Take Back Your Mindset, Take Back Your Health
When Healthy Habits May Actually Be Fun!
When we think of healing or getting healthy, we usually already have some idea of how we feel about it. Everyone wants to feel better, but on some level we all know that will require taking certain new actions. When it comes to functional medicine, those actions usually require more than taking a pill to get healthier. Lifestyle changes are a huge part of taking charge of your health and quality of life. But let’s be honest, change can be hard and often perceived on some level as “not fun”.
When we hear, “Eat less sugar. Start eating clean. Meditate. Work out more.”, we usually already have experiences and ideas about liking or disliking it. And since the brain can really only work with what it knows, it will start to send some positive or negative signals about the proposed change. Any negative thought about the work of getting healthier makes motivation to change a challenge. Not to mention, these changes also mean you have to adjust how you invest your time, schedule, energy and money.
So, I’m here to offer a different perspective. What if some of these changes can look different than you think? What if some of them may actually be enjoyable… perhaps even fun? I’m going to help you get the ball rolling with 4 questions to ponder that hopefully reverse some negative vibes about healthy change.
What do you like to do, that you already do?
Most people don’t realize that they may already be doing something that works. It’s just a matter of tweaking it or doing more of it. For instance, say you walk your dog a little everyday, because you love spending time with your pup. When a person is instructed to get more exercise in their daily life, their brain can jump to needing to get to the gym, purchase new work out attire and hit the ground running. There is nothing wrong with this, if a person is truly motivated to do it. But if they aren’t, chances are it will be hard to constantly maintain this change starting out. However, if you already walk your dog everyday, and you like to walk your dog, it already fits into your life. The idea would be to maybe start taking longer, more brisk walks. Often people are very willing to make tweaks to their time to do a little more of something they already do and like doing. And, voilà, you’re adding a little more exercise and spending more time with your pal.
What did you like as a kid or in the past that you stopped doing?
As adults, we get busy in life doing important adult things. We build our career, work, manage our homes and have an idea about what adults should do. Often, that does not include the kind of carefree fun we enjoyed as kids. The truth is we never had to stop playing, and what feels like play can be the best forms of exercise. Sometimes it helps to think back to your childhood about what you liked doing. What about dance classes, playing basketball or riding a bike. Some of those things might involve you purchasing something to do it. However, we are more likely motivated to put money and effort toward something we intuitively enjoy, rather than feeling forced to do something that feels like a chore.
Do you ever daydream about new things you’d like to try?
It’s totally normal to get an idea to try something or hear about things friends are doing and then let the thought go. This is because the brain likes the familiar and requires deliberate attention and action to try new things. Trying a new recipe, food or cooking class may sound good, but it it’s hard to make it happen because we are on the go, just trying to get through each day. Overhauling your whole diet at once may seem daunting, but chances are you at least know of some foods or recipes you haven’t tried yet. Sometimes it helps to take the pressure off yourself to figure it all out at once. It’s ok to slowly give yourself time to experiment. Maybe you walk by certain fruits you don’t typically eat while at the store, but keep wanting to try. Start there. Try a new fruit. Make time on your calendar this weekend to make a new healthy recipe. Taking incremental steps when trying new things can be more of a win in the long run than changing everything all at once. Build up from there, being patient with yourself and making it a fun season of life learning.
How do you see yourself in the future?
Whenever it comes to making changes now, it always helps to envision yourself in the future. It is good to ask yourself, “Why am I doing this? How does this improve my overall quality of life? How will future me feel by having done this today?” Change is about looking at the present and readjusting our choices today, knowing it will bring out better for us going forward. Think about your future both tomorrow and for the long run. Can you envision yourself tomorrow making a change that feels good to you? How does that create a foundation that you can build on for your goals in the future?
One Action Step for this week
While this is all nice and lovely to ponder, as long as it’s just an idea, it’s just an idea. As you are inspired and perhaps now a little motivated by whatever ideas come to mind, it’s good to take one step of action ASAP. It can be small, but it gets you aligned with direction and purpose. Maybe your first step is to pull down the old bike in the garage and pump up the tires. Maybe it’s to research new places in your area to go for a hike. Perhaps you can add a few new foods to your shopping list. Whatever it may be, every step counts! What will your next step be today?
