I saw the this post a few days ago from a health coach I follow on social media! 

Tough truth…

Most people don’t want to get better.  Instead, they want to be the same person with the same habits, but with different results. 

 My first reaction was “Amen, people say they want change, but when the rubber meets the road, they just don’t want to do the work.”    Then I read it again remembering how difficult behavior change can be.    I reminded myself that the past few years I’ve slowly let the good habits I spent years building slip just enough to add a few pounds of fat to my small frame.  I still “eat clean”.  I have spent the past 5 years with my head down working on  building a business.  I’ve neglected my own workouts and let my nutrition get sloppy.  Life has been hard for small businesses, Covid, I’m getting old….blah blah blah!   Everyone has had a tough go, right?

I don’t believe people want to keep the same bad habits expecting different results.  People are smarter than that.  They know change is necessary.  Most people can rattle off at least 5 poor habits they’ve acquired that have led them to where they are today physically, mentally, and financially.  Habits are hard to break.  It is possible to have healthy habits that are equally hard to break.  That is just something to think about!

I believe people want to change but they don’t know how or where to begin.  The amount of conflicting information out there does not help either.  Don’t eat this, eat more of that!  Only eat in an 8-hour window.  If we start picking apart all the things that could be better, we get overwhelmed and do nothing!  We get caught up in the “all or nothing” approach and forget that one little change is better than no change at all. 

You may not be ready to do something like CrossFit or start counting your macronutrients.  That can be overwhelming and working up to that level of fitness and focus can take some time.  What can you do?  

• Walk 10-15 min daily
• Eat protein with every meal (whole foods are always best then supplement with powders and bars if necessary)
• Work your way up to drinking 80oz water daily
• Plan when and how you will do these things! Write it down and plan the week (time block for your walks, make sure you have a lean protein source prepared, and find a good water bottle and know how many times you need to fill it)

If you start these things immediately and stay consistent for 4 weeks, you will feel better and more confident you can add something else such as some resistance training or setting a calorie target.   Nail the basics first!   If we go all in too quickly with too many complicated things to track, we burn out and go right back to past behaviors because that’s what we know.  That’s our comfort zone. 

All this boils down to your mindset about improvement. Focusing on all the things you can’t do is not productive.  ACTION creates momentum!  Pick 2-3 simple action steps. Do only those things until it feels natural.   Consistency in the basics will establish them as habits.  This is how we get on a better path to health…one action at a time and repeat!

 When you are ready to make a change, ask yourself this question.

What CAN I do? What CAN I do right now? 

No more wasting time.  The time will pass regardless.  Let’s make that time count!