How to make healthy choices that stick:
Many of us find it difficult to stick with healthy changes in the long term. We diet and then gain all the weight back. We start going to the gym daily in January and by April we might go once a week. So how can we make healthy changes that last? Here are some tips I use in my practice when I make diet and exercise plans with folks:
1) The most important guideline I use when working with people in my practice is this: don't do anything in the short term that you won't be willing to do in the long term. Except in cases of dire and temporary medical distress, changes to diet and exercise should be made with the long term in mind.
2) When you think about an exercise plan, don't start going to the gym at all if you don't like going. There are endless ways to get exercise, so find one that you actually enjoy and do that.
3) Don't go on a "diet". Ever. Dieting is always going to be a temporary state that will not help you in the long run. Here's why: Most toxins are fat soluble, which means they are stored inside your body fat. The faster you lose weight, the harder your liver has to work to get rid of all the toxins coming out of your fat cells. Losing weight quickly is hard on the liver. There has never yet been discovered a diet that will help you "keep the weight off". In fact, the more you diet, the more weight you will likely gain back after each time. This phenomenon, known as weight cycling, is extremely harmful to your health. Many studies show that weight cycling is more harmful to the body than being obese. Most people who diet are not truly obese. They are average people who want to conform to a specific body image. This image can be set by them and/or given to them by cultural standards. Ask yourself what motivates you to change your eating habits. If you are truly interested in doing it for health, then proceed. If you are doing it just to lose weight fast, examine that motivation and ask yourself if that course of action is in your best interest in the long run. It may be more beneficial for you to learn to love the size and shape your body wants to be.
4) Adopt healthy eating changes for the long haul. If you know that you can't live a life without Doritos, then don't make an eating plan that requires that of you. Healthy eating has to be sustainable and any dietary plan that makes you feel deprived is one that will not last. You can eat Doritos once in a while and still be quite healthy.
5) Adopt changes slowly! Start with easily attainable goals. For example, eat 1 meal a week of food you cook from scratch. When that becomes habit, move to 2 meals a week. Making changes slowly results in lasting healthy habits.
6) Be patient. We live in a culture that demands instant gratification. We want to lose 10 pounds in 1 week. The problem with instant gratification is that getting it does not result in long-term healthy changes. Almost anyone can lose 10 pounds in 1 week. The trick is to think about what that course of action will do for you in a month...or six months.
7) Choose an eating plan that is specific to your body type (I will write more about this later in the week). Your body has certain needs and will adapt to meet them. Staying on a long-term diet that deprives your body of essential needs, like fat, will cause your body to adjust to meet its needs. If you eat a low fat or non fat diet for long enough, your body will start to burn fat more slowly in order to make sure it gets enough. Fat is your body's best fuel, and also composes most of your brain. The body needs it and won't let you deprive it.
8) Change your definition of exercise. Any time you are moving your body, you are exercising. Gardening is exercise. So is walking the dog. You do not have to be dripping sweat and gasping for air to get the health benefits of exercise. In fact, it is better for your heart if you exercise just to the point where you can no longer breathe through your nose. By exercising in this way, you improve little by little each day, without making yourself miserable. Olympic athletes winning gold medals have trained this way, so don't knock it 'til you've tried it.
9) Meditate. Meditation cultivates calm, joy, and patience. You will need these three things to persevere in your healthy changes. Meditation helps us deal with stress in healthy ways, rather than by engaging in self-defeating behaviors. Many people think that meditation is keeping the mind blank. That is not meditation. Meditation is awareness without judgement. In meditation practice, you learn to keep your mind on what you are doing and experiencing here and now. You notice what you are feeling and thinking without passing judgement on yourself. The challenge of meditation is training the mind to focus. We live in a culture that cultivates multitasking and constant diversion. We don't even wait for the subway without reading, listening to music, or playing on our iPhones. Meditation is putting your phone down and taking a look around you. Meditation is walking the dog and not checking text messages. Meditation is listening to your friend talking to you without making a grocery list in your head. Meditation does not require you to set aside an hour of your day. You can begin meditation practice with a 1- minute exercise and move on from there. Any meditation is better than none.
The basic points are: start small, be patient, and don't begin anything you know you can't do in the long term. By following these guidelines, you can make lasting healthy changes instead having of short-term health bursts.
