When most people think about losing weight or getting in shape, they think about exercise. They sign up for a gym, hire a personal trainer, or grab a book or a magazine to find a workout plan. But while exercise is a crucial part of losing weight and getting healthy, I’d argue that it’s not the most important piece.
Research shows that with exercise alone you can expect to lose only about one pound per month. That’s not something to get too thrilled about, especially for the amount of work you should expect to put in during a month of training. So if exercise alone gets dismal results, what does work?
Nutrition. And not just what you eat, but also HOW you eat. Eating habits can be just as powerful as food choices in helping you to lose weight, so make sure you look also at your whole eating routine (e.g. speed of eating, activities during meals, time of day, number of meals, etc.) By focusing on nutrition and eating habits, you can expect to lose up to five times more fat in the same one month period as before.
Step 2: Find you key motivator.
We’ve all heard that to make a big change, motivation must come from inside. And it’s true. We all need a “reason why” — a real purpose and a sense of why losing fat and getting in shape is important to us. But sometimes you need extra motivation to actually start making change. You need a big motivator that pushes you into action.
So while looking good in your bathing suit may be motivation enough, it never hurts to add motivation to help ensure your success. You can make a bet with a friend—money is always a good motivator. You can actually GIVE money to someone to hold that you can only get back when you reach your goal. You can do the “5 why’s exercise” where you keep questioning your goals until you get to your most true and meaningful reasons behind them.
Whatever it is, find the motivation you need to not just start your program, but to see it through until the end.
Step 3: Do one small thing each day.
Dan John, a well known strength and conditioning coach, once put it this way: “If something is important, do it every day; if it’s not important, don’t do it at all.” That’s especially true in body transformation.
When trying to create new habits, there is nothing more important than repetition. We must do something daily, if not multiple times per day to ensure that it does in fact become a habit. The key here though is doing only ONE new thing at a time, but doing it daily. Any less, and you lose momentum; any more, you get overwhelmed.
Most people find this out the hard way. They make a heroic effort to change every part of their life, from the time they wake up in the morning to the kinds of foods they eat to adopting a new workout program and dozens of other changes. This all-or-nothing attitude may work for a week or two, but pretty soon they’ll crash and burn and be right back where they started. That’s why it’s important to practice one small thing at a time instead of trying to make a mad-dash for the finish line.
So instead of taking on the world, find one thing that you are confident that you can do every day, and start doing it. This can be as small as drinking an extra glass of water each day. The only two requirements are that it will help you reach your goal and that you are confident that you can do it every day. Once you have met these two requirements, work on this goal until it becomes habitual and only then look to add on anther habit.
Step 4: Find a support group.
You’ve probably heard this saying before: “You’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” And that’s exactly right. People who have a strong network of friends, co-workers, family members, or even complete strangers online that are supporting them in their goals often have more dramatic results than someone who goes at it alone.
With a good support network you can connect with people when you’re excited, confused, or wondering what to do next. You’ll have people around you who can offer feedback, guidance, support, and accountability.
This last point may be the most important. We are terrible at being accountable to ourselves, but we are exactly the opposite when it comes to others. It is very hard for us to let others down, and when they are counting on you to lose weight, get to the gym, change your diets, or anything else, you will be much more likely to follow through.
So find a group or a gym that you feel supports your goals, is there for you when you struggle, and is ready to hold you accountable in reaching your goals, and you will be much more likely to find success.
Step 5: Actions speak louder than outcomes.
We can’t control outcomes, but we can control our actions that may lead to those outcomes. In other words, you can’t lose 20 pound just by focusing on losing 20 lbs. There is no “lose weight” action. What you can focus on, however, are all the actions that can help you reach your goal.
This is important for two reasons. First, a focus on outcomes is more likely to lead to frustration and failure than it is to lead to long lasting results. That can then lead to two negative outcomes: you either quit or your do whatever it takes to reach your goal, regardless of sustainability. You focus on something that is out of your control and you miss an opportunity to learn from your journey.
Second, a focus on actions will lead to manageable successes, increased motivation and self-esteem, and will actually help you learn how to maintain your results once you get there! The goal is to focus on what is in your immediate control and the rest will follow. These actions, when practiced daily, will compound in there effect over time and lead to amazing results.
What to do Next
So what do you do with all of this? Here’s what: the key is to make one simple change right now. Don’t try tackling all 5 steps at once (remember step 3!) Instead, take an inventory of which of the 5 you are doing already. Have you found a support network? Do you have a solid nutrition AND exercise program? Do you have a big motivator? Are you good about just taking things one step at a time?
Ask yourself these questions, pick one
thing you need to work on, and start there. It doesn’t matter if you go through
the steps in order. And if you have something that is limiting you even more
than these things, start there! It’s not about right or wrong. It’s about
taking action. Because, while all of these are important, getting started is
the most important step of all.
No comments:
Post a Comment