Why Do People Fail To Transform?
Excuses and Rationalizations.
Ask anyone who has tried to change a longstanding habit related to diet, nutrition, lifestyle or health and you will likely hear a plethora of excuses or rationalizations.
- “I have a slow metabolism.”
- “Everyone in my family is like this”
- “I have no will power.”
- “I don’t have the time, energy or money.”
- “My kids (spouse etc.) are too picky and I would have to make multiple meals.”
- “Compared to so and so I’m not doing so badly.”
- “My doctor said I’m only pre-condition X”
- “This is who I am, it’s part of my identity.”
- “I have failed before. Who am I to think this time will be different.”
A Short Story On My Journey.
I get you, because I was you. I had every excuse as to why I couldn’t eat properly, exercise or do anything else consistently to take care of myself. I made many valiant efforts and suffered through the despair of multiple relapses. At the age of forty, I reached a new top weight of 247 pounds and was on four medications. By age forty-nine I had completed yet another cycle of yo-yo dieting and hit at maximum weight of 255 pounds, had uncontrolled high blood pressure and was staring down the same fate of dying by age fifty-six, just like my father. I dug in, made changes and along the way founded kNOw MORE DIET. I am on a mission to heal one million families with food first. I want people to learn how to become consumers of healthy food and not health care. Enough about me, let’s get back on task with helping you to never have to diet again.
The Top Five Reasons People Fail When Attempting To Change.
- People do not know how to change.
- People do not know how to change.
- People do not know how to change.
- People do not know how to change.
- People do not know how to change.
When it comes down to it there is only one reason people fail when attempting to change any long standing behavior. People do not possess the skillset of knowing how to change. Further, most lack the proper skills to successfully manage life as a freshly transformed human being. Assuredly, everyone should have solid and appropriate motivation or reasons to change. Further, one should take into account if the timing is right and they are ready to change. Going it alone without professional help or community support may increase risk of relapse. All of these tangental considerations coalesce to the master skillset of effective and enduring transformation. Everything we do in teaching our building block skillsets around mindset, (see previous post), and environment, (see previous post), has the overarching thesis at its core.
Building Block Skillset: Mindset.
Keeping with our teaching style, we start by clearly defining mindset. If you have not read our post on mindset, check it out here. Next, we ask folks to take an honest look at their current mindset and assess what exactly they want to accomplish. Some want to lose weight, others would like to have more energy and many have the desire to work with their physicians on de-prescribing a particular medication. We then will engage you in the intentional process of transformation. This means you are ready and willing to go through the mindset shift that is necessary to accomplish whatever change you desire.
Sounds daunting, but it’s not because we have a roadmap for you to follow. Going through this process can be an enlightening and enjoyable exercise. Especially if you have never had the help of a professional to guide you. Below are a few of the areas we focus on, although everyone’s path will vary depending upon circumstances.
- Establishing the why’s for transformation.
- Getting over your-old-self.
- Self forgiveness, gratitude & acceptance.
- Mindfulness, meditation, contemplative prayer et al.
- Breath work, heart rate variability, wearables.
- Remorse, regret and guilt: leaving the past behind.
- Worry, fear and stress: letting the future unfold.
- Teachings of Byron Katie, Wayne Dyer, The Three Principles et al.
- Community, sharing and supporting.
- Nutritional Psychology 101.
Building Block Skillset: Environment And Epigenetics.
In previous writings I have defined environment as “.. the lifetime accumulated effects of all physical, psychological, chemical, toxicological and biological factors in which we steep our human cells, genes and psyche.“ In particular, we are interested in educating people to see the environment as an immersive experience. This includes all informational input shaping your human experience. From a transformational perspective, we teach skillsets around managing your environment to align with desired outcomes. Adopting a healthier lifestyle means that you need to adjust the lens through which you view your environment. To further elucidate this point, we spend time teaching the basics of epigenetics and how genes can be turned on or off thus influencing not only your health, but the health of your children and grandchildren. We cover a multitude of topics in the building block skillsets around environment.
- The company you keep.
- Water, soil, air, food: Understanding your exposome ( what you are exposed to).
- Detoxification.
- Epigenetics and heritable traits.
- Microbiome.
- The gut brain and whole body connections.
- Deep dive into foodome: What is in my food.
- Stress, sleep and cortisol.
- Allostatic load (lifetime wear and tear) and chronic disease.
- Inflammation.
- Creating friction and ease in your environment.
- Functional Nutrition 101.
Building Block Skillset: Ancillary Skills.
While many of the skillsets we teach fall into the headings as described above, some do not. As an example, we typically include exercise regimens, stretching and yoga instruction in our programs. We offer up meal plans and other daily activities. We urge people to participate in our supportive community and teach even the shyest folks to get involved. Here are some of the skills we work on developing throughout our programs.
- Cooking basics.
- Food prep.
- Healthy substitutions. How to health hack your favorite recipes.
- Grocery, kitchen and pantry hacks.
- The art of self coaching: Making bad choices harder and good choices easier.
- Building your own food pyramid.
- Building your family meal plans from our Apple or Google app and also or Pinterest board.
- Increasing odds for success by 250% with coaction.
- Sleep Hygiene.
- Managing screen time.
- Biometrics for better health.
- Talking to my doctor about de-prescribing.
- Nutrition for kids.
- Disease states and food: Food as medicine.
Trying to transform does not need to be a monumental task that you face alone. Transforming your life in a positive direction is the most impactful decision you will ever make in your life. As such, you need to have a solid game plan and a roadmap to follow. To increase your likelihood of success it is best to learn transformation from a professional who understands what you are going through from a psychological and physiological perspective. Treat yourself with the kindness and compassion you deserve and most importantly never give up on you! Ultimately, when you learn how to transform, you will acquire the byproduct skillset of knowing how to never diet again. We hope your journey will be one that leads you from being a haphazard human being to an intentional wellbeing living with a brand new healthstyle to boot. You’ve got this!
If you would like to receive the entire roadmap and a video explaining how to utilize it, either click on any of the excerpts above or click here.