Thanks for reading!
Many of us find it difficult to stick with healthy changes in the long term. We diet and then gain all the weight back. We start going to the gym daily in January and by April we might go once a week. So how can we make healthy changes that last? Here are some tips I use in my practice when I make diet and exercise plans with folks:
1) The most important guideline I use when working with people in my practice is this: don't do anything in the short term that you won't be willing to do in the long term. Except in cases of dire and temporary medical distress, changes to diet and exercise should be made with the long term in mind.
2) When you think about an exercise plan, don't start going to the gym at all if you don't like going. There are endless ways to get exercise, so find one that you actually enjoy and do that.
3) Don't go on a "diet". Ever. Dieting is always going to be a temporary state that will not help you in the long run. Here's why: Most toxins are fat soluble, which means they are stored inside your body fat. The faster you lose weight, the harder your liver has to work to get rid of all the toxins coming out of your fat cells. Losing weight quickly is hard on the liver. There has never yet been discovered a diet that will help you "keep the weight off". In fact, the more you diet, the more weight you will likely gain back after each time. This phenomenon, known as weight cycling, is extremely harmful to your health. Many studies show that weight cycling is more harmful to the body than being obese. Most people who diet are not truly obese. They are average people who want to conform to a specific body image. This image can be set by them and/or given to them by cultural standards. Ask yourself what motivates you to change your eating habits. If you are truly interested in doing it for health, then proceed. If you are doing it just to lose weight fast, examine that motivation and ask yourself if that course of action is in your best interest in the long run. It may be more beneficial for you to learn to love the size and shape your body wants to be.
4) Adopt healthy eating changes for the long haul. If you know that you can't live a life without Doritos, then don't make an eating plan that requires that of you. Healthy eating has to be sustainable and any dietary plan that makes you feel deprived is one that will not last. You can eat Doritos once in a while and still be quite healthy.
5) Adopt changes slowly! Start with easily attainable goals. For example, eat 1 meal a week of food you cook from scratch. When that becomes habit, move to 2 meals a week. Making changes slowly results in lasting healthy habits.
6) Be patient. We live in a culture that demands instant gratification. We want to lose 10 pounds in 1 week. The problem with instant gratification is that getting it does not result in long-term healthy changes. Almost anyone can lose 10 pounds in 1 week. The trick is to think about what that course of action will do for you in a month...or six months.
7) Choose an eating plan that is specific to your body type (I will write more about this later in the week). Your body has certain needs and will adapt to meet them. Staying on a long-term diet that deprives your body of essential needs, like fat, will cause your body to adjust to meet its needs. If you eat a low fat or non fat diet for long enough, your body will start to burn fat more slowly in order to make sure it gets enough. Fat is your body's best fuel, and also composes most of your brain. The body needs it and won't let you deprive it.
8) Change your definition of exercise. Any time you are moving your body, you are exercising. Gardening is exercise. So is walking the dog. You do not have to be dripping sweat and gasping for air to get the health benefits of exercise. In fact, it is better for your heart if you exercise just to the point where you can no longer breathe through your nose. By exercising in this way, you improve little by little each day, without making yourself miserable. Olympic athletes winning gold medals have trained this way, so don't knock it 'til you've tried it.
9) Meditate. Meditation cultivates calm, joy, and patience. You will need these three things to persevere in your healthy changes. Meditation helps us deal with stress in healthy ways, rather than by engaging in self-defeating behaviors. Many people think that meditation is keeping the mind blank. That is not meditation. Meditation is awareness without judgement. In meditation practice, you learn to keep your mind on what you are doing and experiencing here and now. You notice what you are feeling and thinking without passing judgement on yourself. The challenge of meditation is training the mind to focus. We live in a culture that cultivates multitasking and constant diversion. We don't even wait for the subway without reading, listening to music, or playing on our iPhones. Meditation is putting your phone down and taking a look around you. Meditation is walking the dog and not checking text messages. Meditation is listening to your friend talking to you without making a grocery list in your head. Meditation does not require you to set aside an hour of your day. You can begin meditation practice with a 1- minute exercise and move on from there. Any meditation is better than none.
The basic points are: start small, be patient, and don't begin anything you know you can't do in the long term. By following these guidelines, you can make lasting healthy changes instead having of short-term health bursts.
Thanks for reading!