I ran into a good friend of mine I had not seen in a while, and he looked great! When I commented on it, he said he had cut out caffeine and sugar. Given that discussing health is part of my profession, my follow-up question was, “Great! What triggered that?” Here was his answer.

It had gotten to the point that I could barely walk, much less play golf or just enjoy life.

“I had been really struggling with joint pain and gout. It had gotten to the point that I could barely walk much less play golf or just enjoy life. The doctor told me he could probably help me relieve the pain with medication but that would likely require me to be on said medication for the rest of my life.” He said before we go there, how about we look at your diet and see if some adjustments there could help reduce the pain.” 

Now, as background, I had been telling this friend for years that the 2 Monsters and multiple Diet cokes per day were not good and he probably needed to change that. There was always agreement but never compliance or adjustment of behavior. The old, “yeah, I know…” with a sheepish grin, and then move on. 

But when the doctor discovered these less-than-ideal dietary habits, it was an easy prescription. “Let’s cut out the caffeine and no refined sugar for a period of time and see if it helps”. 

And, of course, it did indeed help. 

AND…Can you guess what the byproduct was of this pain inspired behavior change? You got it. My friend lost about 25lbs, looks great, and feels much better OVERALL!!

Now, it was not without some temporary suffering. He said the first couple of weeks were, as he put it “torture” as his body went through the caffeine and sugar withdrawals. But it got better and eventually easier. 

This is just one of MANY examples I have heard where someone is ‘forced’ into a behavior change. It’s usually a health scare. Sometimes minor like being diagnosed as “pre-diabetic” to as extreme as suffering a heart attack. Both scenarios were likely preventable by making better food choices and making fitness a priority BEFORE you “have to”. 

Why does it take this extreme situation to trigger the new behaviors? Do you not see the weight coming on? Do you not feel your body reacting when you climb stairs or walk a long distance? Why do we wait until the pain is too much to bear or the threat is too real to ignore?

Habits are defined as the things we do without thinking. Daily life is a series of small habits that form into patterns. We operate in these patterns unless something comes in and breaks the pattern. You may have experienced this when you move from one house to another in the same town. How many times did you drive mindlessly home from work and pull into the driveway of a house you don’t live in anymore? Your new house broke your after-work behavior pattern, and you must now build a new one. For a period of time, you have to THINK about your route home.

It is the same with our health. If our current pattern does not value healthy eating choices and/or intentional movement, the idea of engaging in these behaviors is not a priority and may not be considered at all. “I’m healthy/thin/young/feel good, so I don’t NEED to diet or exercise.”  You don’t “need” to until you NEED to.

This is where awareness and choice must intervene. It can start small. Start counting your cups of coffee or number of cookies and reduce a little each week. Get down and do 5 push-ups every day or walk around the block. There is an adjustment period as we work to establish a new habit but, just like before, once the new habit is in place, we move forward with new, healthy, habit-based patterns. 

Now comes the real issue. How do you make this a priority. “I don’t have time” is simply a lie you tell yourself to justify your current behaviors. You don’t find time, you make time. What you value is where you assign your time and money. It is amazing how much easier it is to “find the time” when you are experiencing significant pain, facing an impending illness, or at risk of a shortened life. 

Every day presents you with the opportunity to do something different than yesterday. Don’t wait until you “have to”. Make a choice today to put healthy eating and intentional movement higher on your priority list. Everyone that loves you, including yourself, will be glad you did!