The Mental Side of Fitness, Part Deux
Your brain is amazing. Perhaps that’s a little forward, considering we hardly know each other, but it’s so true about you! Divinely created—hand-crafted by God, Himself—your brain has the power to take one event in your life, form a belief, and change your behavior forever—in a microsecond, no less. Consciously and subconsciously, your brain does this every minute of every day.
Some beliefs are so deeply embedded into your heart, you may feel powerless to address them, much less change them. Like separating an egg after it’s been scrambled, you may feel as though your thoughts and feelings are so much a part of “you” that you cannot possibly identify their origin or remove them from your belief system.
Your behaviors and feelings regarding food, exercise, fitness, health, and body image all originate deep within that amazing, divinely created brain of yours. And you are right. Getting to the root of your struggle in these areas may take some digging. And will definitely take some time.
But I have good news for you:
You can change.
Even if you’ve never exercised a day in your life, you can change. Even if you’ve been eating Little Debbie Snack Cakes and a Super Gulp every morning for breakfast since college, you can change. Even if you’d rather have a root canal than show up at the gym for a spinning class, you—yes, even YOU—can change.
It’s just a matter of breaking old habits and establishing new ones.
I believe that so firmly, I’m willing to forego sleep right now to get this post written. (Yawn….You have no idea what a sacrifice this is for me. I happen to adore sleep. Sleep is fabulous.)
Dr. Gary Smalley in his book Change Your Heart, Change Your Life gives a five-step process for making behavioral changes that are real, lasting and based on the Truth of God’s word. His method relies heavily on meditating on Scripture, but I’m going to modify those steps a bit to speak specifically about health and fitness behaviors. It is Fitness Friday, after all.
“You have no beliefs in your heart that you did not put there, either of your own volition or by inheritance from your family or by absorbing them from your culture. So if you don’t like an area of your life, it’s up to you to find better beliefs to improve that area. Your life will change just as fast as your beliefs change.” ~Dr. Gary Smalley
1. Identify the behavior that needs to change. For example, “I don’t exercise consistently…well, I don’t exercise at all, really. I’m sorry, can you please define exercise?”
2. Understand why the bad behaviors are bad. This is where education comes in, and why I purposely deprive myself of a cozy warm bed in order to get these posts up every Thursday night. Once you understand what you are doing to your body with your current behavior, you are on your way to changing it. For example, “By not exercising, I’m greatly increasing my chances of being overweight (probably severely overweight), developing a whole host of health-related problems including heart disease, diabetes and all kinds of cancer (just to name a few). I’m also directly impacting my spouse and children by my shortened life-expectancy and my poor example.” Yikes.
3. Find a new behavior. This is where you decide what you are doing to replace your bad behavior. For example, “I will exercise 3 to 5 days a week, for ever and ever. The end.”
4. Start doing your new behavior. For example, start exercising. (Stick with me now, I know this is pretty complicated.)
5. Deepen the imprint of the new behavior on your heart. This is where you really change the behavior, because you do the new thing over and over and over and over and over and over again, until it becomes your new normal. For example, Monday: exercise, Tuesday: exercise, Wednesday, exercise….next week, next month, next year…still exercise. Forever and ever. The end.
(I realize the body needs time to rest and recover from exercise. I’m not suggesting while you are forming habits, that you never take a break. However, while you are establishing these new patterns of behavior, it is essential that you create a path in your brain that says, “I exercise every day. It’s just what I do.” So, yes, for thirty days straight, I would suggest you do something to move your body every single day. It doesn’t have to be weight lifting or a long run. A 30 minute walk would qualify. It’s about training the brain to accept this new behavior. )
I actually love to exercise, I love the feeling I get when I am done and then I have more control over what I eat throughout the day. Do you recommend exercise every day though, 7 days a week?
I actually love to exercise, I love the feeling I get when I am done and then I have more control over what I eat throughout the day. Do you recommend exercise every day though, 7 days a week?
Girl, I always feel freakishly powerful!
I start training for my 5K tomorrow! WooHoo! Moving furniture should be great for the muscle conditioning huh?
Paula G.
Girl, I always feel freakishly powerful!
I start training for my 5K tomorrow! WooHoo! Moving furniture should be great for the muscle conditioning huh?
Paula G.
Lisa:
That is a great question, and you know I e-mailed you a personal response. But for the benefit of the rest of the audience, I added a little somethin-somethin to the post to address this. Thanks, because that is a great question!
Paula:
You ARE freakishly powerful. I'm a little scared of you. Just kidding. Yes, I would say moving furniture qualifies. When we moved from FL to KY, I lost 5 pounds from all the moving and unpacking (and having two flights of stairs for the first time in 8 yrs.)
~S
Lisa:
That is a great question, and you know I e-mailed you a personal response. But for the benefit of the rest of the audience, I added a little somethin-somethin to the post to address this. Thanks, because that is a great question!
Paula:
You ARE freakishly powerful. I'm a little scared of you. Just kidding. Yes, I would say moving furniture qualifies. When we moved from FL to KY, I lost 5 pounds from all the moving and unpacking (and having two flights of stairs for the first time in 8 yrs.)
~S
Another great Fitness Friday post Sandy! Establishing a new habit takes time. After all, the old one has been ingrained in our lives for so long. I used to tell patients that you wouldn't think of leaving your house without brushing your teeth, right? Well, don't leave your house for the day without doing some exercise. The only thing I'd add for help in making new choices and keeping them is …to PRAY and ask the Lord to help you. And I know you'll give an AMEN to that!
