If you’ve had an on again, off again relationship with healthy habits, it’s not your fault. A whole food eating style and consistent exercise routine can be your frenemies. They’re like that person in your life that’s your friend one day and the next day they’re driving you crazy and you’re wondering why you even hang out with them. Sometimes my hubby and I will be walking through the frozen food isle at Trader Joe’s and he’ll say, “Why do I need to eat healthy all the time? There’s so many delicious frozen foods that are not so healthy!” The temptations are everywhere.
If you can relate to this and struggle with sustainable habits, I highly recommend working with a health coach and not just because I am one. I see the value in any type coaching when you want to learn a new skill. Working with a pro who’s trained in a specific area will help you reach your goals faster and more efficiently.
Habit creation is a skill that many people are not great at which is why most people struggle with sustainable healthy lifestyle habits. It becomes especially challenging when social media is telling you how to lose weight by implementing habits that you have no idea how to fit into your life. One great example is spending an entire day meal prepping. I know this works for some people but most people I speak with tell me they don’t want to spend their entire Sunday cooking and doing dishes. There are other ways to be successful with a whole food eating style.
This exactly how I help my clients figure out what will work best for them. Let’s do a deeper dive into how this works…
Set Realistic Goals
My clients come to me feeling either overwhelmed or ready to take on the world. Both are completely valid. The great news is both ends of the spectrum can have strong motivation behind them.
When you feel overwhelmed with where to start, you’re more likely to hesitate taking the first step towards a healthier you. You might just need a little nudge and some clarity to get started.
If this is you, I will help you breakdown your overwhelm into manageable steps so that you feel confident with your starting point. We’ll brainstorm a list of starting points and narrow it down to one that resonates the most with you. From there, we’ll co-create an action plan so you can start implementing one habit right away. Once you feel like you have a rhythm with your first habit, you can add another small step. As you continue to have success and celebrate your wins, you can add more small steps.
If you’re ready to take on the world, this is an amazing feeling. While you’re riding this wave of motivation it’s super important to consider what you have the ability to take on at this time. If you take on too much too soon, it could be difficult to sustain.
If this is you, I’ll help you step back and take a look at your schedule, resources, and abilities to make sure your habit intentions align with them. If they do, we’ll co-create a strategy on how you’re going to implement your new habits into your life. If they don’t all align, we’ll start with the ones that do and create a plan of action together. It’s super important to keep the ones that don’t align right now in your back pocket for later. Once you have your initial habits dialed in, you can revisit your other list and choose which ones to add.
The key to finding success from the start with healthy lifestyle habits is to start small (whatever that looks like for you) so you can build your confidence and experience quick wins.
Overcome Obstacles
Once you get into a rhythm with a new habit it’s important to maintain momentum so you can keep moving forward. Obstacles are what trip people up and throws them off course. The great news is most obstacles can be anticipated which means you can create a plan in advance to overcome them. Even with the ones you can’t anticipate you can still decide how you’re going to respond if or when something unexpected comes up.
Let’s start with anticipated obstacles. If you’ve decided that you’re going to wake up thirty minutes earlier than usual so you can get a bodyweight workout in at home, make a list if anything that might get the way. One obstacle might be not getting good sleep for any reason (night sweats, insomnia, a kid waking up in the middle of the night, etc.). Create a plan around how you can overcome each one.
If you wake up with night sweats, having a clean, dry pair of PJs right next to your bed to change into quickly might help you get back to sleep faster. If you haven’t been getting great sleep lately and insomnia is a concern, have a plan B for your workout that you can do after a not-so-good night’s sleep. Some movement is better than no movement at all. If you’re working with me, we can brainstorm ideas on how you can get back to sleep rather than stay up all night lying in bed feeling anxious about not getting sleep.
Create Accountability
Accountability is hands down the most common challenge I hear from women and I get it. This is a tough one to navigate. You can talk yourself out of a workout within minutes by listing a bunch of reasons why you can’t do it.
You’re too tired.
You’ll workout tomorrow.
You don’t know what you’re doing.
You might injure yourself.
You don’t have time.
I could go on and on but I think you get the picture. Now, all of these reasons might be legitimate. Sometimes you actually are too tired and your body is telling you it needs more rest. I’m all for it.
It’s important to differentiate between legitimate reasons and excuses which is something you and I can work through together during our coaching sessions.
Most of my clients start out with an external source for accountability such as a friend or partner and me, their coach. This works great in the beginning but shouldn’t be relied on in the long run. A friend might bail on you because something comes up in her life. Your partner might help you legitimize your excuses. This isn’t necessarily because they want to sabotage your intentions. They most likely want you to be happy and healthy which is great. You want this kind of support. However, because they want you to be happy they might also unintentionally encourage you to skip your workout if it they think it would make you happy.
As we’re working together, we’ll strategize how you can hold yourself accountable so you don’t need to rely on anyone else (myself included) to keep you on track and moving forward.
Where do you start?
If you’re still on the fence about working with a health coach, I get it. I always want to make sure I’m investing my money into services that I know are a good fit for me. Most health coaches offer a free call for you to ask questions before you officially enroll in their program. I do the same. Go here to book a free virtual video call with me so I can answer all your questions before you commit.
Just a friendly reminder that when you invest in health coaching you’re investing in your future self. Think about how future you would feel if you upgraded your health and fitness habits now.