How Your Daily Environment Plays a HUGE Role In Longterm Success

When people embark on a new wellness program there is a contagious level of excitement. The promise of new beginnings, the fresh taste of success on a journey that once felt barren and hopeless, the hope rooted in the breakthroughs of tomorrow.

Here’s the thing: you probably already know that a huge percentage of “diets” fail for one reason and one reason only: if you treat it like a momentary blip on your radar, that’s exactly what it will be.
Sooner or later your mind will scan for any and all excuses to denounce something that was once appealing and before you know you’re back on the hamster wheel of yo-yo dieting.

If you’ve been here before or if you’re there now, know this: you’re not alone! It’s human nature to slowly lose interest in something, and like any relationship, it takes some work to rekindle the flame. Thankfully, having the self-awareness to recognize this behavior means you can change it and create a lifestyle that outshines all the past “diet” pit stops.

How do you do it? YOUR ENVIRONMENT! You MUST shape your environment to work for you and your goals. It will not shape itself. This week we’re sharing a few gems we’ve learned along the way in hopes of inspiring you to think of your health, wellness and goals like a marathon and not an all out sprint.

This are simple things that have a big impact. Read on for how to shape your environment for long term success!

Eat your meals at the dinner table. So many of us have become accustomed to unconscious munching. We consume our meals with so much haste that we barely register our level of fullness (which explains why you might feel hungry a mere 30-60 minutes after eating). Food should be experienced; the textures, flavor profiles and sustenance all blending to nourish your body. Deciding to eat all of your meals at the table (without your phone) is a great way to create a healthy habit that will train your brain to register your level of satiety. Not to mention the genuine conversations that can occur if you live with others!

Don’t keep crappy food in the house. We repeat: don’t keep crappy food in the house! Out of sight and out of mind is a thing, and it’s a BIG thing when it comes to staying on track. You are at least 90% less likely to eat the processed junk if you don’t keep it in your house. This can be great motivation to get your family on board with healthy eating, especially if you cook the meals. You can slowly introduce flavor filled, nutrient dense meals until the processed stuff becomes a thing of the past. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely worth it!

Buy smaller package sizes. Jumbo size. Extra large. Super size. You need none of it in your life. Portion control is becoming as much of an epidemic as obesity. Everything is increasing in size, including our waistlines. When you purchase anything packaged (should be a very small percentage of your grocery list), don’t buy the mega size.

That just means you’re more likely to eat more than your body actually needs, which also means you’re more likely to feel that gnawing sense of regret and just plain “ugh”. Even better, buy from the bulk section as much as possible and get only what you need for specific meals.

As you progress on your wellness journey you should find that you can naturally reach a healthy level of satiety without feeling the need to go overboard. This takes time and patience, but once mastered gives you impressive control over your life and day-to-day decisions.

Going out to eat? Box up half of it before you start your meal. One of the best tips we’ve learned thus far is this. Because restaurants generally serve 2, 3 and even 4 times the recommended portions, you can cut back on that overly full feeling by putting 1/2 your plate in a to-go box before you start your meal. Two great things emerge from this scenario: ownership of your healthy eating strategy AND left overs (who doesn’t love left overs!?!).

Drive different routes to avoid the fast food joints. After a long day it can feel tempting to pull up to a fast food place and order a quick dinner. Thing is, this does nothing for you; in fact, it sets you back with the big mess your body will now need to clean up and will likely lash out at you in various ways, like:

Headache
Gas
Bloating
Fatigue
Moodiness
Joint pain (inflammation)

Best to avoid the idea altogether by choosing routes that align with your healthy lifestyle, i.e. ones that include minimal to no fast food temptation!

Don’t tell people you’re on a diet. One of the worst sentences you can recite when you’re out socially and someone asks why you’re not eating or drink [insert food/drink here] is: “I can’t have that, I’m on a diet/cleanse”.

99.9% of the time this will lead to:

“You only live once.”
“It’s just one meal, it’s not going to hurt your progress.”
“Why are you restricting yourself all the time?”
“You should have at least one cheat meal per week so you don’t feel deprived.”

You end up having to defend your actions and it can feel a little awkward. We encourage you to try this instead:

“No thanks, I don’t eat [insert food here].”

You DON’T do something is much different than you CAN’T do something which implies you may be able to bend the rules just a little. Ultimately it’s up to you which rules you bend and which ones you leave alone, but for those social settings in which you find yourself wanting to stay the course, taking ownership of your choices is a great solution to the back-and-forth that happens when you “blame” on something else.
 
And also, don’t be on a diet. Find something that works for you and stick to it. If it makes sense for you life, you feel great and you’re seeing progress, why would you stop doing it? Usually it’s a mental block from years of self doubt. Decide what your non negotiable rules for your life will be and use them to mold your daily decisions. What you decide to do and not do on an ongoing basis is a deeply personal decision, but nonetheless one that should be taken seriously. This is your life and your health. You deserve to thrive. It takes a little more work, but it delivers a lot more fulfillment.

Until Next Time,
Sham & Christina
Inspired Wellness

About Inspired Wellness
We are a wellness movement aimed at cultivating greatness in all areas of life. We believe that everything is connected and that having the body of your dreams shouldn’t come at the price of your mental and emotional health. You CAN have it all; you just need some determination, grit and the desire to truly change your life!

Catch us locally in sunny Sacramento CA inspiring lives at our wellness center with fitness, nutrition and lifestyle programs, or online doing the same thing with our new online training site + community coming soon!

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