Best Support Tips for Getting Started

BeaHealthyGeek

Hey guys,

I'm trying to put together a guide on my site to help folks improve overall health, and after some research I'm thinking the three big steps that need to be taken are:

1) Learn how to develop will power and make exercise a habit

2) Discover how to eat to feel full

3) Finally, how to track calories and meal plan...

These are the three major things I will cover, but there is also a lot of mindset tips too...

Anyway...feedback would be greatly appreciated!

kommodevaran

Wonderful idea I personally focus less on will power and more on habits. And more on everyday movement than explicitly exercising. I had to relearn what it means to be full. Meal planning has become a fun activity paired with basic food prep and I enjoy making shopping lists.

weatheredcheese

Pick a goal and stick to it, if completed go for another goal!
If there is a reason behind the new you, then keep little reminders about the place so when you down and go to grab that bit of cake it hits you "I don't need cake, I got this"

SueInAz

Developing will power is pretty difficult. I'd focus more on making small, sustainable changes that can be built on over time. Babysteps.

BeaHealthyGeek

@Suein and @kommodevaran thank you, I'm thinking will power and habits go hand and hand don't they? You need to develop will power to be able to make exercising a habit?

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

I'd love hear what others think too?

tulips_and_tea

Personally, I think making your first step about willpower may turn some people off. Obviously, you can't appeal to everyone, but if I were you, I'd stick with the word "habit" instead. If people think they lack willpower it feels like they are failing. Habits are made, broken, and changed through practice. I'd focus on that.

Also, I believe in "want" power: if you want something badly enough you'll find a way to achieve it.

SueInAz

BZAH10 wrote: »

Personally, I think making your first step about willpower may turn some people off. Obviously, you can't appeal to everyone, but if I were you, I'd stick with the word "habit" instead. If people think they lack willpower it feels like they are failing. Habits are made, broken, and changed through practice. I'd focus on that.

Also, I believe in "want" power: if you want something badly enough you'll find a way to achieve it.

I agree with all of this. Starting out by assuming that people don't already have willpower is a bit.... demeaning. I mean, they may or may not have it but "willpower" is a really strong word with some negative connotations when it comes to weight loss. It's just semantics but I'd avoid it.

Habits are habits. I don't know that it takes willpower to maintain them. Once something becomes a habit it's something that you just do automatically without really thinking about it. One person might consider it "willpower" that I run 6 miles after work every other day but to me it's just a habit; I do it because it's my routine. I don't really think about it in terms of "Do I want to do this today?", I just do it. On the other hand, until it was a habit I allowed myself to negotiate whether or not I felt like it or if I might run a shorter distance. Does that make sense?

EmmieBaby

to learn to pick your battles and try to avoid stressing out over the little things. it more often then not blinds you from the bigger, more important, things you need to do.Hell to just stress less is a big improvement on the body...the human mind is a powerful thing...it can help and it can cause serious damage if you let it.

also that food should not be categorized as "good" and "bad" that all food can be consumed with proper planning and moderation.

tulips_and_tea

SueInAz wrote: »

BZAH10 wrote: »

Personally, I think making your first step about willpower may turn some people off. Obviously, you can't appeal to everyone, but if I were you, I'd stick with the word "habit" instead. If people think they lack willpower it feels like they are failing. Habits are made, broken, and changed through practice. I'd focus on that.

Also, I believe in "want" power: if you want something badly enough you'll find a way to achieve it.

I agree with all of this. Starting out by assuming that people don't already have willpower is a bit.... demeaning. I mean, they may or may not have it but "willpower" is a really strong word with some negative connotations when it comes to weight loss. It's just semantics but I'd avoid it.

Habits are habits. I don't know that it takes willpower to maintain them. Once something becomes a habit it's something that you just do automatically without really thinking about it. One person might consider it "willpower" that I run 6 miles after work every other day but to me it's just a habit; I do it because it's my routine. I don't really think about it in terms of "Do I want to do this today?", I just do it. On the other hand, until it was a habit I allowed myself to negotiate whether or not I felt like it or if I might run a shorter distance. Does that make sense?

