If you have read this column previously, you have already figured out that 2024 and the years beyond will bring us many new shortcuts to retard and even reverse the aging and disease process. Judging from the number of inquiries I have received regarding previous articles, it looks like people are still hoping for a magic pill to come along that will save them from aging and disease.
While it is true that many new pills, procedures and secret weapons are in fact emerging, they will not save you from the basic lifestyle changes you need to age successfully. If you are not yet in the habit of eating a calorie-poor nutrient-rich diet, exercising regularly and getting to bed early, no pill will save you from an early death, disease and pain. I personally use every secret weapon I can get my hands on but I have the basics covered. Plastic surgery won’t get you out of it either. You will just look really weird. We see those lips coming from 100 meters!
Your biggest enemy for building a new habit will be your own brain, which likes things just the way they are, thank you very much. 90% of your daily activities and your thoughts are habitual and old habits die hard. The adage “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is true 90% of the time. The adage should say, “You can teach an old dog new tricks but you need a heavily motivated and focused dog who understands how their brain works.” This is way too long for an adage though.
The entire fitness industry is based on expecting you to fail 80-90% of the time. If you don’t believe me, look at the very successful gym chains. Ask yourself how they support a 10,000+ square foot facility filled with extremely expensive equipment, many full time staff, air conditioning bills, showers and pools when they charge between $10-$30 a month for memberships. The answer should be obvious. People are paying an automatic monthly fee and they don’t go so the facility just keeps selling memberships ad infinitum. 80-90% of the people paying monthly aren’t going.
If you have ever belonged to one of these huge facilities, you will notice that the place is completely packed from January 1st to January 15th. New Year’s resolutions are abandoned by the majority in 14-21 days. Do not worry, I promise you there will be plenty of space in 2-3 weeks.
So, why do so many well-intentioned folks fail? They want to make a change. They know they MUST make a change. They are often disciplined in other areas of their life such as working hard to make money and marital relationships work but they can’t get a handle on the thing that ultimately is the only thing they have: their health.
It’s very simple. We are programmed to do the same things over and over again automatically. Unfortunately, most of our programming was put there in our first seven years of life by well-meaning but dysfunctional parents. If you had a health-conscious family, you are probably health-conscious. If you had a family that valued a work ethic and prestige above all else, you may have let financial success dominate your life choices at the expense of your health and perhaps your relationships.
Most of us want the same basic stuff: a pain and disease-free body (that looks good preferably), financial freedom and successful relationships.
If you say you don’t want any of these things, it probably just means you have failed enough times that you no longer dare to say you want them. In my own case that would be relationships and money. I am successful at a pain and disease-free body. The other areas I am pretty much tanking. I have recently realized that I inherited the healthy living thing from my family who aren’t that great at amassing any wealth and most have been divorced…. But enough about me.
So, if you have decided to finally get in shape and get your diet right, you need to understand one thing first. Continuous repetition of a task is the only way to win against your brain. Your brain, particularly your subconscious mind, will fight against you. And brains are very cunning. They will tell you all kinds of rubbish to stop you creating a new habit. Sometimes knowing that helps but most often our subconscious habits just keep running the show.
When I was a kid, Captain and Tenille had a hit song, “Love will keep us together”. My young friend Christine and I would dance for hours to this on a record player. We played that song so many times that the diamond head of the record player wore a deep groove into the first track of the album. When we finally got sick of the first track and tried to play “Muskrat Love”, the needle kept falling back into the well-worn groove of the first song. After many consecutive times of starting the second song, eventually it stayed there. But we had to be persistent to keep that new song going.
What does this story prove besides the fact that I have been on the planet for quite a long while? Your brain works exactly like the needle of the record player. When you try to change the “song”, (your habits), your brain will keep sending you back to the old track. It is work for a brain to form new neural pathways and brains are lazy as hell. You will have to drag the needle out of the old track and force it into the new one until it stays there. And you better plan to never miss a workout for a minimum of 28 to 90 days come hell or high water or you will fail.
As a personal trainer, it’s my job to keep you on the right “track” long enough that it becomes a habit. Unfortunately, people also get addicted to their trainer. This is also bad. Trainers move, financial challenges come along, etc.
But don’t despair! You CAN beat your brain. All that is required is a DECISION followed by massive action and the appropriate individualized coaching. This is too important to give up on. Do not wait until it’s too late. Another adage is “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.
If you have any questions about this or other articles, please feel free to shoot me an email at robynlittlewood@yahoo.com or a Whatsapp to +526242119435 and I will try to be of service in whatever way I can.
