How to Change Your Habits

I have a confession to make: When I first started my fitness journey, years ago, all I wanted was to have chiselled abs, huge pecs (imagine a comic book super hero), a back bigger that cast a shadow whenever I entered a room, and of course the massive guns (arms) to impress the ladies. Ah, to be young and clueless!

Building good behavioural habits, laying down the bricks for a strong foundation, creating systems, gaining knowledge for longevity within fitness, and most importantly enjoying the actual process were the furthest things from my mind at the time.

You see, getting your dream figure or physique is the pay-off from a good exercise and nutrition program. However, if that was your only goal, and you have achieved it, then what? If you did not build good behavioural habits and laid down the bricks for a strong foundation, then how will you sustain your ideal body in the long term, to say nothing of reaping the rewards that go with a sustainable fitness journey?

Let’s dive into how to build good behavioural habits.

The Three step Habit Loop

To form a habit there are 3 steps

Step 1:

There is a CUE, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use.

Step 2:

Then there is a ROUTINE, which can be physical, mental, or emotional

Step 3:

Finally there is a REWARD, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future.

Over time, this habit loop – Cue, routine, and reward becomes more automatic. The cue and the reward becomes intertwined until a powerful sense of anticipation and craving emerges.

The reason it can be challenging to build good habits with regards to nutrition and fitness, is because once you develop a routine of sitting on the couch rather than exercising or grabbing donuts at your leisure instead of having a healthy-balanced meal, those patterns always remain in your heads. But, if you were to program your brain and teach it new neurological routines that overpower those poor behavioural habits (donuts and sitting on the couch) and apply the habit loop, you can force those bad tendencies into the back burner and create new ones.

Example

For example, with exercise:

Step 1: The Cue – You’re tired of seeing your body image in the mirror everyday when you shower, but you’re too tired to workout after a long day of work.

Step 2: The Routine – You start bringing your exercise clothes to work with you and go straight to the gym instead of coming home and getting relaxed.

Step 3: The Reward- You consistently start attending the gym and exercising for 2-3 months, your body starts changing, and you start to like what you see in the mirror.

Another example – with Nutrition:

Step 1: The Cue – You are tired of the way you feel and look from all the eating out, snacking, and junk foods you’re consuming but you have no desire to grocery shop or cook.

Step 2: The Routine – you opt to meal prep in readiness for your busy week ahead or have healthy and delicious foods delivered to your home.

Step 3: The Reward: You start to have more energy day to day, you feel better at work, you work harder, and you’re even inspired to start exercising more.

Always remember

Starting off with good habits is everything and builds a solid foundation to have success within your fitness journey.

My online training programs take the four pillars of health into account. The hormonal aspect is one of those pillars.

When you sign up for an online training course with me, I will take you as a person into account, and will focus on your sleep patterns, and the hormonal you amongst other things. If you want to start your journey but you are apprehensive and scared that it will just be one of those things that you start and not finish, give me a call on 0437 314 920 or email me at [email protected] or LIKE my Facebook Page and send me a personal message, and we will discuss ways to empower you on this journey.