Happy New Year Friends!
Are you like me, taking time to evaluate the changes you may want to make as you finish this year and begin a new one?
I am currently reading the book ‘Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard’ by Dan and Chip Heath. I am hoping it will expand my horizons and help me ‘switch’ some things in my endeavors to help and coach others. So far, it has affirmed some thoughts and attitudes that most of you have seen and heard – most likely on Facebook and other social media forums. Things like: What doesn’t challenge you, won’t change you; for anything to change, one has to start acting differently; fail to plan, plan to fail; and so on.
What I like is that the authors dig deeper into change and why it is hard, which is what I want to learn from. I also want to turn what I learn into some practical thoughts and tips that might help you! So, stick around and maybe you will learn a few practical tips on how to turn on the ‘switch’ of Making Better Choices for a Healthier Lifestyle!
Problem #1-The Environment
To change behavior, you have to change the situation (or the environment). I address this with clients all the time. One of the first things we talk about are the choices they have available at home. Are they setting themselves up for success or failure? Having tons of unhealthy choices in the house is difficult, no matter how strong you think your self-control is, exerting self-control is exhausting in and of itself. If we are honest, we will admit that it is impossible to demonstrate self-control consistently for very long.
Solution #1-Simplifiy the Environment- To simplify the environment, you rid it of the culprits.
This is a great time of year to embark on this journey! If you are like me, lots of unexpected (and maybe unwanted?) treats and other groceries have found their way into the fridge and cupboards. So, once the holiday has past and treats have been enjoyed sufficiently, my mood and body start showing the evidence of too many indulgences, so I purge.
This is one of my favorite ways to start a health journey with a client or to help someone (or myself) get ‘back on track’! It is at the top of my list because there is built in success! My clients (and I) can then take advantage of the immediate success and gratification. This initial ‘win’ can help motivate us to stick with it and propels us forward on our journey to better health.
I am ringing in the New Year by removing some unwanted Holiday ‘guests’!
As you can see, lots of things crept into MY fridge this holiday season! Filling our fridge and cupboards with choices that are healthier will cut down on the choices we have to ‘supervise’. This supervision forces us to use self-control, which is exhausting and is often a resource that is in short supply. So, let’s get busy and make things easier by allowing our ‘unsupervised’ choices to come from healthier sources.
Three quick tips for purging:
- Start with anything that is expired-it feels good to just clean out the fridge and cupboards, so you can actually see the good choices that will be left behind.
- Give away, freeze, or pitch anything that does not support your health goals. No one wants to be wasteful, so give away what you can, plan to use some to make meals for a neighbor or friend who isn’t on the same health journey, or freeze them (if feasible) for use in the future when this choice is less of a problem for you. Otherwise, pitch these items. You aren’t really wasting, you are getting rid of things that will cost you in the future! (mainly, they will cost you your best, healthiest self!)
The best choices for supporting your health should be the most visible!
- Organize the space so that you can plainly see the best choices for supporting your healthy choices, with less healthy choices (that you can’t or don’t part with) less visible.
From Switch: ‘For an individual’s behavior to change, you have to influence not only their environment but their hearts and minds’.
Next, we will talk about the heart and mind changes we can make to influence our “Better Choices for Healthier Lifestyles”!
Until next time, be well! Your Bff
Recent Comments