Today I’m going to tell you about the one thing you need to do in order to lose weight or get in the best shape of your life.
This week marks the start of a new year for many people. The kids are back in school, vacations are winding down and it’s time to get back into a groove. Maybe you’re like many people and you partied hard this summer…so hard you had a blast, but completely forgot that little thing you used to do called exercise.
It can be difficult to start exercising again after a hiatus, but there’s one thing you absolutely need to do in order to get into an exercise routine. START.
So, fine you want to start exercising again, but shouldn’t you wait until after Labor Day, wait until the kids are back in a groove or wait until the gym in your neighborhood offers some special deal? NO! You need to just start or you’ll continue to find excuse after excuse.
That doesn’t mean you need to go from zero to sixty. You don’t need to go from lazy bones to gym rat. You just need to do something. Go for a walk. Wake up 10 minutes early to stretch. Seriously, just do something to get started. Create a new habit and put yourself first.
{I mentioned the one-habit method previously in this post about sustainability.}
This busy mom of two decided to put herself first. She didn’t commit to everything at once, but worked towards changing one thing at a time until each thing became a habit.
Change is hard. Habits are easy.
She started out in our one-on-one training program and then progressed to our MOVE group training program almost a year ago. Once her training was a habit, she also joined an 8-week nutrition challenge we hosted at Skill of Strength and came in 2nd place out of 17 people! Not only did she create more great habits, but she lost over 10 pounds and continues to get stronger all the time. These changes have helped how Pam looks and feels and it all started with a simple habit to make time for exercise a few times a week with a personal trainer. Now it’s not a choice for her to get to the gym several times each week, but just a way of life.
The first habit we worked on when I took my Precision Nutrition Level II Certification was quite simply, MAKE TIME.
Oh, and we were also told busy is not an excuse…
With this habit we were simply supposed to carve out time each day to get our lesson done and spend time communicating with other students in our online group. That’s it.
Before actually starting, I felt a little disappointed with how easy the habit seemed and even found myself doubting that this so-called habit would help me change anything significant.
Guess what?
This one habit has changed the whole way I work and even the way I approach each day. Simply setting myself up to succeed at this course started feeling like the natural thing to do, just like taking my probiotics and vitamins or making a cup of coffee in the morning!
I realized I was ignoring my own advice. Small changes done consistently can produce big results. In fact, consistency is way more important than perfection. Asking when I would complete the work instead of if I had time to fit it in, was a huge game-changer for me when “going back to school” and it can be a huge game-changer for you if your goal is to exercise more or eat healthier.
Once you create a habit of booking an appointment every day instead of using your busy life as an excuse, I almost guarantee you’ll feel empowered. In fact, you might even have time for other things you’ve been wanting to make time for too.
While I find it easy to tell clients they should stop making excuses and using “I’m busy” as a reason they can’t exercise, I am guilty of using the same busy excuse when it comes to prioritizing things like learning, staying focused on a task or even just getting sh#$ done.
Once I created the habit and stopped feeling scared about making time I stopped questioning whether I in fact had time each day to complete the coursework. In fact I knew I had time (ALMOST every day…this is real life after-all), it was just a matter of scheduling that time with myself.
You think all of our super consistent 6am members find it easy to get up every single time they are “scheduled”? Doubt it. They all have lives, jobs, and families just like you do, but you know why they are at SOS several times a week? Because they made the choice to start. They joined a group training program, not only for the expert programming and fun classes that SOS provides, but also for the accountability. They pay money each month, they hold each other accountable and as coaches, we also hold all of our clients accountable. You can’t just slip into the cracks at our gym. 🙂
Stay tuned for an upcoming post about how to find a group training program that doesn’t suck.
Think about the last thing you wanted to do, but decided (either out loud or to yourself) you didn’t have time or that you would do it later. I bet there’s a good chance you’re still telling yourself you’ll do it “later.”
Today’s homework: choose one thing you’ve been wanting to do and figure out how to start.
Choose something you know is good for your health or happiness. Increase exercise, plan your meals, do yoga, sleep more, read for fun, etc. Don’t get overwhelmed here. Pick one habit to create at a time, but be specific and start now.
Instead of wasting another minute deciding if you have time, or even worse, convincing yourself that you don’t have time, schedule an appointment for later today to take one step to get you closer to your goal. Maybe it’s walking 5 minutes today, and every day for the next two weeks, or maybe it’s planning out your breakfast every evening for the following morning.
Does your new habit sound too simple? Good. It should.
A few more examples…
- I will get up each day 10 minutes earlier and move my body in some way shape or form.
- I will make my lunch 4 out of 5 days during the week.
- I will carve out time to get to the gym three times this week and I will put these in my calendar as “meetings.”
- I will contact a personal trainer and get on his/her schedule for this coming week to develop a training plan.
Stay consistent and pretty soon your new habit will be just that, a habit. And remember, change is hard, habits are easy.
Ready…go! Create a habit and make it stick!