It’s no secret how to improve your health. The simple advice “don’t smoke, eat right and exercise” is actually too simple.
People have known what is generally good for them for a long time. The trick is in the execution.
But if you can’t get your habits under control, are you simply a weak-willed person, doomed by your lack of backbone?
No, says this article in the Washington Post. The key is not “will power.” Rather, it’s gaining a better understanding of your habits, especially the triggers which lead you into behavior that defeats your goals.“If you tend to struggle when you’re lonely, then creating some kind of social network [may help conquer bad habits]. If you struggle when you’re depressed, then getting help for depression makes sense,” Brownell says. Until people recognize the underlying triggers that led them to the unhealthy habits in the first place, all of the motivating messages in the world will fail, behavioral experts suggest. But getting in touch with the catalysts for their bad habits can unleash powerful forces for change.
Again, reflection is part of the solution!
For my own purposes, I’m trying to form a plan for how I will go about incrementally improving my own satisfaction with my life. This is what I’ve got so far:
This article complicates the list somewhat, because if you do identify a behavior (like overeating) you really have to think about your triggers.
For me, overeating happens when I’m dissatisfied with other situations, especially when I’m not sufficiently mentally engaged. When I stop exercising I don’t feel like I have much invested in eating right. Also, when I’m feeling sorry for myself. And then, socially, when I think I can get away with it.
So, it looks like if I can stay mentally engaged, keep an exercise schedule, and find some other way to comfort myself when I’m feeling sorry for myself, I’ll be better off. The social aspect is easier to take care of; I am better at stopping myself from eating when I am around other people.
If that doesn’t work, I guess that will reveal some other triggers. And, of course, I’m going to have to figure out what I need to do to not trigger the cessation of my exercise behavior.
I like thinking about triggers better than accepting that some people are just weak-willed. Weak will is just another excuse; looking for triggers gives you a tool to control yourself.
Posted by James at January 2, 2007 9:16 AMMy unhealthy habits mainly come in the form of really, REALLY bad eating habits. At the best of times I'll be able to go a few days eating bagels, cold-cut sandwiches, and George Foreman grill burgers I make myself. But more often than not I skip most meals and wind up running to McDonald's or Spikes on my way to or from my studio.
The problem is the "trigger" is stress and lack of time. And really, there's no way around that. It's so easy for folks to say that you just need to make time for yourself or whatever, but those folks don't tend to run a business in an industry that's defined by ridiculously demanding customers.
The best I can hope for is to eventually get my financial house in enough order (and that my wife doesn't get laid off) that I can ease back on the amount of work I do, but I don't see that happening for another decade or so.
Posted by: DG at January 2, 2007 12:14 PMYeah, it's tough to get around a stressful job. And I hear you about customers. In the software business, customers (and people from marketing) will come up with requests for the software to do magic. Promises are often made without any understanding of what is possible. I am lucky enough to not be in that sort of a situation in my current job, though.
Posted by: James at January 2, 2007 4:39 PM...thinking about my triggers...
Posted by: Chuck S. at January 3, 2007 9:15 AMDG,
Sitting in a doctor's office, I got to hear Oprah's wonderful advice to a fatty: she's fat because she doesn't love herself. I really wanted to bitch-slap that woman. "You don't love yourself..." (and... you don't have a staff to make you healthy meals, and you don't have a personal trainer, and 75% of the time Oprah doesn't love herself either, but today she's thin so she thinks she gets to dispense insulting advice.)
But if time is your main problem, maybe you could find healthy, quick, and cheap alternatives to the classic fast food. A small chili from Wendy's has 7g of fat and is slightly healthier than a burger, but you can't eat it while you're driving. The same with a salad -- I think the small salads are a dollar, although they might be a little more now -- and if you don't cover them with the dressing, they're not that fatty and they're better for you. Yogurt, if you can stand it, is a good snack that you can keep in the fridge. You can buy microwave meals when they're on sale and they're pretty quick, too. Canned soup. If you like to cook, then you can make larger meals when you have the time and freeze or refrigerate the leftovers in single-serving containers.
I know part of the problem for me, when I'm stressed and in a rush, is the satisfaction factor. Yeah, I could eat the leftover stir-fry I made for dinner last night, but I think a hamburger would be both quicker and more satisfying then warmed-up food. So for me, I have to give up the idea that every meal is a feast. Every meal really just has to get you through the next few hours, and if it's healthy, it's going to do a better job of that. But that may not be anybody else's problem but my own.
Maggie
No, actually, "every meal is not a feast" is something of a novel idea for me too. Thanks!
Posted by: Julie at January 3, 2007 2:14 PMWow, I helped somebody today! You're welcome! I've heard it phrased this way, which is much catchier: Eat to live, don't live to eat.
Posted by: Maggie at January 3, 2007 11:23 PMI've heard that one before, but actually didn't know what it meant. It's a little too catchy, reminds me of "snap your band and say I can."
Posted by: Julie at January 4, 2007 12:39 PMExcept, useful.
Posted by: James at January 4, 2007 2:18 PMIt's useful once I rephrase it so that it's meaningful to me. I don't "live to eat," whatever that means, so that slogan doesn't mean anything to me.
Posted by: Julie at January 4, 2007 2:22 PMNo words are useful until you understand what they mean. "Snap you band and say 'I can'" is lame even after you understand it, IMHO.
Posted by: James at January 4, 2007 2:29 PMYeah, exactly. I heard Lisa Bonet interviewed on Phil Donahue, I think, and that's where I first heard the phrase "eat to live...," so it was discussed and explained the first time I ever heard it. I don't know if it would've made sense to me out of context.
Posted by: Maggie at January 4, 2007 2:50 PM