#76 Know your healthy life basics

Have your Stay Safe at Home Eating and Drinking Habits been Healthy?
Have you got the basics of good health mastered? 🥕🚶‍♀️😴💧❤️

In this video we're going back to basics. I've maintained my 50 kg loss for over 12 years, including throughout these disruptions. So I'll share the basic habits that have been most effective for me and my clients. How many are you currently doing?

Download the Worksheet here: https://livemorelife.kartra.com/page/76ws

Transcript
​Have your stay safe at home habits been healthy?
Of course if you're an essential worker, have your stay safe at work habits been healthy?

I'm having a lot of people tell me that they've gained a few extra kilos over the past couple of months.  As restrictions start to ease and some people are starting to go back to work, starting to resume "normal" life, I'm having lots of people telling me they need to get back on track with their wellness or their weight loss goals. If that's you, I want to help you do that.
 
In this video, I'm going to share my ideas but how to get back to basics. And I'm going to share my version of those basics. I'm going to share the basic habits that have been the most effective for me and for my clients. And I'm going to offer you the idea of how you can customise those to your life. How can you make it realistic. So that you too can have the healthy life you want?
 
Well, if you don't know me, why am I qualified to answer that and do that for you? Hi, I'm Brian. I'm a life coach and a wellness coach. And I transformed my relationship with myself back in 2006, and when I did that, I changed my fundamental habits, I lost 50 kilos, and I've maintained that 50 kilo weight loss ever since. Including throughout the disruption that's been going on over the last few months, including in the response to COVID-19.
 
Now it's my mission to help people like you transform your thinking, change your habits, from the ones that have created weight gain - that are leading you down an unhealthy lifestyle path - back to healthy habits. I want to help you live more of your life at goal. I want to help you not only reach it, but sustain it. You can check out more of my work over at LiveMoreLife.com.au where you can also grab my 10 secrets to long term weight loss. You can also grab the worksheet for today's video. I have listed the 20 basic habits, most of which I'll be covering in this video. Also some worksheets for you, to help you discover your default habits. What you have been doing. And to set yourself up for success with the healthy habits you want to be doing. So, grab that worksheet, the link is in the description.
 
Now, of course, these couple of months have been quite disruptive for most people, it's had almost all of us out of normal routines. And I love challenges and disruption in our life. Not that we wish it on anyone or that we want to have it. But when it comes, I believe it does reveal to us what our default behaviours are. These are our basics. The things that we revert to the things that we go to, on sort of automatic pilot.
 
And so before I get into my basics of healthy living, I really want you to stop and consider...(and of course, if you've got the worksheet, this is the first page), is to take note, make a list, of your current basics. What have you been doing over the last couple of months?
 
I've talked to so many people, you know, even when the restrictions and social distancing, etc first started, and so many people going 'ahh l'll just wait it out, I'll just, you know, I'll wait till it all blows over, it all calms down and goes back to normal'. But in the meantime, it's been three and a half, almost four months, they've started to bring in some unhealthy habits. You know, that extra glass of wine or two, just grabbing 'whatever', more time spent on the couch, more boredom eating, more worry eating, more frustration eating. So, what have you been doing?
 
Three months is actually a good timeframe for training. In a new habit, so it's worth paying attention to what you have been doing. And asking, 'well, are these habits that I've been practising over the last few weeks months, actually moving me towards my goals, towards the results and the life I want, or away from it? And always encourage you to write these things down and actually ask those questions and answer it. Because when we generate awareness, then we can make a conscious decision. You can choose.
 
Now, which one of these habits or how many of these habits do I want to keep? And which if any of them, do I want to change? So I really encourage you. If you're watching on replay, maybe pause the video do this. Do that download now - what are your current habits? Really have a look at what's been sneaking in? What have you had just become normal, now? Do you want to keep them?
 
