Most of us want to tone up, get fit, build muscle, or reach some other health related goal. We get it– your confidence isn’t what it used to be or you just want to feel better all round. The problem is we live in a microwave society where we are expecting instant results.
But the truth is that it takes time to make your changes sustainable. You need to create healthy habits which will be woven into your lifestyle after consistently achieving them over a period of time.
The confusion here is that you think you are doing something simple when you say–”I am going to stop going out to eat so much,” but you don’t realize WHAT THAT MEANS. So let me break it down.
When you go out to eat you have three actions to take. #1 Decide where to go, #2 Get there, #3 Decide what to order. That’s easy!!
On the flip side- when you stop going out to eat there are at least 9 steps.
#1 Decide what to eat
#2 Find a recipe and determine the ingredients
#3 See what you already have
#4 Make a grocery list
#5 Go to the grocery store
#6 Put the groceries away
#7 Prep/chop the ingredients
#8 Cook the meal and follow the recipe
#9 Clean up after cooking and eating
WHEW!!! That was A LOT!!
So you see something as simple as not eating out as much can be a lot of work. This is why focusing on something more simple like making better choices when going out to eat is a BETTER start.
Research backs the concept of focusing on one thing at a time- let’s talk numbers:
Changing 1 habit at a time has an 80% success rate in retaining the habit for a year or more, but when you add another habit on top of that to work on 2 changes at a time the success rate is only 35%. Try adding a third– and the success rate declines to 5%!!!
This is why you need to focus one thing at a time to set yourself up for success. It didn’t take you 2 weeks to get where you are and it won’t take 2 weeks to get where you want to be.
If you need help breaking it down into these smaller actionable steps we can help! All you have to do is book a free intro to get started: www.sycamorecrossfit.com/nutrition