Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your Amarillo personal trainer. Today we’re going to be wrapping up the two part series on if your favorite splurge become more habit than joy. Now be sure to read part one if you haven’t already at the link here:
And as always, if you have any questions about today’s blog then please give us a call at (806)-322-3188
Last time we were talking about changing habits. Let’s dive a little deeper with something that I know you’ll love: factual evidence!
So, what you have to know that it takes a minimum of 21 days to begin to change a habit. There is a lot of myth out there on that which says it takes just 21 days to change a habit, and that that is actually incorrect. The research that they did said that it takes a minimum of 21 days to begin to change a habit. The full changing of a habit can take months, weeks, days, years, everyone is different. It depends on how strongly you are holding onto that habit. How long you’ve had it, how ingrained it is in your life.
So you have to understand that first, or else you just will lead yourself to frustration as you’re going through and trying to make changes in your life. It’s frustrating when you keep reverting back and you keep trying to make these changes but you feel like you can’t. But it’s because you’re in these habits, and habits are really killer to try and break.
So rule #1 is distraction. What can you find to distract yourself?
So if you know that at a certain time of day that you have this habit, and you don’t want to partake in that habit, then you have to change your surroundings. Say you’re that person that comes up from work, grabs your drink, and then sits on the couch to watch your favorite show. If you decide to get rid of that drink then you can’t sit down on that couch and watch your show. Your brain sees the couch and doesn’t see your drink and it can’t let you go sit down without that drink.
So instead of going to the couch, go outside and get some fresh air. Go take up a hobby, go to a different room. Just find something different to do that keeps your mind engaged enough to where you aren’t mindlessly doing whatever it was that you weren’t trying to do. But also at the same time you want to be able to disengage from that habit so that you can start to build new habits of freedom. Habits of freedom will help you to be able to break free of those chains of what that bad habit has done to you.
Okay, so #1 was distraction. #2 is reprogramming, as creepy as that sounds.
So the personal experience that I have with this is from years and years ago from whenever I was training this woman. I had her three days a week a noon. She would come in, we would workout for 45 minutes, and then I would eat my lunch. Well, she did that for about three and a half to four years, and then all of the sudden she changed to 10 AM.
So she would walk in at 10 AM and my stomach would start growling and I felt very confused. I had already eaten breakfast right before, and I knew that it wasn’t lunchtime yet, but it was that mental trigger from that client being there. My brain saw her being there and figured that it was lunchtime, so that habit carried across from noon to 10 AM. And it took several months to break that habit so that I could start understanding that it wasn’t time to be eating yet. It’s amazing how the brain, body, and emotions all work together to form these habits.
So reprogramming starts with making changes in the distraction area, and also creating a support system. Having someone to hold you accountable but not having it be in an ugly, berating way. Have someone that is willing to let you have a clean slate and understand that mistakes are made, but to also guide you to keep you on the right track.
That’s honestly what I do as a personal trainer in Amarillo. With our clients here we want to be able to help people stay on the right track without berating them. They come in with enough guilt already, I don’t lay that on them, I don’t want them to have that guilt. Guilt just weighs us down. It make things really ugly and it doesn’t help you to get to your goals at all.
So we want to set that guilt aside. And we want to know that every day is a fresh start, every day is a clean slate, every day is the first day to the rest of your life. So in order to take advantage of that, you need to have the support to remind you everyday that what you’re trying to do is going to support you in your goals. Maybe it’s a sticky note on the mirror, maybe it’s a friend that you call each day, maybe it’s your spouse at home, maybe it’s your small children. It’s just a matter of having that support and accountability. Having someone that cares and is going to help guide you in the right direction, because they know how much your goals matter to you.
So that wraps up our two parter on if your favorite splurge has become more habit than joy! I hope y’all liked this series. I know that making changes in life is hard, but it’s not impossible. With the right support behind you, anything is possible.
If you’re wanting the accountability and help with creating an action plan to see results, or are wanting to someone to help create a workout plan to push you to your greatest potential, then that’s what we’re here for. We have an entire team of dedicated professionals to help you with your health and fitness goals. To get your consultation set up, give us a call at 806-322-3188 or email us at info@customfitness.biz At Custom Fitness, we are YOUR personal trainers in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day.