Alright, well I promised in this video that I'd share the habits that are working best for me and for my clients. You know, I said earlier that I've maintained my 50 kilo weight loss for 12 and a half years now, including during this time. For me, if anything, I feel like I've picked up a couple of extra healthy habits. During this time I've made progress on other goals that I wanted to achieve. Meanwhile, have not let any of my healthy habits go.
 
So what are the basics of living a healthy life? And the one that I think is the most important is actually Awareness. It is actually paying attention to what you are actually doing. Not what you think you're doing or what you intend to be doing. What you are actually doing. It's why I'm a big fan of writing things down, noticing a thought, being present in the moment.
 
The reason is when we train you in a habit - you know, a habit is just a decision, a choice that we made, and that we've made again and again and again and again - after a little while, it becomes unconscious. Our brain wires it in and moves it out of our conscious thinking into our unconscious thinking. That's all a habit is. It's just choices that we've repeated enough times to become automatic. Our brain has learnt the pattern, and it just runs the whole program, the whole series of behaviours, really without thinking. So in order to change any habit or to train a new habit, we have to get very conscious about what we actually have been doing.
 
So I always think awareness first. Pay attention. How many extra glasses of wine and how often? How much extra eating? What healthy habits (if you had them previously) have drifted away, have you stopped doing? You know, lots of people have said to me like, well, the gym was closed, I couldn't do my exercise. Okay. Do bodyweight exercises in your lounge room, do it on the floor in the bedroom. You can still walk around your house, you still can be able to get out. So watch out for the excuses, that your brain has been making. That it's 'all too hard' and it's been letting things go. So awareness is always first because then we can make a conscious choice about what to do next.
 
Habit #2 Deciding in advance. Actually decide what food you're going to eat, what foods you're not going to eat. What you will drink, what you won't drink. Decide how you will move, how you won't move. Decide in advance. The reason I like this is because when we're deciding ahead of time we're using the cognitive part of our brain. Our prefrontal cortex. We're using the thinking part, the evolved part and If you take some time to do some planning, you're often doing that in a calm space, you've made some time, etc. So you're not caught up in the moment. Now this investment in time pays back, always, when it comes to the moment, right? We don't have to worry about it. We don't have to think about it. We're not going to spend time debating with ourselves. We've planned.
 
And if you've prepared you also set yourself up for success. That's another habit by the way. you've set up your environment, you've got your meals or your ingredients, ready ahead of time. So you have what you need, where you need, when you need it. For me, it's one of the reasons why I always carry emergency snacks with me. I prepare my meals ahead of time for when I know I'm going to be busy or tired, or stressed or when it might not be convenient. Make sure I'm already set up, ready to go. It's why, if I do have to get taken away, I know my best options. That I can have in a healthy balance. That is still going to work with my overall goals.
 
And while we're on planning, make sure that you don't get into diet mode, you don't think about it...'I have to be perfect all the time, or I have to only have healthy things, I can't have an indulgence ar a treat kind of food I enjoy'. That's so not true. You should never be feeling like you're missing out or you're being restrictive. You want stick to that. The way we lose, the way we look after ourselves, has to be something that's ongoing for the rest of our life. So make sure you have food in there that you enjoy, that you anticipate having. That you're looking forward to.
 
In fact, I always plan in something I'm looking forward to. Something new or exciting or that feels a bit special. So that I can be looking forward to it. Know when we've got that our brain can go...'Oh, well, I don't need this now, I'm having that later. I'm looking forward to that, and I'd rather that instead. When I'm having things in a healthy balance, right? When we don't have that, we haven't planned anything in,  when we just get stuck in the same old, same old, we tend to get bored. And then all the other things become tempting. And we just feel like we have no willpower, or there's too much temptation around or it's just the environment. When really, it's just the fact that we failed to plan for our brains desire for novelty, for excitement, for newness, and to recognise that food and drink are a source of pleasure, as well as a source of nourishment in our lives. So actually, you still include some of that. Right? Plan in indulgences, but don't just have them in reaction in the moment. Those are the automatic habits that we've already been practising. Usually the ones that lead to overeating or to bingeing or to making poor choices, choices that lead away from our health. That aren't in a healthy balance.
 
