Here’s how you could get started: Put in a little jog in the park before the workday starts, reach for veggie casserole instead of chicken and fries at the cafeteria, and do a few yoga exercises on the living room rug before you step out for dinner. It sounds convincing, but how do you move from being a couch potato to living an active and health-conscious lifestyle?
Benefits of a healthy lifestyle
Making a good case is the first step. Keep in mind that by changing your lifestyle habits, you are doing something good for your health and also your beauty:
- The muscles become firmer and can better absorb oxygen from the blood.
- The bones become stronger and less likely to break.
- Heart and circulation are strengthened, blood pressure and blood lipid levels decrease.
- Sleep disorders and depression decrease.
- Stress loads are better absorbed.
- Life expectancy increases.
But despite all common sense, a big catch remains: every time you want to leave the usual rut, something inside reports and creates a slight malaise. Even if it’s just five minutes of gymnastics or healthy shopping in the supermarket – the self-appointed bodyguard brakes.
Minimize inhibitions
The three pillars for long-term health are:
- Physical fitness,
- Varied mixed diet and
- Mental relaxation are.
Lose weight with motivational training
The greater the change seems to the inner voice, the more it strains to prevent the consistent implementation of resolutions. The inner pig or resistance can become extremely creative when it comes to excuses why we are slagging off today in particular: Weather too bad, time too short, great TV program, and, and, and …
Motivational psychology is concerned with how to promote healthy behavior against inner resistance. Scientists call it self-motivation when a person keeps pulling himself together against all inner resistance. At the University of Hamburg, psychologist Prof. Gabriele Oettingen has been researching the topic of motivation for many years. The head of the research center for motivational psychology examined the eating and exercise behavior of 300 women between the ages of 30 and 50 over a period of four months. Two groups were compared: Half of the women simply resolved to eat healthier and exercise more. The second group initially received 30 minutes of motivational training. In addition, these women kept a diary in which they recorded eating habits and the frequency and duration of their exercise. Result: Previously motivated women performed significantly better. They did about an hour more exercise than the control group, ate a healthier diet and maintained the healthier lifestyle even after the four months of the study. Oettingen found that positive thinking alone is not enough to effect long-term lifestyle changes. You have to figure out at the start what obstacles you’ll face on the way to becoming a lean athlete, and come up with a solution for each setback in advance.
With small steps to the goal
Social scientist Dr. Gudrun Schwarzer has also found that mentally painting a rosy future is not enough. It is a matter of moving from pure theory to practice. She applies a method developed by U.S. entrepreneur Barbara Sher at the end of the 1970s: taking small steps to reach your goal. If you resolve to do something for your physical fitness every day, she says, you can’t start with 30 minutes of jogging right away. “That’s too drastic a change,” Schwarzer says. It’s better to start with a step in the right direction, “even if it’s tiny; then you experience the changes very directly.” Because otherwise, inner resistance reacts immediately and quickly shatters any plan. Think about the absolute smallest unit you can do every day, “then you can undermine the resistance,” advises Schwarzer. Schwarzer, not the most athletic herself, she says, started with seven squats a day. “I didn’t have to change for that, and I think my resistance found that task too ridiculous to sign up for.” Now body memory comes into play. If you pause for a moment after each workout to reflect on what the movement did to you, your body stores it.After just a few repetitions, the body yearns for this movement and the next intensification step is easier. Everyone has to find out for themselves what type of movement is most pleasurable, says Schwarzer. It could be push-ups, squats or walking. “The key is getting started and sticking with it – not the amount.”
