Living the Lifestyle ~ Tuesday, February 19th, 2019

gadgetgirlIL

We meet here to explore, share, celebrate and (sometimes) agonize over how we do (or don't) incorporate weight loss guidelines into our daily lives. "It's a lifestyle, not a diet" is easily and often said, but sometimes not so simply put into practice.

This is a thread for everyone. If you're new to GoaD, or to weight loss, your questions and comments are always welcome. If you're maintaining, or a long-term loser, your thoughts on the topic may be just what someone else needs to hear. If you're reading this, join in the discussion!

Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Thread starters for February are below:

Monday - imastar2 (Derrick)
Tuesday - gadgetgirlIL (Regina)
Wednesday - minimyzeme (Kim)
Thursday - misterhub (Greg)
Friday - jerdtrmndone (Jerry)

Today's Topic: Habits

Yesterday's topic was about consistency. Related to that is how do we go about either establishing a new habit or breaking an old habit that is not serving us well.

I've read a couple books on the topic: "The Power of Habit, Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg and "One Small Step Can Change Your Life" by Robert Maurer, PhD.

My takeaway is that if you can figure out a very small change to make and then apply it consistently you can then go on to make bigger changes. But too often we get overwhelmed by trying to change too much too quickly and then never start. I'll elaborate in my post below.

Your thoughts?

gadgetgirlIL

I joined the local fitness center in 1997. I went consistently for about a year or two (my memory is hazy!). Then my father's health issues started to consume all my free time and I stopped going. I was still paying my monthly dues because I knew that if I stopped, then I would never go back to the fitness center. This was also the period of my life where I was my heaviest.

Very long story short, my father went to an in-patient physical therapy rehab in May 2001 for about a month. During this period, I had much more free time and decided that I would go back to the fitness center. My only goal initially was to get inside the place. I didn't have any goals in terms of how long I would exercise nor the type of exercises that I would do. I started out with getting there at least 3 days a week. By the time my father was able to return home, I had established my habit of attendance. Over the summer, and through more health crises, I started to do more activities at the fitness center. In the fall I joined a weight training program that was just for women. That was transformative and set the foundation for the weight training that I do now.

My father moved to an assisted living facility in December 2001 and then I really expanded the activities I was doing leading up to my first triathlon in 2003 and my first marathon in 2005. While the types of activities, duration, and intensity has changed over the years, I've been extremely consistent with my exercise ever since.

But it all started with just the commitment to walk through the doors.

steve0mania

I totally agree that small habitual steps can lead to additional steps.

In some ways, I think that these small steps are a door opening, and the additional steps are walking through the door, and eventually exploring the full space past the door.

The first small change I made when I joined WW was to start bringing my lunch in from home, instead of (over-)eating in the cafeteria. It took a bit of commitment initially and I had to fight through the usual excuses (it takes too much time to prepare lunch, we never have what I want at home, I won't get to eat with my friends in the cafeteria, I look like a nerd bringing my lunch in a bag, etc.). Nevertheless, that was an important initial step that led to many other steps, ultimately culminating in eating almost exclusively home-prepared meals. That meant that there was no more fast food either!

It was the same thing with exercise. I started simply committing to getting on the Wii every morning, and that led to a variety of consistent activities. I was seriously into running for a long time (and am getting back into it), and I was weightlifting for a while. I read lots of books, learned a lot about each, and really enjoyed engaging both my body and mind in this.

Now I can't even imagine going back to my old ways! I'm not perfect by any stretch, but I am committed!

imastar2

@gadgetgirlil says But it all started with just the commitment to walk through the doors.

The above statement is so powerful. It's that first initial action or step that is so important. Getting away from good habits is a certain downfall for many but taking that first babydoll I'd the most important. I know in my last few years I've been neglecting taking that first step to get back to walking. I certainly have good intentions but we all know about good intentions. Without that initial action nothing takes place.

I'm going to cut it off right here and take that first step of walking through the door. I have facilities available to me at no cost I just got to walk through the door. Thanks @gadgetgirlil that was an inspirational post.

myallforjcbill

I and, probably quite a few of us, learned that the energy to keep change of a radical scope is quite hard to maintain over time. So yes, small steps of change lead to more and they often get easier as you go. I second @gadgetgirlIL wisdom

misterhub

Timely for me.

So, to further my comments on yesterday LTL, I acknowledge being inconsistent with regard to logging my food. However, that is a habit thing. I truly believe that. So, I am pretty good at getting my breakfast and lunch in the log. It's sometimes lunch and usually dinner that give me grief. I just don't think about it. But, I've decided to build my habit by focusing on the part I am doing - logging lunch and breakfast - and growing it to include dinner. If I establish the habit of doing the first two meals, I am convinced the third will follow.

Jerdtrmndone

I think you need to change habits a little at a time. I am actually working on that now. One habit is I gave up having ice cream a number of nights to only one and a half cup and it is working good for more.

minimyzeme

My takeaway is that if you can figure out a very small change to make and then apply it consistently you can then go on to make bigger changes. But too often we get overwhelmed by trying to change too much too quickly and then never start. I'll elaborate in my post below.

Your thoughts?

I think there is wisdom in this approach and I've sometimes felt the same way. As an example, when I first joined WW, I reasoned that if I adhered to the (Points Plus) plan 90% of the time, I'd still get to my goal (whatever it was--didn't know or care at that time), even if it took me longer.

By the same logic, I would venture to guess sticking to the plan let's say 20 or 30% of the time could have similar results. I guess a lot would depend on what happened the rest of the time but the point is that changing my ways by small steps could certainly show the benefits, and that in turn could provide incentive to step it up, eventually getting to 90 or 100%.

Most of you know this but my doc initially suggested I lose five pounds. I love that man for not chiding me to lose 80 pounds right from the start. We never discussed how much I should lose to come into healthy BMI. We just talked the very doable five pounds. Another year and 15 times later, and I was at the 80.

Baby steps: they're how stuff gets done.

podkey

Sounds like you have the right idea. In one sense though I will say I went with WW and followed the plan pretty much from the get go instead of piecemeal. My baby steps were more in how to add back in some items in my lifestyle of food and drink which I had put aside.
Now that I did in baby steps for sure.

I did have baby steps in terms of weight losses and what my reasonable goal might be. No point in setting a goal when I had no idea what my body would like.

misterhub

A follow-up to my entry yesterday: I logged everything I ate. The first time I've done this in a very long time. And, it turns out, I did very well with my choices.