By now, you may have heard the new trend of healthy lifestyle vs. dieting.
I have worked with clients in this capacity for so many years. Diet’s ruin us! There are so many statistics that support that statement, but I will just give you this to think about: If dieting worked, we would be the healthiest country on the planet. We are far from the healthiest, and, yet, we spend $60 billion or more on the diet industry every year.
I want to caution you on programs that claim to be a healthy lifestyle yet are really another diet. The diet industry has an amazing way of catching on to something new but never really changing its approach. If it walks like a duck…
Having said all of that—let me get to my real point. I have coached hundreds of clients through lasting, healthy behavior changes, and the one thing that never changes is that the scale is our enemy. I’ve encouraged my clients to never use a regular scale, one that doesn’t measure your body composition, from the very beginning. However, my next challenge to everyone is to not even step on a body composition scale for a while.
If you are deciding to make changes that support a healthy lifestyle (and trust me, most likely everyone could use a change here or there), then make those changes your measurement, not the numbers on any kind of scale. Numbers can make you crazy and become so discouraging. They change at very different rates for different people. Each of us, regardless of what we read or how we may be coached, has some ideal number burned into our brain. That number may not be realistic or may take a lot longer to reach when creating real, healthy behaviors, than we expect. You can lose weight fast, but it doesn’t mean you will be healthy.
What can you measure? Start with the behaviors you need to change. Set goals over the course of four to six weeks at a time. Reassess your behaviors against this timeframe. Here is an example using some typical behaviors that my clients need to modify:
Behavior 1: Eat more vegetables (or just eat them…so many people eat zero!).
Goal: In the next four weeks, eat three to four cups of vegetables every day.
Action: Measure out and eat three to four cups of vegetables every day. Keep track of the days you meet this goal.
After four weeks, reset the goal to four to six cups of vegetables every day with a final goal of six to eight cups. Note how you are feeling at each point (energy levels, digestions, sleep, etc.).
Behavior 2: Start an exercise routine.
Goal: Exercise (inclusive of resistance training) 10 to 15 minutes, five days a week.
Action: Set up time in your calendar every day with a specific set of exercises that you will complete. Keep track of the days you meet this goal.
After four weeks (maybe sooner depending on your fitness level), increase the time to 20 to 30 minutes. Note how you are feeling (energy, digestion, sleep, etc.).
Behavior 3: Remove all obvious sugars from your diet (I am starting with “obvious” because there are a lot of hidden sugars in our foods, and this often requires some learning on the part of the individual).
Goal: Make a list of all sugar items you consume on a regular basis. This may require you to keep track of your food for a few days. Select at least three to start removing. I will challenge you to select the hardest one first!
Action: Do not consume these three items for the next four weeks. Keep track of the days you meet this goal. Note how you are feeling (energy, digestion, sleep, etc.).
My hope for you in all of this is that you really start to focus on healthy behaviors, first and foremost. If we can get it right 80 percent of the time, we are likely to feel so good that we do it right 90 percent of the time.
Our behaviors are critical to this success—real, lasting healthy behaviors. This may require you to become more educated about nutrition, exercise and even stress management. Do it! It is up to us to take care of our health. Seek information from credible sources and do your research.
One thing for sure: most of the food we consume is not REAL food and especially “diet” food. How long can we last eating chemicals, preservatives and who knows what else? (And I mean this, we really do not know what is in all of our foods.) Without the right fuel (food), we will shorten our lives and quality of life. Make it about your health—your life!
Brenda Hoover is a partner with Absolute Wellness Group in Harrisburg, https://absolutewellnessgroup.com.
