Dispelling the myth that a healthy lifestyle requires all or nothing commitment

Let’s start with a question.  When you’ve considered making health changes in the past, how many times have you thought you needed to completely overhaul your life to do so?

For instance, if you got your numbers back on a yearly physical and realized you could make some changes to get those numbers into a healthier range, would you start thinking the following…

“I guess I could eat a little better.  And that means I shouldn’t eat my nightly dessert anymore.  And I probably shouldn’t go out for fast food with coworkers each Friday.  And my Starbucks Frappuccino, that’s going to have to go.  And I’m only going to eat clean food!  I don’t actually know what “clean” means, but my friend Kim was telling me she was eating clean, so that seems like something I should do.”

“Oh, and then there’s exercise!  I’m going to have to hire a personal trainer.  Thankfully there’s a gym down the street and they have trainers.  I’m going to need that person to kick my butt.  I’ve been lazy, so I need that.  If I can’t find someone who makes me sweat, then it’s not worth my money!  Gotta sweat for it to count, right??”

Has this ever been the rabbit hole your brain has gone down when you’ve considered making changes for your heath?

If so, don’t worry!  You’re not alone.

We’ve seen for our clients and ourselves that this all or nothing thinking is pervasive when we consider making changes that impact our health.  It makes sense, as the fitness industry has made a lot of money advertising quick, “guaranteed” fixes to us.  These quick fixes aren’t typically sustainable and can be drastic in nature.  This leads us to think we need to make drastic changes to improve our health, otherwise we’re not doing it right.

But the problem with this thinking is we often get overwhelmed attempting to completely change our habits, and we simply quit and do nothing at all.

What if there was another way?

What if the goal instead was to move the needle forward, if ever so slightly?

Think about the following statement:

“I don’t have the capacity right now to hire a personal trainer and get to the gym, but I could take a walk once a week on my lunch break.”

How do you feel when you read that statement?

Does something rise up in you that says “But that’s not enough!  I need to be crushing it at the gym to be healthy!”?

Again, this all or nothing mentality is PERVASIVE.  This means it’s lodged deep down inside us.  The key, then, is to start recognizing when we jump to these grand conclusions about what we need to do to be healthy, and realize this…

The walk you DO take is far healthier than the gym workout you DON’T do.

When we realize the options are “do everything perfectly, but eventually get overwhelmed and quit because it’s not sustainable” or “make small, sustainable health changes that may not feel like a lot right now but will add up over time,” it starts becoming easier to see which is the better choice in the long run.

So the next time you start heading down the rabbit hole of all the habits you need to change to be healthier, we want you to picture a spectrum chart like the one below and think, “What would it take to move the needle forward?”

Remember-doing something small every day (or most days) adds up over time and is ALWAYS better and more beneficial to your health than the grand, “perfect” habits you eventually quit because they aren’t sustainable.

If you’d like assistance in figuring out what small, sustainable habits would move the needle forward in your life, you’re in luck!

That’s exactly what we help our clients figure out when they work with us.  Click here to sign up for wellness coaching and get started on making small changes that add up over time.  Your first appointment is free, so why not get started today?

Written by Brittni Paris, Wellness Coach & Blogger

Photo Credits:
Photo by Devin Edwards on Unsplash
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash