Director Connolly's Message
REV UP YOUR MOTIVATION!
“Do you know what you should do to lose weight?”
When I asked participants in a weight loss group this question, a stunning 98% said, “Yes.” They said they knew what they should do to lose weight, but confessed that they just didn’t do it.
Colleen was typical. She was a nurse, she knew exactly what she should and shouldn’t be eating and how she should be exercising. She would start a program, stick to it for a while, then – for various reasons – slide back into her old eating and (non) exercise habits. This had happened so many times that she believed -- with quite a bit of supporting evidence! -- that she’d never succeed in sticking to a diet and exercise plan.
Statistics support her belief. One-third of all Americans who do manage to diet and exercise gain back all the weight they lost and sometimes more. Information on diet and exercise is more plentiful, and people are more educated about health and fitness than ever before, yet obesity is at an all time high with over half of our adult population overweight.
Usually, it’s not the diet or exercise program that’s flawed — the mistake may be starting that program without a high degree of motivation and detemination. In Colleen’s case, programs failed because they had her begin structured diets absent the motivation she needed to sustain her healthy behaviors. For others, the problem may be lack of determination, confidence, or time management.
For most people -- including Oprah, as she admits in her book, “the hardest part is finding the will-power and determination.” Celebrities have coaches to help them change their behavior; the rest of us have to rely on books. What you need, rather than another “revolutionary” diet or exercise book, are ways to rev up your motivation and drive!This colum will provide you will ways to REV UP YOUR MOTIVATION!!
“REV UP” Tips:
Having difficulty sticking to your nutrition plan?
Try this strategy:
Stop, Think, Listen:
STOP
Imagine yourself in your kitchen, craving potato chips – or whatever your diet downfall is. Instead of impulsively grabbing the bag and starting to eat: STOP! Take a cleansing breath: a DEEP, SLOW, CALMING breath.
Technique: Close your eyes, inhale deeply for a count of 4, hold briefly, exhale slowly for a count of 8, and ………WAIT a second or two!
Why does this work? Because delay leads to discipline: once you check yourself, in this way, you can talk yourself out of eating those chips. Or, you can use verbal or visual cues: say “Stop it!” out loud, put a STOP SIGN in your snack closet or pantry….anything you can do to slow yourself down, so you make a conscious decision rather than acting on impulse – acting without thinking.
THINK
The goal is to get yourself to THINK before you act, to think instead of acting impulsively. Everyone is different when it comes to which thoughts will be most helpful. I think of how I am going to feel AFTER I’ve eaten the bag of chips. You may find it more useful to think of yourself in that black dress that used to look so great on you and seeing someone’s face light up at the sight of you in that dress!
Other people find it helps to think of making the best food or exercise choice as a reward instead of thinking of it as a deprivation: instead of thinking about giving up the bag of chips, think of the reward of achieving your goals.
LISTEN
If this still sounds good on paper, but hard to do in reality, don’t worry. You can teach yourself to remember to actually do it by listening to your thoughts and then reprogramming yourself to think differently. Start by paying attention to the thoughts that are going through your mind, almost by themselves, when you spot that bag of chips.
Mind-control warm-up: track your thoughts
Record all your thoughts, as you have them, when you are about to make poor food choices or deciding not to exercise. Write down these thoughts for one week, being as honest as you can be about what were you thinking to yourself in those moments.
Here are some of the thoughts participants from my workshops reported having when they were about to snack:
“Oh, what the heck!”
“I’ve had a tough day.”
“There’s nothing else to eat.”
“I’m too busy to worry about it.”
“I’m a loser. Even if I do lose weight, I’ll still be a loser. So I might as well eat the ________.”
“YUM!”
“I’ve had 3 kids, if I want to eat _________, so what? I look OK for my age.”
“I’ll start my diet on Monday.”
“I’ll have just one,” many people say – and most report that this thought is usually followed by something like, “I already blew it so I might as well eat the whole bag!”
Most of these thoughts are excuses – ways to justify poor decisions or thoughts that lead directly TO poor decisions. The key to changing your behavior can be as simple as listening to and changing your internal dialog.
Stay tined for more “REV UP” Tips!
Get a “Sweet-Heart”
Heart disease us a major health issue in the U.S. Heart disease is the number one cause of death facing male and female Americans today. Sedentary lifestyles, increased portion sizes and fats, increased incidence of obesity, along with elevated stress levels have placed many of us at risk for developing heart disease at some point in our lifetime.
Family history will increase your risk of developing heart disease as well.
Although family history is an uncontrollable risk factors there are steps you can take to help reduce controllable risk factors for developing heart disease. Here are six tips you can start with to reduce your risk of heart disease-see your doctor for detailed guidance and advice on these tips as they apply to your current state of health:
- Get Regular physical exams: Prevention is the best medicine. Have a regular yearly physical to see if you are at risk of heart disease. Have your doctor check and explain your cholesterol and blood pressure numbers. It is important you know your numbers and what they mean. Numbers to know- your total cholesterol number, your LDL (low density lipoproteins or “bad” cholesterol), and your HDL (high lipoproteins or “good” cholesterol). Simple dietary changes can improve your overall and LDL cholesterol numbers. Know your blood pressure numbers to ensure you are in normal range. A reading of 120/80 is considered normal. High blood pressure makes your heart work harder and could result in stroke, heart disease, heart failure and several other diseases.
- Choose a healthy diet, reduce your portion sizes: A low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet along with controlling your caloric intake to prevent obesity. Eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables per day to get enough fiber and antioxidants, which have been shown to be helpful in prevention of heart disease.
- Keep a healthy weight: Have your body mass index (BMI) checked with your physician. Ask your physician for advice to reduce your weight, based on your current medical condition, if your BMI if high.
- Increase physical activity: To reduce the risk of chronic disease, experts recommend 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week. There are many ways to increase your physical activity—take walks during your work breaks and lunch, participate in recreational activities you enjoy like skiing, skating, volleyball, take the stairs instead of the elevators, garden, join an exercise class.
- Limiting Alcohol and not Smoking: These are ways to keep your heart, lungs and liver healthy, Heart disease is more prevalent in smokers. Smokers are two to six more times more likely to have a heart attack than those who do not smoke. However, if you quit, your risk dramatically decreases.
- Practice Stress Reduction techniques: a high level of stress has been linked to heart disease. Meditation, deep breathing, yoga and other forms of relaxation will greatly reduce stress, improve your ability to cope with stress and reduce your risk of stress affecting your health status.
For further information go to: www.americanheartassociation.org.
Be Well!
Anne Marie Connolly
Director of Wellness,
Get Fit RI!
PAST MESSAGES
August 2005: Striving For Balance
September 2005: Make Wellness a Life-Long Lesson
January 2006: Resolution Solutions for 2006!