So make those decisions in advance. Decide what you will and what you won't have. So that you can check. You don't have to be responding in the moment. I already mentioned setting up for success and I mentioned nourishing our bodies. Eating for nutrition as well as for pleasure. So it is important to check, am I meeting my body's nutritional requirements? Am I getting all the nutrients that I need to be healthy, to be living in a healthy balance? Well, if you plan for it, you can check.
 
it also remember then important to listen to your hunger signals to eat when you're hungry. Earlier I mentioned eating for boredom or for stress or you know, for avoidance. Many of you you've talked to me about eating your emotions over this time. So one of the ways to move towards healthy is to really recognize when we're doing that, and instead, to be able to tune into our body to listen to those hunger signals and know when we're hungry and knowing how to respond appropriately. So one of the Healthy Habits is eating nutritious food when you're hungry, and then listening to your hunger signals and stopping when you're satisfied, not full. Just satisfied - when you're no longer hungry.
 
Now, of course, to do that, you need some other skills, slowing down, eating mindfully, learning how to tune in. And if that's a complete mystery for you, you don't know how to do it, go check out video #27 (it's from July 2019) on my blog at Live.MoreLife.com.au/videos - go check out Video #27 it's about how to listen to your hunger signals. Tune it.
 
In so many ways, if we plan ahead treats and indulgences we have something anticipate. We're looking forward to it, we're going to meet out good health guidelines, we've got our nourishment, and we're listening to our body... then effectively we've eliminated overeating. And for most people that will do 90% of moving towards their healthy weight, to their good health goals. It's going to be so much of all the work.
 
Of course, we do also have to move our body regularly. We have to minimise sedentary time. Watch out for how much time we're spending in front of the computer, on the couch, in front of Netflix, on our phone. We have to get our body moving regularly throughout the day. It's not enough to just do big blocks of exercise. We want at least to do five minutes in every hour moving around. Now you can also do a block of exercise. Fantastic. That's awesome. But it's moving regularly throughout the day, that's really important.
 
The next habit staying hydrated. I did this a couple of videos ago but making sure that you are staying hydrated again regularly throughout the day. It's not the case where you want to get to the end of the day and go 'I haven't had enough to drink I'm going to drink two litres'. No. Your body needed that hydration, that needed that fluid throughout the day. And of course, mostly water. So stay hydrated.
 
Next basic. *inhales* *exhales*. Remember to breathe. Consciously create space in your life to slow down the pace of our life. To step out of the chaos, the drama, of thinking and just be present with yourself. It's one of the effective means of lowering our stress hormone cortisol. So finding ways to effectively (and to practice) managing stress in a healthy way, is also really important. What techniques are using? Can you take a moment just to breathe. And by the way, if you're a person who needs to problem solve, needs creative solutions, your a creator - giving your brain relaxed thinking space, it's very important for our creativity as well. Gives it the time to make connections between dispersed and diffuse ideas in your mind, rather than always trying to force it and always trying to be on.
 
So many of you, and so many of us, find that when we're trying to be on all day. It's Go! Go! Go! make decision, make decision, make decision, deal with this trauma, put out that fire - again and again and again - that we're mentally exhausted by the end of the day. You may find it much more effective to switch between deliberate, focused thinking, with relaxed, diffuse thinking, and back to deliberate focus thinking, back to diffuse focused thinking. You might be familiar with the Pomodoro technique, which is 25 minutes of focused thinking, followed by five minutes of relaxed, diffuse thinking. Repeat throughout your day, much more productive than going hard all the time.
 
