Little Changes, Big Impact

I made it to the gym four times this week and am on schedule for another four this week. I can't say that each workout has been some hour-plus calorie blaster. In fact, at least two of my workouts last week were fewer than 30 minutes. But, I still made it.

I think the act of getting up and going (all four workouts took place before 9am, 2 before 7am) was important. Exercising (or not) and eating well (or not) are behavioral patterns. I know that if I continue to make the effort to go -- if I simply get into the habit of waking up and going, then then my body and desire to perform well will take over.

Ninety percent of exercise is mental, which can be a good and bad thing. It's bad because the brain can play all sorts of tricks that prevent us from taking positive steps towards a goal. It's a good think because you can "train" your brain to be disciplined and without ever breaking a sweat. Indeed, the title of my post doesn't refer to any sort of micro phsyical changes that I've seen in the last week. Instead, it refers to the small mental changes that I've made. Here are some examples (what's a post without illustrative examples?!):

Mental Trick One: Hide the Emergency $20!

I am supposed to keep a $20 bill in my wallet for emergencies. Without it, I would be cashless since I depend on my debit for all of my purchases. However, I recently realized something about my emergency $20 -- having it in my wallet predisposes me to take cabs home! It's amazing. Somehow, I am at my most tired and least able to deal with the subway when I know that $20 is there for the "emergency cab."

My "get out of the gym" free pass works the same way. And, it's ALWAYS there. Yup, it's the little card in the back of my mind that is ready to be used whenever I'm sleepy, in need of a little tv, or just plain lazy. Once I use that little card, it becomes really hard to ignore it's presence -- just like the $20. In fact, I seem to go out of my way to look for reasons to whip it out right before I'm supposed to go to the gym.

So, what's the trick? There is none. Let me repeat. There is none. If, in the moment, you can hear the little voice somewhere in the back of the brain teasing you that you're being lazy, then you probably are. Save yourself the regret and guilt and leave the $20 in your wallet.

Mental Trick Two: Trick the Treats!

This is the converse of the emergency $20. Let me demonstrate how the treat plays out in life outside the gym. After a rough day of work, I like to come home and put my feet up. I deserve it. I work hard. Pay my dues. Smile when I don't want to. Perform tasks that belong to others. All of that hard work when I get home means that I don't owe anybody anything. Even me! If cookie-liking me wants a cookie, then calorie-counting me has to wait!

So, what's wrong with this? There's nothing wrong with a treat once in a while, right? Well, yes. But, I can say in all honestly that the above paragraph characterizes every day at work. I smile when I don't want to every day. I do stuff that I "technically" shouldn't every day. On a daily level, giving myself a little treat wouldn't matter so much -- but, treats add up!

What if every day I came home and rewarded myself by eating a cookie and not going to the gym? (This, in fact, characterizes my last week so thank goodness I went in the mornings!) The treat becomes an excuse for the brain not to do things it doesn't want to do. Justifying it with "good behavior" during the day makes it no less impactful on the decisions we make in other parts of our life.

There are a couple of ways to deal with this and I confess to using both at times:

a) Change the treat. It's a time-honed diet technique -- change your reward structure. If days at work are hard, then visualizing positive after work activities can be the anchor that helps propel us through it. However, the brain knows that a trip to the gym is more rewwarding than a cookie. Or, drinking a glass of wine only makes the next day that much harder. The trick here is asking yourself "is this the treat I need?"

b) Eliminate need for treat. This one, on the surface, appears harder. Most people need incentives to get through things when they suck. (It's true, right?) However, sometimes you have to stop and ask yourself "how much does this really suck?" Like the $20 (this brain stuff is all related), it can be easy to fall into a pattern of looking for a reason to give yourself a treat.

We often invest so much energy into preparing for a task that we feel the need to rewards ourselves -- even though 90% of the hard work was spent preparing to deal with how hard the task is! Does this even make sense?! The brain is pretty powerful and quite capacble of engaging in all sort of activities to support a narrative that we've made up. So, if I start my morning saying "my day is going to suck," then it often does. And, I come home needing a trick. On the other hand, if I start my day saying "I wonder what today will be like?" or "today should be fun," then I am not as predisposed to allowing my tired self to take over at the end of the day. This is a good thing because my tired self likes cookies and hates the gym.

(PS -- One can also see how the treat plays out negatively when engaging in a little bit of gym time and thinking that the number of allowable cookies doubles, but I will not cover that hear.)

Mental Trick Three: Give up on Little Orphan Annie.

What?

Seriously?

Yup, Little Orphan Annie ruined it for us all. Her singing and beguiling smile convinced a generation that if they just waited by the window dreaming, then all that they wanted would come true. Tomorrow. Although the movie didn't show it, I suspect that Annie spent a whole lot of nights singing about tomorrow before Daddy Warbucks ever appeared. And, for all of her good luck, there were many less fortunate children who dodn't fare as well in the movie.

Despite this fact, we live in a constant dream state about the possibilities of tomorrow. As I type this, I am thinking that tomorrow I will not indulge in cupcake frosting. I'm also thinking that I will get to the gym 10 minutes earlier so I can warm-up before my training session. Tomorrow.

Not really much more to say here other than I know that the cupcakes will still be here tomorrow. And, after the cupcakes are gone, I should have a bag of cookies. And, I maybe didn't run as fast as I could today on the treadmill. But, I will. Tomorrow.

I don't particularly like thinking of myself as an unpowerful young girl wishing for someone to swoop in to solve all of my problems. This was the unfortunate narrative for Annie, but it isn't me. I was raised to be independent and strong.

If I want something enough, then I can get it. It might not be here by tomorrow, but there are still things that I can do today. There are things that I can do every day.

The trick? Sing a few bars and see if it makes you feel just a bit silly...