5 Reasons Your Healthy Lifestyle Fails (and what you can do about it).
So, you want to improve your health and well-being.
Good for you! Taking control of our own health and well-being insures us against many lifestyle diseases and is certainly one of the biggest weapons we have to fight menopause symptoms.
The trouble is you’ve been here before.
Motivation is high and you have a list of all the things you are going to do, loads of new habits that are going to get you great results super quick, let’s just hope you can maintain it this time.
If this sounds like you, don’t feel bad, you are not alone.
Following are 5 reasons your well-laid plans fail and what you do to create a healthy lifestyle that really suits you.
Healthy Lifestyle Fail 1, Perfectionism
Planning everything out on paper is something I love to do, especially when I am on holiday with a cocktail in hand, it all seems soooo easy!
Once we start and our plans don’t go, well, to plan, it is easy to scrap the plan for the day, start again tomorrow or worse, next Monday.
Maybe you had an eating plan all set out but someone inconveniently had a birthday and you joined them in a piece of cake or you had a momentary lapse in habit and finished some dinner from the kid’s plates.
Our response is to hit the f@%k-it button because we weren’t perfect.
I am sorry to be the one to tell you this but perfection is an illusion.
What can you do about it?
- ‘Start again’ the very next moment
- Be realistic about what you can stick to, start small
- Don’t diet restrictively, make sure you eat enough
- Focus on all the things you DID do, and write them down at the end of the day
Fail 2, You’re not having Fun
If it’s a chore you are fighting a losing battle.
No pain no gain is outdated thinking.
Your mindset might be programmed to equate a healthy lifestyle with boring and mundane and this is why it can be hard to stick to.
What can you do about it?
- Prepare and eat food that is nourishing and satisfying. Design a meal plan you look forward to cooking and eating and which delights all of your senses
- Make movement a part of your day. Take part in activities that you enjoy. Don’t know what you enjoy? Try some new things.
- Take time to rest and recover, read a book, or watch your favourite TV program.
- Get together with people who lift your soul and make you smile. Stress is one of the biggest obstacles to reaching our health goals, have fun!
Healthy Lifestyle Fail 3, You set the wrong Goals
Have you done this? Be honest, I know have…
Set a goal to lose weight.
Start a calorie-restrictive diet (usually low fat and high carb which = fat storage).
Increase exercise sessions.
You start like a racehorse, lose a few lbs, start to lose willpower, dig in harder, and maybe even lose some more weight but after a few weeks, you reach a plateau.
You feel less energetic and hungry all the time. You are finding it difficult to concentrate and snap at people easily.
Does this sound familiar?
This is why restrictive diets don’t work long-term and struggle to work at all if you are over 40.
By trying to achieve a weight loss goal you are punishing your body rather than nourishing it.
Your metabolism will start to slow down as your starving body consumes its lean muscle mass.
Your hormones go haywire as there are not enough of the right nutrients to make enough hormones, neurotransmitters, cells and enzymes to function optimally.
What can you do about it?
Focus on FEEL goals. How do you want to feel?
- Happy
- Energetic
- Motivated
- Clear-headed
- Glowing
To achieve these goals you are going to have to nourish your body correctly.
The good news is that a side effect of this is optimal body composition ie, you’re more likely to lose weight!
Fail 4, You Sabotage Yourself
Do words such as Habit, Routine and Consistency make you want to poke pins in your eyes?
Do you have an inner rebel? It’s like you have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other!
Just the mere mention of making healthy lifestyle changes wakes up the devil and you are binge-watching a boxset and filling your face with every ‘naughty’ food you can get your hands on.
This kind of self-sabotage usually happens to me when I have a deadline to meet!
What can you do about it?
Ask yourself what makes you uncomfortable about creating a healthier lifestyle.
- Are you afraid you are going to have to ‘give up’ your favourite things?
- Is it self-preservation, it never lasts so why try?
Write down your answers, dig deeper, ask why and write the reply.
Don’t censor your writing, you may be surprised by what pops out of your head.
Once you are honest with yourself you can start to overcome these obstacles.
What I have come to realise is that consistent routines and habits give me FREEDOM.
Fail 5, Not Aligning with your Values
Going against your values makes life unnecessarily hard. Read more about this in my post How Much do you Value your Health?
For instance, let’s say two of your values are Health and Family.
The goal is to be healthy so you join a gym and take classes after work every evening BUT by the time you get home it’s time for the children to go to bed.
You are going to feel stuck between taking care of your health, which is important and spending time with your family. One of your values is going to suffer, this may make you feel crap.
How can you live more in line with your values?
- Go to the gym at lunchtime or later in the evening
- Walk or cycle to work instead of going to the gym
- Invest in some equipment at home/online classes – get up early to do them
- Enrol the children in classes at the gym to coincide with yours
Depending on your current season of life you will need to adjust to accommodate both values, once these are aligned life will feel easier, and more harmonious and you will have less difficulty sticking to your actions.
Designing Your Healthy Lifestyle
Think about what a healthy lifestyle means to you. It really does have to be a lifestyle to see long-term results.
What do you value? How can you design your healthy lifestyle and support your values?
Words such as consistency have to be interpreted to meet your values and current lifestyle.
What does consistency look like to you? Every day, once a week every month?
As your well-being increases, because you are listening to what your body needs, your idea of healthy may change again and you might like to include more.
Tune in to what your body needs right now to reach your feel goals.
Reframe words that make you feel icky, don’t let them sabotage you.
Book a Call
Start your journey to optimal health and well-being, book a Complimentary 30-minute Menopause Assessment.