Cheers to a New You: Adopting New Habits and Making Them Stick
It’s that time again.
Well, it may be more like that 5th time again. I know it is so good for me, but it is just so hard to do. Maybe not so hard to do a few times, but as the weeks and months go by, there just always seems to be something else more interesting or pressing to do with my time.
Most people who make New Year’s resolutions quit by mid to late January, and I know this, so I don’t want to be another statistic. I’m going to start early, in December, so I can be ahead of the curve. Maybe that way, when my motivation starts to fail, I will make use of everyone else’s January energy to feed off. Oh no, that means I am committing myself to do this over the holidays and while traveling! Should I back out? No one will know but me.
For me, the habit in question is meditation. (You knew that I exercise regularly, right? As the manager of the Fitness Center, that would just be ridiculously embarrassing if I didn’t.)
I tend to have an anxious personality, and I could really use the calming effect of some daily meditation. Dozens of research studies attest to the health benefits of meditation. It’s good for your body, your brain, and even your longevity. It’s free and easy to do. Many techniques are out there, but all you really need to take some time to yourself and just do it. I’ve even done it a few times, and the effects were nice.
I could have replaced the word “meditation” with “exercise” or “lose weight” in that last paragraph and it would have sounded like the resolution rationale of millions of people every January.
The process of habit change is the same whether you are trying to adopt a new exercise program or engage in daily meditation.
Just know that I am right there with you on the path.
Success is built day by day in the adoption of good habits and planning
When you are motivated to make a positive change in your life, it can be really easy to get carried away with your motivation and bite off more than you can chew.
When people try to make a major healthy change in the New Year, it frequently involves changing 5 to 10 (or more!) individual habits, and that is very difficult to do all at once, and nearly impossible to maintain long term.
So in the interest of long term success and maintenance of healthy habits, the best way to go is one habit at a time. Habits take a lot of mental energy to change, but if you take the time to do it right, the new healthy habits can feel relatively easy to maintain.
So first, consider your fitness goal. What exactly is it? Be specific. If you need help with this step, now is a great time to set an appointment with one of the staff members for a Goal-setting Session. We can help you by measuring your current fitness level, and talk you through your motivation in reaching a specific goal. Then you will be able say your goal specifically, such as “my goal is to reduce my body fat level from 25% to 20% by the end of March so that I will feel confident in my wedding photos.”
Once you set a specific, measurable, realistically attainable goal, the next step is make an action plan. Take time to consider all your typical habits for physical activity, eating, food preparation, sleep, and stress management. Consider how ready you are to make a change in each of these areas, and how feasible it will be considering your schedule and lifestyle. Rank each habit you have listed in terms of your readiness to change or improve on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not going to change and 10 being ready to change right now.
An evaluation of someone’s current habits (let’s call him Bob) might look something like this:
Physical activity includes a 20 minute walk, usually 5 days a week. (Ready to change: 5)
Rest of day is almost entirely spent sitting (Ready to change: 6)
Typically skip breakfast. (Ready to change: 2)
Typically purchase food for lunch at a local restaurant. (Ready to change: 4)
Dinner is spent with family – I have whatever they are having. Plus I eat what the kids leave on their plates. (Ready to change: 4)
Purchase snacks from vending machines daily (Ready to change: 10)
Drink about 4 glasses of water per day (Ready to change: 7)
Enjoy a glass of wine once or twice a week (Ready to change: 1)
Have little food preparation skills – stick to basics so I don’t set the kitchen on fire (Ready to change: 3)
Eat food quickly and almost always while checking email or doing something else (Ready to change: 9)
Usually sleep 6 to 6.5 hours per night, maybe 7 on weekends (Ready to change: 8)
Can’t remember the last time I got a massage (Ready to change: 6)
Step one for Bob would be to bring his own snacks to work so he doesn’t fall into the vending machine trap. Snacks can and should be simple. It can include things like deli-sliced turkey, an apple or other piece of fruit, and small handful of nuts. He would work on this habit for several weeks until 100% confident to add in the next habit (eat slowly and reduce multi-tasking while eating). Next Bob would get to bed earlier each night by reducing TV viewing in the evening. Even 20 to 30 minutes will make a difference long term.
Even as Bob works through his list of habits, there may be things that he is not willing to change – ever (such as a weekly glass of wine). That’s ok. Life is all about finding the balance that works for you.
Another important piece to long-term success is expecting bumps in the road. Life will challenge your schedule and habits. Expect it and get back on the path as best you can and as soon as you can. Big changes in work and family life can throw everything off schedule and make you feel like you are back at square one. Having a support network (like other people at the gym) always helps to get you back on track to your goals.
Relapses happen. I know – I have been there.
Several months ago, I had been doing well with my intention to make daily meditation a habit. I was typically spending about 15 minutes quietly sitting each morning before going off to work and face the rest of my day. Weekends were inconsistent, but I felt good that I was doing pretty well with my habit. I felt happy and productive at work.
Gradually, little things started adding up and before I knew it, meditation was gone from my schedule. As holiday stress started building around Thanksgiving, my anxiety about all kinds of things started bubbling up again. Weekends became not-that-happy, anxiety-filled times. I needed to change what I was doing.
I decided to take my own advice and start small, smaller than what I thought I needed.
So early in December, I began my morning meditation habit again. But this time, I only aimed for 5 minutes. I wouldn’t even worry about doing 15 or 20 minutes. Plus, I would do it before turning on the computer, eating, or having any other distractions. With only a 5 minute commitment to myself, everything else could wait.
I’m sure there may be more bumps in the road ahead, but right now I am off to a good start.
Katherine Williams: Joy in Movement 