Five Things Looming to Derail a Lifestyle Change

For many people, making a commitment to healthier eating and a routine fitness program is a significant challenge. On average, people stick with diets for just days, and workout programs can fizzle soon after the first bout of “day-after soreness.” However, there are five serious factors that tend to negatively impact those with dedication. Understanding and overcoming these issues can help anyone persevere and succeed with any type of wellness program.

Setting Unrealistic Goals

Almost every good trainer, nutritionist or fitness program director has the same wise words for anyone engaging in a new program: Consult a physician before beginning any new workout or diet program. Why do they say this? Legalities and litigation aside, there is a very solid reason for doing this – your physician and you can best assess your current shape and create a realistic fitness goal. If you are an avid runner who regularly jogs three to five miles several times a week, chances are that a half or full marathon is probably within reach. However, that marathon in three months is not realistic if you don’t even own a pair of gym shoes and have a high BMI.

Each person seeking to make a lifestyle change – with the help of a physician or other health professional – should discuss ways to make that change stick. If it’s an extreme fitness program that lasts 60 or more days, this advice is doubly important, as the physician can assess risk for injury or readiness for the activity. This also includes training for long endurance events such as 10K+ runs, triathlons, or cycling events.

Goals for fitness are like any other. They should be “SMART;” that is, they are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. For instance, a diet goal that fits this description may have less to do with pounds and more to do with lifestyle changes. “I will create a food journal for the next four weeks that accurately describes my calorie and food intake. After that, my dietician and I will make changes to create a plan for the next four weeks that focuses on following the nutritional pyramid.” That’s a dietary goal. “I’m going to fit into a size 5 dress by Christmas” might seem specific and measurable, but is it attainable? Realistic? What if you’re a size 9 currently? Sure. What if you’re a size 20? A different story.

Fitness goals should also fit into this framework. Be specific – are you looking to build muscle, decrease body fat, increase speed, adjust your heart rate? All of these can be molded into a SMART goal, and anyone engaging in fitness programs should set these goals. In addition, even the most avid and fit person should continually change and add new goals to prevent plateaus and stagnancy. Someone who has completed a marathon may want to look at a triathlon. Someone who has completed an extreme fitness program might look to another tested program to “switch things up.” Goal setting is key. Failure to do so will lead to disengagement from the fitness process.

Lack of Positive Support

When making a commitment to your fitness goals, you have to acquire adequate support from friends, family, your partner and your physician. Before starting a program, discuss it with your physician to create goals and an action plan. Let your partner, spouse or roommate know that you’re getting ready to engage in the process. It’s also important to let friends know you have a new goal for yourself, and that you appreciate their advice and encouragement.

Seek out support from outside your traditional circles as well. Online blogs and social networking are powerful systems of support for those journeying into physical fitness. Many people can offer advice when you’re faced with challenges. They can also provide valuable words of wisdom about getting through the tough points and sharing your successes.

A word of caution: if you are traditionally a person who needs a great deal of affirmation, this may not be the time for seeking outside kudos. Sometimes a weekly post of progress to friends and family is plenty. If you’re serious about your fitness goal, there should be physical, noticeable changes.

Also, be careful not to become an evangelist too early in the process. While you may be well on your way to a healthier you, some people are not going to understand the process of change, and an overly pushy message may not encourage or discourage them. Instead, it may simply annoy. Tread the support waters gingerly at first to assess where your allies are sitting. One of the most positive aspects of healthy living is that, in general, people who are physically fit and active like to bring others over to their “camp” so to speak. They will be encouraging and will help you reach your goals faster.

The Saboteur

That said – one of the toughest things to overcome is the Saboteur. It could be a person, a place or a thing. The Saboteur is there to naysay, create doubt, disenfranchise, and wreck a perfectly good process.

The Saboteur as a person could be a coworker, a close friend or even a family member. Maybe you had set unrealistic goals in the past. They are there to remind you of failed attempts at fitness at every turn. They will “poo-poo” your workouts or diet. They will toss off progress as “temporary.” They will bombard you with negativity. In short, they will do anything within their power to see you fail.

Why? The psychology is because they have probably failed at similar attempts in the past, and they like nothing more than to see others feel the same negative feelings they have felt. Don’t try to analyze, but certainly keep your distance. For every “You’re doing great!” that you hear, you will probably get a “I can’t believe you’re doing that. You know, most people just gain their weight back.” Block it out.

Saboteurs also disguise themselves as places and things – maybe a restaurant or bar where your friends converge after work or on the weekends. Maybe it’s a “harmless” candy bar at a convenience store when you’re feeling tired and hungry.

Another Saboteur is time. You don’t have the time to exercise or cook a meal or make a healthy eating decision. Time crunches are poor excuses for breaking fitness goals. Author and cook Nigella Lawson has made a mint creating recipes that are simple, healthy and quick. Fitness gurus have even created workout programs for the most busy among us. Carve out that time of day to exercise and prepare your food. Make it a priority. Don’t let time be a Saboteur. It’s critical to recognize sabotage in any form and deal with it. Remember that you have made a decision and a goal. Don’t let an outside force sabotage that goal.