Makes perfect sense to me! But, I think you and I think alike. Another example I can use to explain the importance of habit is repacking my gym bag first thing every evening when I get home. I go to the gym straight after work, so I change there. When I come home I've got mail to go through, people in the house, I'm needing to get in the shower, etc. but the first thing I do is repack my gym bag for the next day. No excuses. If I didn't do that it would be very easy to just walk out the door the next morning with no gym clothes and no stop at the gym.

Hope these tips are helping you, OP.

SueInAz

EmmieBaby wrote: »

to learn to pick your battles and try to avoid stressing out over the little things. it more often then not blinds you from the bigger, more important, things you need to do.Hell to just stress less is a big improvement on the body...the human mind is a powerful thing...it can help and it can cause serious damage if you let it.

also that food should not be categorized as "good" and "bad" that all food can be consumed with proper planning and moderation.

Good one! But there's a caveat... trigger foods should be recognized and avoided. Some people do great with "everything in moderation" and some people just can't have sweets or other "junk" foods around or they lose control. Take my mom, for example. She's a healthy weight but she realized years ago that if there are sweets in the house she will eat them and she'll eat them until they're gone; there's no moderation. Therefore, she doesn't buy them or keep them around the house. She buys Halloween candy she doesn't like and she refuses to take home leftover cake, etc. Learning to recognize this about yourself goes a long way towards reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

SueInAz

BZAH10 wrote: »

SueInAz wrote: »

BZAH10 wrote: »

Personally, I think making your first step about willpower may turn some people off. Obviously, you can't appeal to everyone, but if I were you, I'd stick with the word "habit" instead. If people think they lack willpower it feels like they are failing. Habits are made, broken, and changed through practice. I'd focus on that.

Also, I believe in "want" power: if you want something badly enough you'll find a way to achieve it.

I agree with all of this. Starting out by assuming that people don't already have willpower is a bit.... demeaning. I mean, they may or may not have it but "willpower" is a really strong word with some negative connotations when it comes to weight loss. It's just semantics but I'd avoid it.

Habits are habits. I don't know that it takes willpower to maintain them. Once something becomes a habit it's something that you just do automatically without really thinking about it. One person might consider it "willpower" that I run 6 miles after work every other day but to me it's just a habit; I do it because it's my routine. I don't really think about it in terms of "Do I want to do this today?", I just do it. On the other hand, until it was a habit I allowed myself to negotiate whether or not I felt like it or if I might run a shorter distance. Does that make sense?

Makes perfect sense to me! But, I think you and I think alike. Another example I can use to explain the importance of habit is repacking my gym bag first thing every evening when I get home. I go to the gym straight after work, so I change there. When I come home I've got mail to go through, people in the house, I'm needing to get in the shower, etc. but the first thing I do is repack my gym bag for the next day. No excuses. If I didn't do that it would be very easy to just walk out the door the next morning with no gym clothes and no stop at the gym.

Hope these tips are helping you, OP.

Yes! My cardio is running around my neighborhood so I only go to the gym twice per week on weekdays to lift weights. After the second day, I take my gym bag out of the car and take it in the house. During the weekend I do laundry and I pack two days' worth of gym clothes into the bag and put it back into the car before Sunday night. No "I left my gym clothes at home" excuses!

The "before bed routine" is a very important habit to develop. Pack the next day's healthy lunch, prep the next evening's meal, lay out the next day's clothes, put everything you need for the next day in the car or with your purse so you don't forget it. This helps to avoid eating whatever is close to hand at lunch or getting take out because you're too tired to cook after work. There's also less rush and stress in the morning as you get yourself out the door. Habits like this lay a great foundation for other healthy habits.

Probably further than you wanted to go, OP, but it's definitely a point worth bringing up.