And just like learning that new technique (if it was new for you), staying in a learning and growth mindset is also one of the healthy habits. To remember that having or not having these, these habits is not anything to do with our innate ability, our characteristics as a person, to our worthiness. We're not a good or bad person for having habits. We've learned. We've trained them. We are skilled. So remember that success or failure is not about the result. It's about the process, the effort, strategies that you applied. What did I try? What worked? What could I do next? What might I do differently? What else could I try?
 
So staying in a growth mindset. You know, I see so many people have a fail... you know, they had a good intention, and they made a poor choice, they didn't follow through, or they tried something and it didn't work for them, and then they give up. Because they feel like I'm just not good enough. I can't do it. No, no, no. That's the fixed mindset. It's not a talent you have or don't. Is it a skill that I have done the work to learn.  to train in? And if not, can I apply more effort? Or can I try a different strategy? So stay in a learning and growth mindset.
 
Of course, it's also important to stay connected to, and revisit regularly, your purpose. Why do you want to live a healthy life? Why do you want Have a healthy lifestyle? Why does that matter to you? And in fact, I feel like that's an important one to check daily. It's a good habit to write down. What is the commitment I'm making to myself today? What is the intention I'm setting? Why do I want to do those things? Today? We stay connected to our purpose in life.
 
The next habit is maybe not a habit as much as a reminder. But it's this idea of constant iteration. Leading on from everything I've just said, I believe that mastery is a discipline. I've said before, it's a constant discipline. It's not a destination to which we arrive. Mastery is a constant discipline, not a destination.
 
I see that mistake so often. People will try some techniques - they might follow a diet, they might make some healthy changes for a while - and then they get to the result they want, they get to a healthy weight, or a certain level of fitness - and they're like...'great, I've done it'. You know, they've competed in the 10 K run, a half marathon or they've had the amazing photo at the wedding. And then, if they don't keep practising, they revert. Have you done that? Mastery is constant practice. We have to keep doing the skills. They have to be sustainable. That's why I'm always looking at small, easy change.
 
All of this of course, is about making your self-care a priority, which is also one of the basic habits for success. I see so many clients say 'but I have to put everyone else's needs first, I always have to come last'. And yet, when you do that, you actually deprive them of the best version of you. You deprive them of that energy, that positivity, the fortitude, and the inspiration that you could provide. You give them a worse version of you.
 
Yet, every time I help a client switch to putting their needs first, they realise that they can. That everything else either doesn't have to get done, or if it is important, it actually still gets done. It gets done from a place of being loving and generous and giving, of having the capacity. Instead of draining ourselves. Instead of resenting it. Instead of doing it despite ourselves.
 
It always improves. Everyone's always amazed, like...'Oh, I still get everything done that was important' . Or 'I realised some of the things that I was always doing, actually weren't important. They were opportunities for other people to do things to. It always works better. So don't think you can't do it. I've seen it happen so many times.  Alright.
 
Finally, I want to try and keep this video bit shorter. So my last key point here - and the last basic that I think is just so important and try and bring it to every situation - is to think and act with love. Practice kindness and compassion, rather than criticism, judgement. Particularly when it relates to ourselves. Create the habit of thinking and acting with, and from, love. It always works better.
 
Now, I've listed a whole heap of basics here, maybe it sounds like a lot, maybe it's a long list. There are 20 in the worksheet and maybe you even have some of your others, that you do as well. Don't let yourself be overwhelmed. Don't think that you have to do all of them at once. So many of my clients find that just by starting on one of these habits, many of the others start to naturally evolve. Often we'll end up doing them all without even really noticing. But you do have to start somewhere. And I want to remind you that every time you act, you are reinforcing a habit. Either one you want, that you've chosen deliberately, or one that you don't want. That's leading you away from your goals.
 
You're going to be practising and great many habits throughout any given day. So my advice is, check out the list that I've learned. Maybe write out your own list of habits, and check out which ones you want to keep, which ones you want to change. And then look if there's any on this list that you don't yet have, that you aren't practising. Then just choose one from that list, or choose one of your own that you want to improve today.
 
