Category: Training The Mind

Oxford defines a habit as “a thing that you do often and almost without thinking, especially something that is hard to stop doing.”
That second part is important.
You go to work to work every day because you have to, but you have that cup of coffee every morning, because you NEED to.

This is what makes something a habit.
Understanding how habits work gives us clues on how to break bad habits and develop good ones instead. And because habits are hard to give up, those good habits which once required disciplined effort, become routine.

This is all because habits run on a feedback loop. It begins with a trigger, which leads to the habit, and it finishes with a reward. The reward reinforces the behaviour and is the reason why habits are so hard to break.

For instance it’s 6am and you feel tired (the trigger), so you have a coffee (the habit), and the caffeine gives you a hit of energy (the reward).

Understanding this feedback loop allows you to hack it and break bad habits.
Here are some tips for breaking bad habits:

• Don’t go cold turkey
– take small steps. Breaking habits takes time, don’t deplete your motivation all at once by giving up every bad habit and starving your brain of its rewards. Focus on one habit at a time and reward yourself for not indulging in that habit.

• Target the triggers
– the habit follows the trigger, if you reduce or eliminate the trigger, the habit will follow.
• Replace the habit – if you like to eat chocolate whilst you watch TV, don’t just stop eating. Replace the chocolate with something else (ideally something healthier).

Now that you’ve got a plan to break your bad habits, it’s time to learn how you can use the feedback cycle to develop good habits.

• Reward yourself
– Sometimes the benefits of a good habit aren’t felt for months, so the feedback loop stalls. Rewarding yourself for good habits will keep the loop running until the benefits of the finally kick in.

• Use the process principle
– the process principle is derived from the ultimate fitness clichés, “Just Do It”, “Starting is the hardest part”. The process principle starts with an action, not a trigger or a plan. Act first, and reward yourself to kickstart the feedback loop.

• Surround yourself with supportive people
– if you were trying to give up smoking you wouldn’t hang around with people who smoke. The same goes for good habits too, if you want to exercise more, spend time with people who exercise more. Be vocal as well, if you tell people you are trying to lose weight, not only will supportive people encourage you, but they will hold you accountable.
So you’ve read this article and now you know all about habits, but what now?

Use the Process Principle! Act now and reward yourself, replace one bad habit from your routine with a good habit. Knowing the tips from this article isn’t enough. You need to actively implement them until the conscious effort becomes easy.

The process principle not only works for forming habits, but it is an effective technique to boost productivity and creativity as well.
If you found this article interesting and want to learn more on the topic of habits and ways to hack your own brain, I highly recommend the following books, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

Whether you’re just getting started on your fitness journey or you want to shed those last 5kgs these small changes can have a big impact!

Replace refined carbs with whole grain versions. Refined carbs such as white rice or pasta have been stripped of almost all fibre, vitamins and minerals. As they have a high glycemic index (GI), the food is digested quickly which will have you feeling hungry again really quickly and looking to reload your belly with unnecessary calories. Replace those baddies with their nutrient rich alternative; and you will be feeling fuller for longer.

Update your playlist to keep your workout fresh and fun.  Everyone has a go-to song to get you “in the zone” as lets face it, sometime you need some extra pep in your step to ignite some motivation. Working out to your favourite songs helps you keep focused and avoid distractions. Music has the power to make us happy and excite the bones! Metaphorically speaking.

Swap sodas (even diet) with unsweetened brewed teas. Natural, unsweetened iced tea is loaded with antioxidants which can help your body fight against a number of different things, including age and cancer. Antioxidants are excellent in slowing the progression of old age, and they are incredibly good for your skin as well, meaning that they can help keep you looking and feeling younger.

Keep active! Watching TV? Do some squats, crunches or sit-ups. Being a couch potato can wreak havoc on your health & well-being. But we’re not going to tell you to ditch the tellie, we’re realists! But we will encourage you to indulge in the box whilst working that bod! Move any home gym equipment into the lounge room or set yourself a sit up challenge during commercial breaks.

Reward yourself with clothing, music or fitness gear instead of food. Rewarding yourself when you reach specific fitness goals is a great way to keep yourself motivated. But where many people fail in this is when they ‘treat’ the success with counter-productive foods. You’ve worked hard to reach that goal! Don’t diminish the achievement with food but rather something that will help you keep on track. Clothes a size smaller, gym wear or download an album from iTunes.

Dedicate 75% of your plate to veggies and the rest to whole grains and lean proteins. Eating more fruits and vegetables is one of the most important dietary habits you can adopt to prevent heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension and to manage your weight. Vegetables in particular will cost you little in the way of calories while offering huge health benefits.
Whole grain foods are not refined, which means they contain all three parts of the grain, including the two lost in the refining process—the outer layer, bran, which provides fiber, B vitamins, and antioxidants; and the germ, the nutrient-packed inner portion, containing protein, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. The endosperm, the starchy part of the grain left in refined products such as white flour, contains some protein and lots of carbs but few nutrients.
Some high-protein foods are rich in protective nutrients, such as the omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts and fish like wild salmon. Use nuts as a garnish to add flavor, texture, and toastiness to salad, or eat a small handful as a snack. Beans are a near-perfect food—high in protein, fiber, B vitamins, iron, calcium, and magnesium, and very low in fat. Puree them into dips and spreads, or add them to salads, soups, stews, and casseroles for extra protein oomph.

