  If coupled with poor sleep, it can up your hunger hormone ghrelin, while decreasing the hormone leptin, which helps you feel full.  It can also increase your desire for high or quick energy foods, rather than healthier foods.  

Stress can impact your desire to do any exercise, because the body already “feels” like it’s done a lot of work.  If you consider what happens when you know you’re stressed, your heart rate and breathing are both increased.  That’s the same thing that happens when you exercise!  

Not to mention many of the “fight or flight” hormones are turned up, which is good for exercise or if you find yourself in a life-threatening situation, but not so good if they’re turned up constantly.

It messes with cortisol²:

Speaking of hormones, cortisol is a common one you’ll hear of when talking about stress.  When you experience an acute stressor, your brain, eventually tells the adrenal glands (by way of other hormones) to release cortisol and adrenaline.  After it’s done this, the adrenals tell your brain “mission accomplished” and the fight or flight response should subside.

However, in chronic states of stress, this communication seems to get broken.  Either the adrenal glands stop telling your brain they did what it asked, or the brain doesn’t receive the message.  Think of it as a “call failed” message on your phone when you’ve lost service.

Being in a state of stress long-term then, can keep constant cortisol coursing through your body, which can eventually lead to feeling sluggish…which then impacts the energy out/energy in equation.

It compounds:

Though experiencing occasional stressors shouldn’t do much harm to the body, the piling up of stressors can.  This is termed the “allostatic load”³, which is the combination of all your stressors.  

It’s important to note here that exercise itself is a stressor.  This is a good thing, as it helps your body adapt to the “stress” you put it through when you work out.  However, if you’re already under a lot of stress, it’s wise to change up your exercise routine to be lower in intensity, so as to get the benefits from exercise, while not adding a large stressor onto an already big pile.

Remember, stress impacts how energetic you feel, so if you’re stressed and exercising hard, you may find you’re not recovering as well from workouts and/or you’re experiencing signs of overtraining (ex. elevated resting heart rate).²

Finally, it’s helpful to remember that negative feelings about your body and negative self-talk can contribute to your overall stress load.  If that hits a little close to home, know you aren’t alone!  Read on to see what you can do about it.

What to Do About Stress

Recognize stressors:

So how do you combat the effects of chronic stress if you realize this might be happening for you?  (And how do you not get stressed out by what you’ve read so far?!  😁 )

Start by getting curious.  Pay attention as you move through your days and see how you feel after doing usual activities.  For instance, how do you feel after spending time on social media?  Reading or listening to the news?  Taking a walk with your child?  

Pay attention to what seems to increase, and what seems to decrease your stress levels, and start to eliminate those things that add to the stress when and where you can.

Add in stress relievers²:

After you’ve recognized the stressors, now you can do the fun part…figure out your stress-relievers!    

It can be helpful to realize that these don’t have to be earth-shattering or expensive (ex. an all-day spa experience).  Rather, these can be small items you add throughout your day:  

• Prayer/meditation
• Getting outside
• Creating something
• Enjoying a hobby
• Helping a friend, family member, or neighbor
• Giving back to a cause you’re passionate about
• Recognizing what you can and cannot control
• Keeping a gratitude journal
• Replacing a stressor with a stress-reliever (ex. replacing screen time with reading a book)

If you don’t know what deflates stress for you, then consider this another invitation to get curious!  Start by considering what you liked to do when you were young or had less responsibilities.  And don’t be afraid to try something new!  

Additionally, allowing space in your schedule for transition time may prove to be a big stress-reliever.  Moving directly from one thing to the next to the next doesn’t give any down time or reflection time.  Even if you can only spare a few minutes, you may find you enter into the next event much more relaxed.

Consider wellness coaching:

Finally, consider wellness coaching!  When you meet with a wellness coach, you intentionally take the time and space to process your health goals and habits, as well as some time for yourself, which can be a big stress-reliever.  As our client, Jessica, stated “our weekly sessions forced me to set aside some time for myself…more importantly, to prioritize my health and time so that I can be the best mommy, wife, and teacher I can be.”

Wellness coaching is designed to not only help you with exercise and eating habits, but also to thrive as a whole person-which means reducing stress levels!  Through the coaching process, we help you recognize what you can and can’t control, and be empowered to make sustainable changes.⁴

And if you find a big cause of your stress is body negativity, you’re in the right place! Our mission here at Smart Fit Womxn is to help you rise above the current health culture and equip you to see your body as strong, capable, beautiful, and worthy.

If you haven’t tried coaching yet, simply add your name and email here for a free 30-minute session and see if this is one stress-reliever you’re excited to incorporate.

Sources:
¹Berardi, J. (n.d.) Calories in vs. out? Or hormones? The debate is finally over. Here’s who won. Precision Nutrition. https://www.precisionnutrition.com/calories-in-calories-out
²Maciel, R., Feit, A., & Bowman, A. (n.d.) Do you have a Stress Bod? The surprising science of feeling awful—and what to do about it. [Infographic]. Precision Nutrition. https://www.precisionnutrition.com/effects-of-stress-on-the-body-infographic
³Magyari, P., Lite, R., Kilpatrick, M., Schoffstall, J. (2018). ACSM’s resources for the exercise physiologist (2^nded.). Philadelphia, PA:  Wolters Kluwer Health
⁴Moore, M., Tschannen-Moran, B., & Jackson, E. (2016). Coaching psychology manual (2^nd edition). Wolters Kluwer.  

Photo Credits:
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
Photo by Derick McKinney on Unsplash
Photo by Sean Thomas on Unsplash