Get healthy? Get specific.
Posted on
How are those New Year’s Resolutions going, ladies?
With any luck, you’re powering ahead, kicking goals and punching out PBs… but what if you’re not? Or perhaps you are, but is it at a rate and intensity that you can sustain over the next 12 months? Or the rest of your life for that matter?
That little burst of inspiration we get in the new year is fabulous – it can be the perfect platform from which to launch, with great intentions and a fresh kick of motivation. Unfortunately, intentions alone aren’t enough to fuel a whole year – and motivation is often fleeting.
I hate to burst the new year bubble, but let me tell you what will make you the best, fittest version of yourself, bursting at the seams with health and happiness: good habits, consistency and clarity. It might sound boring on the surface – but lets look at how we can put these principles into practice and upgrade some of the most common New Year’s Resolutions:
Take this: Lose 10 kilos
Try this: Run 10kms
It’s very easy to get caught up in aesthetics. Whether it comes from somewhere external like social media, TV or magazines, or an internal image of what we ‘could’ look like in our heads, the idea of a thinner or more ‘toned’ version of ourselves is mighty seductive.
However, for the majority of people, I don’t believe it’s enough to sustain us in being consistently healthy and fit.
When your alarm goes off at 5am in the morning, or you’re standing at the door deciding whether to eat the chicken and veggies you prepared or go grab a pizza, the appeal of a more aesthetically pleasing body often isn’t enough to persuade you to make the healthy choice. It’s superficial and it’s easy to put it off or “start again next week”.
However, when you pick a goal like running a certain distance, squatting a certain amount of kilos, doing a certain number of push ups or whatever it is that appeals to you, it’s a lot more meaningful.
I’ve found that the difference between these two kinds of goals is how we perceive our progress. If you’re aiming to ‘look hot’, it’s generally going to take a few weeks at least for other people to start noticing. It’s even harder to notice it in yourself – after all, you see your own body every day!
On the other hand, almost every time you work out you’re making progress, especially if you’re focusing on a certain goal.
For example, I’ve found in running that the difference I can make in two weeks is significant and easily measurable. I can feel it in my pace, the way it’s easier to breathe and time it takes me to recover. It’s the same with weight lifting or body weight exercises, if you’re doing it regularly, you’ll be able to lift more or do more reps. It’s addictive.
Making progress is satisfying. Scoring a PB is satisfying. Kicking a goal is satisfying. Stepping on the scales and feeling disappointed because you either haven’t lost as much as you thought, or you’ve gained muscle and put on a few kilos, is not satisfying. In fact, it can often be enough to put you off completely.
Step away from the scales and work towards something that’s going to bring you real happiness.
Take this: Lose a dress size
Try this: Lose the body shame
I’ve exercised because I’ve hated my reflection in the mirror, I’ve exercised because someone told me I was fat and I’ve exercised because someone who I thought loved me cheated on me with someone who was skinnier.
None of those were good reasons to exercise, and none of them brought me success. You know what they brought me? Binge eating until I was sick because I felt emotionally horrible and was searching for comfort. Sitting on the couch beating myself up about not going to the gym. Generally feeling like crap for the majority of the time.
Sound familiar?
When you exercise because you hate your body it never works because you are basing your actions and behaviour on the belief that you’re not good enough. You are already coming from a place of self-doubt.
When you can exercise from a place of self-respect and love, it’s 100 times easier. I’m the fittest I’ve ever been and it’s because I exercise to honour my body, because even on days when I feel down and my head isn’t in a good space, I know I deserve to be happy and healthy and I treat myself with respect.
I choose to focus on the fact that my legs can carry me 42kms, rather that the fact that they have cellulite on the back of them. Instead of focusing on the muffin top that’s happening over my tights, I choose to focus on what I achieved in my workout that day.
It’s great to want to be healthy, but just make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. It’s a cliché, but exercise and eat healthy because you love your body, not because you hate it. I promise you it will pay you back ten fold.
Take this: Get healthy
Try this: Get specific
I was looking over my journals when I moved house and I saw I’d written ‘get healthy’ as a New Year’s Resolution for 2014. What does ‘get healthy’ even mean? Does it mean maintain a healthy diet and exercise program? Emotional stability? A healthy social life?
Even if it’s the former, that doesn’t take into account your individual preferences or circumstances.
Does it mean eating healthily? Think about what that means to you and how you’re going to do it. Maybe that means seeing someone like Kate Freeman to discuss the kinds of foods you should be eating or to go along to a cooking workshop. Perhaps it means only eating takeout once per week or learning every recipe in a healthy cookbook.
Does it mean having more energy? Maybe you might want to try to get at least seven hours sleep a night and taking steps to ensure this like no technology after 8pm. Perhaps it means timing your meals so that you’re eating throughout the day instead of bingeing when you get home from work.
Does it mean getting fit? Getting fit for what? So that you can run a marathon, perform a certain exercise or just run after the kid without losing your breath? As I stated earlier you could pick a specific number of kilometres to run, kilos to lift or reps to finish. You could even just commit to seeing a coach or personal trainer and getting a program to try for a certain number or weeks or months.
There are a number of studies that show general goals like ‘getting healthy’ are not enough to sustain healthy activities like consistently eating healthy or exercises. Get specific on your goals, write them down and you’ll be well on your way to a healthy and happy 2016.
I can’t wait to hear what you achieve.
Image of ‘two women stretching…‘ via Shutterstock
Leave a Reply