Hard Work Pays Off
If you have a goal that is in relation to nutrition. One thing needs to be made very clear. IT IS NOT A QUICK FIX!!!! Changing the way you eat is not an easy thing to do. For some of us, the way we eat has been the same for our entire life. It takes a commitment and hard work to change one of our most basic habits. How we eat.
Why Diets Don’t Work
Healthy eating is not something that can just be done. Its something we have to educate ourselves on. We have to learn how to choose the right food. When to consume them and how much. If you give someone a meal plan that is the exact opposite of their usual eating pattern. How do you think they will do? I think it is a setup for failure.
If you were given a meal plan for thirty days. And this meal plan was full of foods you never usually eat. In amounts that are not normal to you. With no information on why these foods are being chosen. As soon as an individual is done there thirty days what do you think will happen?
If that person makes it to the thirty days. They are very likely going to come off this plan hard. Going back to all the foods they have been craving. All the foods they have been missing. Most of the time in portions that are larger than they initially were. The percentage of people gaining back weight they loss during a diet is large. And the percentage of people putting on more weight than where they started is also large.
Healthy Eating is a Commitment
I have mentioned this a few times before. But my favorite quote when it comes to healthy living will always be, “if it was easy everyone would be doing it.” Healthy eating is not easy. It takes mindset, environment, habits, knowledge and willpower.
Mindset
Mindset is the first thing we need. A positive mindset is a key to success. Having positive relationships with our bodies, our food and our goals is where it all starts. We have to go into our nutrition journey ready willing and able to reach realistic goals. We also need to educate ourselves on how our bodies react and digest certain foods. Knowledge is power!
Environment
Our environment is made of our social, physical and media. Who we surround ourselves with, our support systems (family friends etc) is the social part of our environment. We want to make sure the people we surround ourselves with are going to support our goals. It is hard enough to make healthy food choices. We don’t need people in our daily life that may be steering us the wrong way. Sometimes this requires a conversation with our loved ones of what our goals are and what we need to do to get there. Or this could mean avoiding certain people at certain times (dinners, going out). We have to make sure our environment is supportive.
Our physical environment is the way we set up for success. We have to physically make it easier to choose healthy foods. Physical actions we can take include meal and snack prepping. Making sure we always have our water bottles handy. Packing lunch and snacks to have on hand. Filling our kitchens with healthy foods. And maybe removing all the unhealthy ones. When we are physically set up for success it is easy to reach nutrition goals.
Lastly with our environments what we watch through media can greatly affect our mindsets. Social media, news, Tv, movies can all be objects of unrealistic goals. Making sure we are not comparing ourselves to others that are in much different situations than we are. Watching positive healthy and realistic media is important while obtaining our goals.
Habits
Once we have set our mindset in a positive direction. And made sure we have an environment to succeed in. We can then create the habits. Habits cannot be changed over night. They also can not all be changed at once. There are endless amount of information on habits and behavior out there. All of it will tell you that humans are habitual creates. We are always going to naturally gravitate to towards what we are familiar with. So breaking this familiar behaviors takes work.
We have to start small. Adding in a new habit a little bit at a time will have a more sustainable action. If we add habits a little at a time it will be easier to integrate into our daily lives. Adding small habits is pushing you a just a little bit out of your comfort zone. It then becomes comfortable and we can add more. We grow our new habits slowly until they become as natural as breathing.
Knowledge
This is important when we are making choices in nutrition. We have to educate ourselves on what our body requires. How much of foods we need. What is good for us and what is bad for us. The more we know about nutrition the less likely we are to make unhealthy choices. There is less stress to choosing foods for ourselves. It can inspire us to try new foods and ways of cooking. Learning is a lifelong journey. And what we fuel our bodies is a very important topic to learn. Its important for our selves, our children and our environment (the world).
Willpower
Willpower can be the hardest part of a nutrition journey. But if we have set up all the previous steps (Mindset, Environment, Habits, Knowledge), Willpower does not have to be as hard. Setting ourselves up for success with a positive mind. An environment that supports and fuels us. Build positive habits. Educate ourselves on proper foods and portions. The Willpower will come easy to us.
When people start their healthy lifestyle journey on Willpower alone. It can be easy to fail unfortunately. We have to make sure all of our tools are in place to lessen the challenge of making good choices. If you are set up for success willpower should rarely be a challenge.
Putting it all Together
Making the commitment to changing your nutrition habits it hard work. With coaching we can take this massive process and break it down into manageable steps. Step by step we will make these healthy habits fit into your life. If you want to sit down for a chat (for free) at the gym or online about your nutrition please contact me at [email protected] or click the link below.
As always thanks for your time and healthy regards
Kj