Aim to walk 10,000 steps a day! Taking 10000 steps every day has been one of the biggest public health messages this decade. And now with technologies such as fitbits its as easy as every to ensure you’re reaching this daily minimum. Get off the bus a stop earlier and walk those extra steps hoe. Take the stairs instead of the lift. Not only is this great practice for overall improved health but it will simultaneously work on the thighs, butts and calves.

Sign up to a group fitness class, challenge or event. Community groups are highly motivating! Group exercise is a great way to have fun, stay motivated and get results! At Roar Fitness 247 all of our membership options are inclusive of unlimited group fitness classes across both locations and include Les Mills, freestyle programs, yoga, HIIT style classes, boxing and much more. All of our classes are designed to suit any fitness level and led by qualified and motivating instructors. With times ranging from 5:30am through to 8pm and over 80 classes on offer you are sure to find a few favourites that help you to reach your health and fitness goals.

Eat slowly. It takes your body 20 minutes to realise its full. Take your time eating. Not only so that you can enjoy the experience but also to give your body time to let your mind know that you’re full. Overeating can become a ‘bad habit’ so next time you sit down for a meal consciously make the decision to savour the moment and slow it down!

Get 7-8 hours of sleep. Sleep loss may interfere with the body’s ability to breakdown carbohydrates, which leads to high levels of blood sugar. Excessive blood sugar promotes the overproduction of insulin, which leads to the storage of body fat. Sleep is fundamental when you’re trying to shed some unwanted KG’s so much so we have an entire blog dedicated to the topic. You can read this here: You’ll Lift Better With Sleep

So, in conclusion, it takes small daily changes to develop life long positive changes to improve your overall health and well being.

Winter is the perfect time of the year to focus on your training and nutrition routine. There are far less events on and reasons to have BBQs and consume alcohol when it’s cooler.

Who wouldn’t want to maintain a fit and healthy body all year round?

Rather than letting go of you’re positive efforts over winter, only to undo all of your hard work to then redo the hard work again before summer!

Good habits should be consistent regardless of the time of the year.

Here are some tips to keep you in momentum as the days start to shorten:

1. Pick a SMART Goal – Specific. Measureable. Attainable. Relevant. Time Bound.

Whether your goal is working toward an event, a holiday, a fun run, a competition, or a fitness or body composition goal, this will give you the destination to type into your GPS!

Break this down into bite size pieces by each month, week, and day. Identify your potential roadblocks in advance so when they show up you know what to do!

2. Organise your week

Figure out when you can fit training into your schedule. Training before work can help to ensure that you get your training in rather than it coming to the end of the day and by then you’ve lost your motivation to show up! Alternatively, going to the gym straight after work rather than home first helps (otherwise you may go home and not be able to motivate yourself to get back up and go).

3. Work out with a friend and/or trainer

It definitely helps to have someone there holding you accountable, someone who is going to push you along and talk you into coming to the gym, you never regret a workout J the hardest part is getting to the gym!

4. Overhaul your Training Program

The body adapts to programming within 4-6 weeks, it might be time to bust that plateau and try a new training program or style. 

5. Overhaul your Nutrition Plan

If you’ve been following the same approach day in and day out for a while now with your eating and your bored, then your body is most likely bored also. Mix it up and make things interesting with some new meal ideas.

6. Prepare food for success

With less partying going on in Winter its easier to have a lazy day around the house with 2 hours of this spent preparing your food for the week, ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail’ and some nights once you get home from work the last thing you want to do is think about organising your food for the next day.

7. Group Training

Join a group style of training and work your week around that e.g. Small Group PT, Cross Fit or Group Fitness Classes to name a few.  It takes the guesswork out of your weekly training routine and keeps things interesting.

8. Embrace the winter!

Every year winter is going to rock up whether we want it to or not, so why not embrace this time of the year! Perhaps take up a winter sport or find ways to get outside with family and friends on new adventures. 

9. Pack your gym bag the day before

Have your gym bag ready to go the day before, that way if your training in the morning it will give you that little bit of extra time to sleep in, or if your coming straight from work it will ensure you don’t forget your workout shoes.

10. Purchase some new kicks or workout gear

How good does it feel having some fresh new kicks and active wear to show case around the gym! It gives you that extra boost of motivation. Go out and treat yourself to something new, this can also be a good reward for reaching your goals.

Lets hit the beach next summer with even better beach bodies than this year, lets utilise winter rather than going into hibernation, glued to Netflix and eating comfort food!

Thanks for reading,