Another great Fitness Friday post Sandy! Establishing a new habit takes time. After all, the old one has been ingrained in our lives for so long. I used to tell patients that you wouldn't think of leaving your house without brushing your teeth, right? Well, don't leave your house for the day without doing some exercise. The only thing I'd add for help in making new choices and keeping them is …to PRAY and ask the Lord to help you. And I know you'll give an AMEN to that!
I love this whole idea of having a "new normal"! I'm seriously taking that to heart. So powerful.
I hope everyone is feeling better in your house!
Enjoy the weekend!
Blessings,
Kate 🙂
I love this whole idea of having a "new normal"! I'm seriously taking that to heart. So powerful.
I hope everyone is feeling better in your house!
Enjoy the weekend!
Blessings,
Kate 🙂
Awesome post today. I am interested in getting Gary Smalley's book now. He's a funny guy too. That always helps.
I think the mental side can be one of those things that we know is weighing us down..we just choose not to address it. Everything we do is a choice..and the result is based on our choices..good or poor.
I did not get a chance to experiment in the kitchen this week. But there is a salmon and salsa recipe on my blog if you want to link it.. go under fish label and it should be there…ifyou are interested.
alyce
Awesome post today. I am interested in getting Gary Smalley's book now. He's a funny guy too. That always helps.
I think the mental side can be one of those things that we know is weighing us down..we just choose not to address it. Everything we do is a choice..and the result is based on our choices..good or poor.
I did not get a chance to experiment in the kitchen this week. But there is a salmon and salsa recipe on my blog if you want to link it.. go under fish label and it should be there…ifyou are interested.
alyce
Thank you so much for this post, Sandy! I feel like knowing "how" to make the changes to my lifestyle is what I've been missing. This is so helpful! Thanks for giving up some of your sleep for this! I know what a sacrifice that is because I love my sleep too!
Thank you so much for this post, Sandy! I feel like knowing "how" to make the changes to my lifestyle is what I've been missing. This is so helpful! Thanks for giving up some of your sleep for this! I know what a sacrifice that is because I love my sleep too!
Just left you a comment on an old post…about the year of yes and want to make sure you get it or it's emailed to you or something. seriously. separated at birth. love you!
I love to exercise…was a group instructor for years. These days I have to seek God first, meet my family's needs and there's not so much left for exercise so I try to throw the football with my son, run around the cul-de-sac with the kids, kick the soccer ball with my daughter, hit softballs, etc. Not as hard core as an hour of cardio but God is showing me how when we seek Him first, everything falls into its rightful place. I've lost five of the ten pounds I couldn't get to come off when exercising every day no matter what…my goal is to get up and go at 5 or 6AM each day…but only if I can spend time with God first. But, I do have a commitment to an active lifestyle…so do those activities with my kids count in this busy season? Please say yes because I can workout for a few weeks but I have to sleep eventually 🙂
Just left you a comment on an old post…about the year of yes and want to make sure you get it or it's emailed to you or something. seriously. separated at birth. love you!
I love to exercise…was a group instructor for years. These days I have to seek God first, meet my family's needs and there's not so much left for exercise so I try to throw the football with my son, run around the cul-de-sac with the kids, kick the soccer ball with my daughter, hit softballs, etc. Not as hard core as an hour of cardio but God is showing me how when we seek Him first, everything falls into its rightful place. I've lost five of the ten pounds I couldn't get to come off when exercising every day no matter what…my goal is to get up and go at 5 or 6AM each day…but only if I can spend time with God first. But, I do have a commitment to an active lifestyle…so do those activities with my kids count in this busy season? Please say yes because I can workout for a few weeks but I have to sleep eventually 🙂
Lisa,
A hundered years ago, there were no gyms, treadmills, ellipticals and aerobic classes. Because 100 years ago, people got enough exercise in every day life to keep them fit and healthy.
In a perfect world, everyone would be doing what you are doing. In other words, if we were all out running around with our kids (or walking to work, or working on the farm…) then there would be very little obesity.
The only thing I would caution you about is to make sure you get some sort of strength training to build your muscle and strenthen your bones. Even if it's only one day a week for 20-30 minutes. If you are getting that in your play with the kids, then never mind. 🙂
What a wonderful example you are!!!!
~Sandy
Lisa,
A hundered years ago, there were no gyms, treadmills, ellipticals and aerobic classes. Because 100 years ago, people got enough exercise in every day life to keep them fit and healthy.
In a perfect world, everyone would be doing what you are doing. In other words, if we were all out running around with our kids (or walking to work, or working on the farm…) then there would be very little obesity.
The only thing I would caution you about is to make sure you get some sort of strength training to build your muscle and strenthen your bones. Even if it's only one day a week for 20-30 minutes. If you are getting that in your play with the kids, then never mind. 🙂
What a wonderful example you are!!!!
~Sandy
Hello,
I found your site in a round about way. Loni from http://writingcanvas.wordpress.com/ had a post on her blog about Debbie from Heart Choices. I visited Debbie's site and enjoyed it and came to your's looking for inspiration to lose weight and become more fit. Your blog looks like just what I need. Thank you for your encouragement and great ideas.
Blessings,
Patricia
Hello,
I found your site in a round about way. Loni from http://writingcanvas.wordpress.com/ had a post on her blog about Debbie from Heart Choices. I visited Debbie's site and enjoyed it and came to your's looking for inspiration to lose weight and become more fit. Your blog looks like just what I need. Thank you for your encouragement and great ideas.
Blessings,
Patricia