Each day when you wake and go about your day, you are building habits. Whether you are aware of it or not, you are the summation of your habits.
As health and wellness coaches, we help clients understand, change, and reinforce habits daily. If you want to lose weight next year, build muscle, get stronger, feel better, increase longevity, or be happy, then your daily habits will help you achieve those goals. After all, your current paradigm in life is primarily the summation of your habits to date. There is randomness, chance, or luck, but you can’t control those factors. The secret to successfully achieving your desired goals is to find balance in life, and to set healthy habits.
At fasteatlive.com we say “This month’s choices are next month’s body!” There is no truer statement than that.
Results are a lagging measure of an action. If you were to consume more calories than you required for energy for the month, then you would store that extra energy as body fat. If you continued that behavior, it would lead to gaining weight. Now, the types of food you ate would play a large role in the signaling of your body to do certain actions.
Food is information. Each food you eat, results in messaging to your body of what to do next. Eat simple carbs, and it floods your bloodstream with glucose, which signals your body to produce Insulin to balance it. Eat animal protein, and your body uses it to rebuild tissues in your body. Drink caffeine, and it stimulates activity in your brain and nervous system. Actions have consequences. That’s why we coach that not all calories are created equal. But, the summation of daily, weekly, and monthly calories will add up.
The problem with most habits is that the feedback loop is too long. Coming home from work and having a glass of wine, can relax you or comfort you. If you create this habit it will solidify and become the norm. Drinking alcohol has an immediate effect that can be good, or solve your current problem, but the long term affects can lead to disastrous consequences.
Going to the gym or working out routinely, is another great example of a habit. At first is takes work and can make you feel uncomfortable. However, the long term effects of this habit are beneficial.
To quote James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, “The cost of good habits is in the present, and the cost of bad habits is in the future.” This means, that it is worth the hard work and cost now, for the delayed gratification and results later. Pleasing yourself now with your unhealthy vise could be painful later.
If you have goals for this coming year here are some of our favorite mechanisms for success:
Develop partnerships with friends, family, or significant others who share your same goals. Keep each other accountable, and cheerlead each other. Support each other when willpower fades, or adversity presents itself. Hire a coach. The simple act of paying someone that has knowledge and wisdom to help you achieve your goal is powerful. They hold you accountable, and the cost makes you show up and do the work that you’d otherwise potentially shirk. Create a storyboard with positive handwritten notes and images of you achieving your desired goal or outcome. Having this visual reminder each day is a powerful tool. Create positive daily reward systems when you do the hard work. Healthy dopamine fixes work just like unhealthy ones do.
We wish you success in this coming year at whatever healthy habits you’re trying to create or unhealthy habits you’re trying to change. If you need any coaching or cheerleading we would be happy to help. Leave us a message at fasteatlive.com, or contact us on social media.
