Winning At Wellness: A Beginner’s Guide to Making Lasting Change
At the very start of your wellness journey, whatever you think or hope it may look like, there is a moment where you decide “I am going to get fit”, “I am going to get healthy”, or, “I am going to run a marathon”. You have the idea, you have the motivation, and you have the desire. So why is it so damn hard, and why do so many of us fail?
The answer is pretty simple: too hard, too fast, too much, too soon!
Why do we so often fail on the road to wellness?
The “moment” is generally followed by a change in behaviour, e.g. starting a running regime, a workout program, or perhaps a new diet, or sometimes (author guilty as charged) - all three at once!
We decide to knock out the big three - coffee, alcohol, and sugar and we hit the organic veggie shop to stock up on fresh whole foods (because somewhere in that moment, we magically transformed into a Master Chef!). We invest in a new kit, set our alarm for stupid o’clock and hit the pavement for our first 5km (despite not running more than 100m since high school).
Now, if you manage to survive the first week without injury, you may be able to maintain this routine for a bit. You may even start feeling high on the endorphins, and feel like you are winning. Unfortunately, inevitably, something happens to knock you off your scooter, you will get sick or injured, have an unexpected work trip or holiday or perhaps just miss a day and then another, then another.
Because you have changed everything at once and gone instantly from zero to one hundred, nothing has become a habit, nothing has stuck. You find yourself in a rut, faced with starting all over again. Many of us do start again, and again, and again (you guys all get an A+ for effort and persistence btw!).
The piece missing from your wellness puzzle is patience. Unfortunately, nothing great happens overnight (well…almost nothing!). Wellness, whatever that looks like for you, is a journey, not a destination and must be lived one baby step at a time. Creating and cementing habits that you can maintain for the duration of the journey is what will keep you fit, well and thriving.
So what is the solution?
Small changes, one at a time. Lock it in and then move on to the next. In his New York Times best-seller Atomic Habits, author James Clear highlights the benefits of incremental improvements. 1% better today than yesterday has a compounding effect by the end of the week, month and year.
1% improvement each day over 365 days equates to almost 40 x better than where you started.
As opposed to the rollercoaster method mentioned above, which could see you anywhere between zero and a hundred on any given day plus, you will almost certainly still be fighting to make habits stick.
In her funny and heartwarming podcast with The Imperfects, Chrissie Swan talks openly and enthusiastically about when she began walking daily, a habit that has become central to her health and wellness. Chrissie started slowly, less than three hundred metres. She didn't set lofty goals for time or distance, instead, Chrissie simply committed to walking. Whatever she had, whatever she needed, every day.
Now, three years on, walking is a habit so ingrained that she can’t live without it, and her physical health and mental wellness thank her for it every day.
Walk before you run
A goal without a plan is just a dream.
Setting a goal is a great way to up your motivation and keep you on task. Honestly, there is no such thing as a goal too grand but without a clear map of each step required to get there the journey can become overwhelming and maybe even impossible.
Break your goal down into its smallest possible steps, commit to it, and achieve each step before taking on the next.
If your goal is to run a marathon, you might break it down like this:
I will put my runners on and walk 3 x per week.
I will walk for 30 mins 3 x per week.
I will run/walk/run for 30 mins 3 x per week.
I will run 1 km.
I will run 5 km.
I will run 10km.
I will run a half marathon.
I will run a marathon!
Or perhaps you want to cut out coffee. Dropping from four cups a day to zero is going to be rough, to say the least (not to mention the fact that you are probably going to be a nightmare to be around!).
Instead, drop one coffee for a week, then two the next and so on. Swap out your coffee for water or herbal tea. Making the goal achievable and easy is key to your success.
It is so tempting to skip ahead and take it all on at once but this just makes the failures seem greater and the end goal feels less attainable. And in the case of exercise, this is also how injuries happen, when you push your body to do something it's not ready for.
We need to bust the bigger, better, stronger myth and work smarter, not harder. Celebrate little wins along the way and pat yourself on the back every time you make a positive choice to support your wellness.
Lock in a Plan
Using a schedule and habit tracker will give your wellness plan structure and help keep you on task. Meal planning and bulk prep are all over social media for a reason - because they work!
But @superawesomegirl_ridiculousmealplan won’t work for you because you are not her. Grab inspiration wherever you can to make an achievable plan for you and your lifestyle.
If Friday night knockoff drinks and nachos are your thing, rather than cut it out and then beat yourself up at 9 pm after caving, add it to your plan and balance it with meals and hydration before and after that support your wellness journey.
Schedule workouts and recovery sessions into your calendar. When you have a loose plan like 3 times per week, it's too easy to push it to tomorrow and then the next day, and the next day. All of a sudden the week has gone by and you haven’t managed one session, let alone three!
Schedule a specific session, to a specific time, on a specific day, then tick it off on your habit tracker. Crossing tasks off and seeing cumulative results on your tracker can be highly motivating.
Mindful Choices and Easy Swaps
It is too easy to run on autopilot, especially in the midst of a challenging week at work, home, or school. Try to catch yourself in those moments, and ask yourself: “Do I really want to eat this, watch this, do this, or is it just the easy option?”
Making a habit of asking yourself this question all the time means that the only thing on autopilot is NOT being on autopilot. Being present in the moment and giving your full attention to the task at hand makes making better choices easier and slowly brings you closer to the lifestyle you are trying to create. It's easy to swap out not-so-great choices for similar but better-for-you options.
Drive to work —> Walk to work
Margaritas and Nachos —> Soda water and a burrito bowl
Coffee —> Herbal Tea or hot water
Takeaway —> Cook at home
Binge Netflix —> Read a book
Treat Yo’ Self
Life is here to be lived and enjoyed! Your wellness journey should be fun and make you feel better, not worse. Build in little treats along the way. Supportive things like massage, aromatherapy oils or a new candle are great rewards. And a little naughty treat every now and then never killed anyone. So have that ice cream or piece of chocolate and enjoy it and appreciate it.
If your treats are part of the plan, you won’t see them as moments of weakness or failure, instead, they become moments of celebration you can look forward to!
Why not add FitHer Expo to your wellness plan? A trip to the expo with your fit gals would make a fabulous reward on your wellness journey.