Now if that feels hard still, I've actually included the worksheet from a page from the worksheets from last week's video. It's the "make it easy" page. If you need more help with breaking it down, making it more simple, make sure you go and watch video #75 Making it easier. That will give you some help with breaking down those healthy habits. Make sure it's easy. Make sure you break it down into smaller doable steps. It's got to be realistic in your life. And then, you know, just do one thing. Like even, I talked about meeting your good health guidelines and meeting your body's nutrition. Okay, maybe you don't do all of that at once. Maybe just want to add more vegetables into your day. So can you plan them in? can you put them on your shopping list? Can you buy them ahead of time and have them ready, so you can just add them to one extra meal or snack. You know, maybe afternoon tea becomes some carrot sticks. Maybe you put some extra broccoli in with dinner, you know? Maybe you just work on making one small change to one habit to start with.
 
All of our best learning and growth comes in stages. We build on our prior learning. Both the successes and the failures, and to remember that as long as you try, you're actively practising change, there are no bad outcomes. Pay attention, notice what works, notice what doesn't and then iterate, make a new decision. Plan for the change and test it out. Pay attention, have compassion and understanding and repeat. Start the shift, and you'll discover that you'll start to gain momentum.
 
I've sometimes heard habit change talked about like a boulder on a mountain. Sometimes you've got to get it in the right direction, you got to spend a lot of effort, pushing it just to get it starting to roll. But once it starts, it can continue on it's own. That's what we want in our journey to a healthy life. Just got to get that little bit of effort in there to get started.
 
So have a think about what are the basics that you want? What do you want to be the foundation of your healthy life? You know, if I had to ask you to get back to basics today, what would change for you? What current habits would you keep? Which ones would you change? And seriously, make a list of those. Don't just keep it in your head, actually write them out and keep that list somewhere where you can refer to it. It's in the worksheet if you want it. It's your work in progress.
 
And don't forget to acknowledge your efforts. Right? Note when the new habit has in fact, become default, that you're actually just doing it. So on that 'make it easy' page, there's a one month tracker for a habit. You can just check off every day that you're doing it. And then on the master list, tick off when actually you now have this as an automatic daily habit. Remember to get there all you have to do is practice it enough times. Stay conscious, keep practising, so tick them off. Acknowledging your success will help you see your momentum and it will encourage you to do more right? Success breeds more success. It breeds more motivation. And if you don't get one right, just pay attention... What worked? What didn't? And think about... What can I do differently? We just recommit to our goals. Reconnect to your purpose and move forward.
 
Alright, well, I'm hoping that list is useful for you. I'm hoping maybe you re-watch this video, you download the worksheet and you actually do the work to go well... What habits do I have currently? Am I doing all of these? What other ones do I have? What am I doing is not helping? Let's pick one thing to change at a time.
 
Of course, if you need more help retraining any of those unhealthy habits or even just identifying the basics that are or aren't helping you, then let's have a conversation. Head to LiveMoreLife.com.au today you and request a free consultation. You know, I love talking habits. I love helping people create sustainable changes, you know, coming up with changes that they can actually do and keep. So why not draw on my experience of helping people adjust their habits. You really can have the life and the results you want. And if you're not on track, there's no time like today to get on track, and start now.
 
So if this has been helpful for you, please give me a like, give me a heart, give me a reaction. If you're watching on YouTube or on my video blog, make sure you subscribe to get notified every new video. And of course, if you know someone who could hear this message - they've been talking about needing to get back on track or having unhealthy habits - please comment. Tag them in the comments below or send them the link to this video so that they can get the help too. I want to help as many people as possible.
 
For now, let me know in the comments. What is one basic habit that you will start or change this week? I'd love to know. Let me know. Have an amazing day and enjoy your journey back to health.
 
Transcribed by https://otter.ai