Lifestyle change is a topic that comes up often in our nutrition classes. We are told that if we are going to help people with life threatening illnesses we have to be able to counsel and guide them to make positive lifestyle changes in the areas of diet, exercise and stress management. I am not disputing the validity of this statement. It has been shown that making positive lifestyle changes in your eating habits, level of physical activity and stress level can have a dramatic impact on your health and well-being.
The Cleveland Clinic opened a Wellness Institute in 2008 after 25 years of research showed that “lifestyle changes can reverse chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some early cancers”. The institute offers nutrition counseling, cooking, yoga, fitness and stress management classes. To date, they have helped over 700 participants suffering from chronic disease. Lifestyle changes work, period.
The big question is how do you successfully make lifestyle changes? We are all busy people who are juggling a lot of obligations: school, work, family, friends and other extra-curricular activities. A lot of what we do when it comes to eating and physical activity is a result of habit. Some of those habits are good like eating a piece of fruit with lunch every day and some are not so good like running to the vending machine for a sugary snack to beat an afternoon slump. It would appear that making lifestyle changes really boils down to replacing our bad habits with good ones. Easy, right?
Charles Duhigg, author of “The Power of Habit” says that in order to break a habit you must understand the structure of habits. He asserts that habits have 3 parts: a cue or trigger, a routine (the actual behavior) and a reward. When you know what the cue or trigger is you can be on the alert to replace the bad habit with a better one. Let’s go back to the trip to the vending machine every afternoon. The trigger might be you are tired or you are feeling stressed. The behavior is getting a candy bar. The reward is you feel better albeit for only 20 minutes or so because you are going to crash from the sugar high sooner or later. When we are aware of the trigger we can substitute another behavior like eating a healthy snack like some raw vegetables and hummus or we can go for a 10 minute walk, do some yoga stretches or a deep breathing exercise. Reward? We feel better not to mention virtuous.
“Most bad habits are caused by stress or boredom” says James Clear who writes a health and wellness column for the Huffington Post. He suggests that you can plan ahead of time how you will respond to stress and boredom by choosing a substitute behavior, cutting out the triggers or teaming up with a friend.
This sounds good but we all want results now. How long is this habit change going to take? The myth is that habits are formed in 21 days. This idea may have had its genesis from a popular self-help book written in the 1970’s by Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a cosmetic surgeon. He found that it took 21 days for amputees to stop feeling phantom pain. He went on to say that new habits could be formed in the same amount of time. The reality seems to be that it takes longer than 21 days to form a new habit or break an old one. In a study done by Pippa Lally from University College, London, it was shown that it takes at least 66 days for a new healthy habit to feel automatic. We also know that in order to be effective a lifestyle change must be just that, a change that you incorporate for the rest of your life.
If I am going to counsel other people on making lifestyle changes I need to know firsthand what it means to make a lifestyle change. I have decided to be my own guinea pig when it comes to experimenting with lifestyle change. Over the next 9 months I am going to lose 5-10% of my current body weight by making positive lifestyle changes. Those changes will include eating more vegetables, drinking more water, cutting back on junk food, alcohol and caffeine and decreasing portion sizes. I currently eat a lot of fruit, do not drink soda or eat a lot of meat. I will also incorporate weight training and yoga into my fitness routine. Right now I run or use the elliptical 4-5 days a week.
In the coming months I’ll report my struggles and triumphs, what has worked and what needs more work. I will report my weight loss in percentage form--you didn’t really think I was going to tell you how much I weigh, did you? If you are interested in participating in this unofficial experiment please reach out to me. I welcome your feedback, suggestions and support. Let the games begin!