While on a hike this week with my friend Claudia, we started talking about how difficult it is to maintain our commitment to health. Even though we recognize the benefits of eating a healthy diet and staying away from junk food as much as possible, we all struggle with staying the course at some point or another. This same subject matter was brought up by several group members in my Tuesday night course, Get Off the Couch and Hop on Board. In their book, "Changing for Good," authors, Prochaska, Norcross and DiClimente cite that maintenance of a new behavior (making strides to incorporate the behavior into your lifestyle) takes sustained, long-term effort and a revised lifestyle. Sometimes it's easy to slip back into old patterns of behavior, particularly when under emotional stress--and changing a habit definitely creates added stress and can exacerbate other stressors in your life as well.
Maintenance is the hard work--committing to changing a behavior or habit each and every day is a difficult process. Prochaska and his colleagues cite several strategies for success. To overcome a habit, one must replace the problem behavior with a new, healthier lifestyle. This begins with a process called "countering." Countering means providing healthy substitutes for the old behaviors you are trying to rid yourself of. To do this effectively, you want to come up with a list of countering activities ahead of time so you can put them into play when the time arises rather than being caught off guard without a plan. A few examples of countering are:
Active diversion. Also know as the old "stay busy" suggestion. When you are feeling tempted to hop in the car and head to the nearest fast food diner, call a friend, read a book, take a walk, play with the dog; find a diversion that you can implement easily and readily.
Exercise. Physical activity is a great substitute for a food craving. Instead of heading to the kitchen during the commercial break for a high calorie/high fat snack, get on the floor and do some stomach crunches or walk around the dining room table until the program resumes. Prochaska notes that inactive people are not only in poor condition for dealing with physical problems, but they are often in poor psychological condition for coping with the stress that can accompany changing a behavior. So when those fastfood commercials begin to make you consider jumping in the car and motoring to the drive-up window for a bag of fries and a shake--instead, jump up and motor and shake your body around the yard for a few minutes--your brain and your heart will appreciate it more!
Relaxation. The benefits of relaxation and meditation are impressive: increased energy, decreased blood pressure and muscle tension, decreased anxiety, improved health, sleep, concentration and mood. You don't need to go to a yoga studio to reap the benefits. All you need is a quiet environment, a comfortable position and a willingness to let go of the stressor. For example, when you feel the urge to plunge your head into the fridge and eat whatever you can grab in response to a stressful day at the office or a hectic day with the kids, instead, go to a quiet corner of your room or yard and sit back, breathe easy and let your mind and muscles just drift for a while. Focus on your breathing--slow it down. Concentrate on the inhale...feel your lungs expand fully...then exhale and let the stress leave your body in quiet tandem with your breath. If stressful thoughts enter in, acknowledge the thoughts, then gently brush them aside. Refocus on your breathing and body. It takes some practice, but you will find your ability to cope with the daily stressors of life is improved. A bad day at the office will no longer mean a bad evening with regard to food choices.
These are just a few suggestions to try out when you are feeling tempted to dive into a bag of fast food or stop at the convenience store for a pack of cigarettes. These suggestions involve raising your awareness to the triggers that in the past led you to overeat or choose unhealthy items. Raising your awareness puts you back in the captain's chair with regard to what you do with your craving or temptation. Who is in charge of maintaining your course--you or the autopilot of cravings? Just think how amazing and proud of yourself you will feel when you get on the other side of those cravings! Your quality of life, personal satisfaction and improved health will be there waiting for you when you free yourself from the emotional rollercoaster of cravings!
Thought for the Day: Make a list this week of some of the "countering" concepts you can put into play when you feel tempted to get off course with regard to changing your behavior. Let me know which ones work for you!
If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. --Thomas Edison
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