Not seeing progress

If anything can derail a fitness regime faster, I don’t know what it is. People have a very unrealistic take on fitness progress. Usually it’s because of something they’ve heard, read, or seen on TV. Take the 325-pound guy that now has a six-pack. Or how about the fitness model with sculpted pecs and arms using a flimsy piece of plastic that “guarantees results.” Make no mistake. He did not get that body by doing step aerobics or shaking a weight for eight minutes a day.

One of my number-one frustrations is the television. If any program on TV creates an unrealistic expectation of progress, it is “The Biggest Loser.” While I commend the show for teaching America that the morbidly obese can be “converted,” the tactics used on the show to get those results are extreme in every sense of the word. In fact, many medical and health professionals have criticized the program for showing in a few weeks what Americans should be taking literally years to do. It creates false hope to think that 30 minutes of exercise three times a week and limiting carbohydrates can synergize to help someone lose 5-10 lbs per week.

Most people quit an exercise regimen quickly because they don’t see significant results right away. On average, healthy weight loss is considered 1-2 pounds per week. No more. Most doctors agree that 3-4 pounds per month over a period of a year is a feat in itself. When bombarded with images of extremes – the morbidly obese vs. ripped, muscled athletes – it’s no wonder Americans are completely skewed in their view of physical fitness. What people don’t realize is that guys like Matt Lauer or Barack Obama are better fitness models than a movie star who put on 30 lbs of muscle for a movie role. How many Americans took the pool after Michael Phelps won eight gold medals in the 2008 Olympics? How many are still swimming?

When it comes to progress, look at your goals and see if you are achieving them. If you’re not, ask yourself the hard question – Why? Maybe you really weren’t eating as healthily as you thought, or maybe you’re not quite pushing yourself as hard during workouts. This is another time when your physician and other health professionals such as a registered dietician are invaluable.

If you’re truly not seeing good progress, don’t give up – get help! For instance, your doctor could look at some before-and-after lab work and say “I know you’ve only lost a few pounds, but your BMI is lower, your cholesterol and A1C levels are lower, and your heart rate and blood pressure have improved.” Those are factors that signal real improvement. Your waistline will come next, but your health professional will help guide you to seeing the progress you want.

And don’t be afraid of seeking the help of a dietician and personal trainer. For instance, you might not be seeing results you were hoping for because you are doing exercises incorrectly. Or perhaps what you thought was an appropriate calorie load was actually not quite adequate or too much to attain your goals. Workout programs off-the-shelf seem great, but each can be customized to maximize your potential.

In addition, don’t argue with success, but know that success is not a one-for-all. A program designed for a guy that started at 220 that’s now a ripped 195 might not yield the same results for a 145-lb woman who is looking to chisel her on abs or buns of steel. The general approach to any good fitness program – a combination of resistance training with cardio workouts and a balanced diet – will ALWAYS yield results. However, the speed and extremity of those results rely on a variety of factors. Again, get your doctor and other professionals involved. You will attain your goals faster and more effectively.

Old Behaviors

I admit it. I LOVE McDonalds. Always have. Even after being completely disgusted by the movie Super Size Me, I continued to frequent the Golden Arches. However, I have now changed some old behaviors. Where once I got fries, a double-cheeseburger and a medium coke (almost always followed by the cookies), I’m now satisfied with a grilled chicken sandwich without mayo, a side salad with a light dressing, and water or diet soda. Even McDonalds offers some fresh fruit for dessert.

However, not everyone is that strong, and even I have found myself cheating a little here and there. The first thing to realize is that “it’s okay.” Old behaviors are there because they are just that – old behaviors. They were habits established over long periods in life. It is important to recognize these old behaviors as they happen, and quickly move to rectify them.

Does your car naturally gravitate toward a fast-food restaurant at lunchtime? Do you avoid the gym at certain hours because “it’s busy?” Do you need to eat dessert at every meal? When you go grocery shopping, do you buy pre-packaged, processed foods? Do you avoid vegetables or fruit? Be honest with yourself about this. And don’t be ashamed. Everyone else is doing it, why shouldn’t you?

Well, here’s why – you’re better than that. So, let’s take habit one: fast food. Make a conscious effort to cut back the trips to fast-food restaurants. If you must go, make an effort to eat something healthier. This requires research and diligence. Even things that are seemingly healthy are loaded with sugar, fats, and other no-nos. How about the gym? Establish a time you will go EVERY day that you work out. I go first thing in the morning. Maybe you go at 7 p.m. or over the lunch hour. Whatever you do, be consistent. Eventually, the new behavior replaces the old. It takes you seven times of doing something to create a habit (learned that from a highway patrol officer in grade school who taught us the importance of seatbelts).

So, seven times – just a week. How about each day of the week, you prepare your own healthy lunch – sandwich, veggie, fresh fruit, a diet soda. Avoid the fast-food place. Or for seven times, you wake up early and drink water, and take the dog (or better – the spouse/partner) on a brisk walk. Establish new patterns of behavior. Once you do, you will recognize your old behaviors faster, and you’ll be more apt to stop them cold.

It should be noted here that lots of programs incorporate a cheat day during the week for diets. I have mixed feelings about them. Even the most disciplined person whose cheat day is Saturday may find herself chugging a coke to wash down a candy bar on Thursday with the excuse “today will be my cheat day.” It’s a slippery slope. Of course, we have slip-ups, but don’t equate the slip-up with a “cheat day.” Instead, recognize the lapse and move forward.