7 Habits of a Healthy Lifestyle

7 Habits of a Healthy Lifestyle

(90 day plan for Success)

All to often in the fitness industry I witness enthusiastic people make a “choice” to become healthy just to quickly become discouraged and stop being healthy, truly before they actually got started.  The problem is, when these people make these choices, which are some times even called “resolutions” they try to simultaneously change 4 or 5 things at the same time (exercise, eat better, drink more water, sleep more, stretch).  This is like asking somebody that has never juggled balls before to instantly juggle 5 balls at the same time.  What happens next… they drop all of the balls at the same time and more times than not, they never juggle again.

The trick is, we must create lifestyle habits.  One habit at a time.  Once we create true habits, they will be a part of our every day activities, just like brushing your teeth and taking a shower.

Below I have outlined 7 Habits, based on Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and 7 steps that will be completed over a 90-day period.  Each step must be completed in succession and you must not move on to the next step until the previous step is completed and a habit is formed.  Some of the steps will then be continued for the entire 90 days and beyond, and some steps will just be completed once and then you can move to then next step.

Habit 1: Be proactive- Don’t wait for a serious health concern before you make changes

·      Step 1 (Days 1-10 )- Take a multi-vitamin or fish oil everyday for 10 days.  Do not move on to step 2 until step one has been accomplished.  Continue this step throughout the entire 90 days and beyond.

*Whether you take a multivitamin or fish oil is really not that important here.  You can choose based on your nutritional deficiencies.  What is important is starting simple.  Bottom line is, if we cannot perform a simple task for ten straight days we will not be ready to tackle larger more challenging habits.

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind- Focus on a SMART health/ fitness related goal

·      Step 2 (Day 11- 20)- Drink ½ your body weight in ounces every day for 10 days. Continue this step throughout the entire 90 days and beyond.

*Proper hydration is key to support our daily functions.  Without proper hydration we set ourselves up behind the 8 ball.  Water is the most critical element for health, growth and development.  Water affects body temperature, waste removal, inflammation, joint lubrication, and in short, every cell in our body needs proper hydration to function properly

Habit 3: Put first things first- Priorities must be set

·      Every Sunday sit down and plan out the following:

o   Specific exercise schedule (day, time and actual workout)

o   Weekly meals

·      Once the schedule is set, nothing must take the place of scheduled activities without a cost.

o   If a workout or scheduled event is missed. $5 must be placed in the “pot”.

o   This is your built in accountability system.  What do you do with this money? We will discuss that soon

 

 

·      Step 3 (Day 21- 42)- Exercise 2 days per week

o   Must be documented/ recorded

o   Must last a least 30 min.

o   Must increase heart rate to an “uncomfortable” level (heart rate monitor is recommended)

o   Must be a full body workout

o   Do not go to step 4 until 3 weeks of consecutive recorded workouts have been completed. Continue this step throughout the entire 90 days and beyond

*REWARD Time. After you have successfully completed this step, reward yourself or somebody.  Always recognize and reward small successes.  Take that money from Step 2 and do something nice for yourself, you have earned it! Or, take that money and donate it to a charitable cause of your choice.

Habit 4: Think win/ win- You only win when others win

·      How will these healthy lifestyle changes affect those you love?

·      Step 4 (Day 43- 53)- First thing in the morning, on your iPhone, write down 1 way that your healthy lifestyle changes will affect the people you love.  Do this every day for 10 days

·      This step will only be completed for 10 days

Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then be understood

·      “To know is to teach”

·      Step 5 (Day 54)- Invite a friend or family member to participate in a healthy activity.

·      Teach them the importance of this activity.

·      Share the gift of health.

·      This step must be completed at least once and then can be completed as many times as desired

Habit 6: Synergize- your mind and body must corporate to be successful

·      Step 6 (day 54- 61)- Sleep- 7-8 hours of sleep is vital for living a healthy lifestyle

o   Recovery

o   Hormone balance

o   Focus

·      Create a sleep schedule and stick to it for 7 days straight

o   Set a bed time that will allow for 7-8 hours of sleep

·      Continue this step throughout the entire 90 days and beyond

Habit 7: Sharpen your saw

·      Step 7 (Day 62- 90)- Chose a health/ fitness book and read it.

Created by: Scott Larkin, ATC, CSCS, CPT

1 Habit= Success

Create a Habit of Success

Every year about this time many Americans set out to achieve a “New Years Resolution.”  And by about mid February the harsh reality sets in that most people will not be successful in achieving those resolutions. “Thanks for positive outlook Scott!”  Facts are facts.  Industry statistics will show that retention numbers do not support the notion of success with New Years Resolutions.

Well, here is the good news.  I am not here to rub it in that most Americans will not be successful with their resolutions.  I am here to make you think of things in a different way so you WILL be successful with not only your New Years Resolutions, but with your life long lifestyle changes!

The problem is most people set these big, harry, audacious goals; we call them B-Hags. Not only do they not have a real defined plan on how to achieve those goals, but they try to make many changes at once, which makes their chances of success drop dramatically.  Think of it this way: have you ever tried to juggles tennis balls?  Go out and try this for the first time, but start with 5 tennis balls.  How many of those balls will you drop, and how long will it take you to drop them all?  It is the same thing when someone says, “I resolve to lose 30 pounds starting January 1.  And to do this I am going to lift more weights, eat better, do more cardio, pick up a recreational sport, stop eating desserts…” This might last for a very short time, but not many people can sustain this for an extended period of time.

The solution is to create habits that will support your goal and ultimately lead to long-term success! There is a great book by Leo Babauta titled, “The Power of Less.” In his book, Leo outlines a plan to create long lasting habits by focusing on ONE habit at a time for a specific time period.  Leo states some rules that if followed will make it very difficult for you to not form new habits in 30 days.

1.     Do only one habit at a time.

2.     Chose any easy goal/ habit

3.     Chose something measureable

4.     Be consistent

5.     Report daily

6.     Keep a positive attitude

So, rather than saying, “I resolve to lose 30 pounds starting January 1.  And to do this I am going to lift more weights, eat better, do more cardio, pick up a recreational sport, stop eating desserts…”  Try choosing one new habit that will support this goal.  Such as:

·      Add 1 additional exercise session per week

·      Eat breakfast every day

·      Add 1 more fruit and vegetable intake every day

·      Take 10 g of fish oil every day (per Dr. John Berardi)

Chose one of these habits and do it consistently for the next 2 weeks.  The book recommends doing this new habit for 30 days, but I usually tell my clients to just do it religiously for 2 weeks.  Once you have been successful with doing this new habit for 2 full weeks, then pick a new habit and do this for 2 weeks.  If you were not able to be consistent with this new habit every day for two weeks then you are not ready for a new habit.  Before you know it you will start to see and feel the results that you desire.  And most importantly these results will be sustainable for the long term because you got these results by forming 1 new habit at a time that are now a part of your daily life and routine.