Making lifestyle changes can be one of the hardest things to do successfully in the long run.
In this episode, I share with you my 6 principles for ensuring that you'll be successful when making some changes to your lifestyle.
And let me tell you one thing, you can't rely on self-control only, because often, self-control is NOT the missing ingredient to your failed recipe!
Other episodes referenced:
Episode 27: From 'Broken Body' To Understanding and Healing The Symptoms with Hannah Mackay
➤➤ Make sure you save your spot for the masterclass here: www.vandghie.com/3steps
Transcript:
Well hello and welcome back to another episode of Beauty in Balance!
I hope you’ve been learning through my podcast, about how your body works and what your needs are. And my hope is that you’ll start to feel empowered to take ownership and control of your own health.
If you haven’t listened to my interview with Hannah, which was the episode before this one, I highly recommend it. I know you’ll feel encouraged as you listen to her journey in taking ownership and control after many health issues and official diagnoses, such as endometriosis, fatigue, weight gain, severe eczema and diabetes to name just a few. I’ll link to that episode in the show notes.
I’ve had a question last week which has lead to this episode today.
I had a friend ask me “how do I stay on track when things get tough. I know things will always go up and down, but how do I ensure I don’t go all the way back to ground zero and have to start all over again?”
I wanna share with you my strategies. The things that I’ve been doing for the last 12 years to make sure I stay on top of my health, without feeling that I’m missing out or without causing anxiety.
My perspective on life is that it is all about balance, hence the name of this podcast.
It’s about learning to take care of my body, but not missing out on the small joys in life.
About nourishing but also about relaxing about it all.
And this is exactly why I haven’t done any diet prescriptions in the last 8 years.
Because once we start putting strict rules on ourselves, it becomes hard.
And when things are hard, they become unsustainable.
You need to reach the point where you are certain about what cost is too high for you to pay.
For example, once we have our babies, hopefully we become aware of how important sleep is. If we don’t sleep, we don’t cope all that well. So we start to prioritise sleep (or shall I say we try to).
We know the consequences of not having enough sleep, and therefore when we decide to stay up until midnight to watch that series, we know exactly what the cost of that decision will be. And therefore we calculate the cost.
And I believe it’s the same with our selfcare.
I wanna remind you that achieving hormonal health and balance takes more than just eating the right foods. It’s a lifestyle of selfcare.
And when you reach the point where you experience the benefits of all those small acts of selfcare, you can count the cost on the days where you want to steer away from that and decide if it’s worth it or not.
But that might sound easier said than done.
It takes time to reach that point so you need to put boundaries in place that will lead you towards that place of intuition and keep you safe till you get there…
So I wanna share 6 principles with you today. Pieces of my framework, that I teach inside of the Hormone Health Academy, that is there to do exactly this thing.
To guide you as you find your way. And sometimes it’s as simple as just having a map. Knowing what to do when you make a wrong turn and recalculating the route.
And that is the first principle, having and following a proven framework.
When you are trying to gain control of your health and wellness, the biggest cause of frustration and failure, is not knowing what you’re doing. What are the things that ACTUALLY works and lead to results.
When you sacrifice some of your small joys in life, and you’re not even sure if it makes a difference, it’s real hard to continue doing that.
But if you are certain that the sacrifices you are making, leads to a specific outcome, it becomes easier to be consistent.
Think about putting together some new build-it-yourself unit. Maybe like an ikea tv cabinet. Hopefully you are familiar with this concept.
You receive a box with about a million screws and the same amount of pieces of laminated wood. Small pieces, big pieces and it looks like there is no way that you need all of those pieces in the box. YOu have absolutely no idea where to start to try and put this thing together. But then you open the instruction manual and they have numbered images in there that is supposed to lead you every step of the way until you reach the end product.
Well, maybe this is not such a great example, because Michiel and I have only done this type of exercise three times…
With a shed, a wardrobe and our pantry cabinets, and almost always I felt that there were some pieces or vital steps in the instructions missing.
Or maybe it was just that the 2 of us were trying to do it together.
I’m sure you can relate with me here. Those kinds of things are made to test marriages for sure!
Anyway, my point is. When you are handed a large number of pieces, that all look similar, you need a step by step instruction in order to put it together, which will save you the the frustration and time spent to figure it out for yourself.
You need the instructions. Because if you don’t have it, you are likely to stop trying after putting the wrong pieces together for the 10th time. I can guarantee that you are unlikely to end up with the perfect final product.
And it’s the same with your body.
You need the instructions to understand what are all the different pieces and how to fit them all together.
This will save you a lot of frustration, time and money.
Cause you’ll spend less money on specialist appointments and unnecessary supplements and you’ll be able to spend the time and money on the things that will bring the real results. So without a doubt in my mind, the very first thing that you need to ensure you sustain any change, is a proven framework and confidence in that framework.
The second principle that will help you to persevere with the healing process, is to have small wins along the way
There is nothing more frustrating than putting in a lot of hard work and sacrifice and not experiencing any benefit from it!
And I know you can probably relate to this. If you’ve tried all of the diets, you have likely been in the place where you’ve given up all of your favourite foods and looked at how your family and friends enjoyed beautiful meals, and you had to miss out. And ended up not having any of the benefit for it. How long did that last?
BUT, if you set yourself up to experience small wins along the way, you remain motivated and have incentive to keep going! You need to see it as a journey towards your end destination, but it’s essential that you add in stops along that way that will keep you motivated, refreshed and encouraged.
This is very much like Hannah’s story that was shared on the episode before this one. She didn’t experience all of her results at once, but there were small wins along the way that helped her to stay focused and keep going.
And it’s also important to celebrate small wins along the way. As mothers, we tend to only see how far we have to go, but we forget to stop and celebrate how far we’ve come.
That’s why I think journaling and recording these things can be really helpful.
Don’t forget to have small wins along the way, and celebrate them!
The third principle is to not make it hard!
Having clarity and direction makes things easy, that’s why you need the proven roadmap as per principle 1.
But this principle is about doing things in a way that makes it easy.
And I believe there are 2 very important steps in this.
Firstly, don’t over commit yourself.
I love what Tony Robbins says. We often overestimate what we can do in one year and underestimate what we can do in 10 years.
If we commit to small changes now, we are not only more likely to be successful at maintaining them, but they compound over time to bring massive change in the long run. So we underestimate how small changes are actually what is needed to bring the big results in the long run.
And secondly, structure your routines in a way that makes new habits easy. For instance, if you would like to drink more water, stack the new habit with an old habit. So you would have a glass of water every night before or after brushing your teeth. Soon, your body starts to associate one habit with another and you develop the need for the second habit.
So maybe today you can identify one small habit that you would like to start implementing, identify another habit that will stack comfortably with it and start doing it.
The fourth really important principle, don’t go at it alone!
Doing hard things WITH people that are on the same journey is proven to make you more successful. Research actually shows that people have more success with lifestyle change and health improvement when they use a health coach, versus having consultations and trying to implement change themselves. It’s because when we do things in relationship with others, we can get all the tools that we need, but also all of the practical and emotional support that we need.
It’s incredibly valuable to have a supportive community around you when you take on new and scary things.
Mother Theresa said “I can do things you can not, You can do things I can not, together we can do great things.
Also, having a community that will hold you accountable can be very powerful!
I think what can be very useful sometimes, is to actually talk about your struggles and intentions. By talking through our struggles, we make them real and tangible. We process them through putting them in words, and very often, we come up with the solutions ourselves, with some guidance from a professional.
So having a community where you feel safe to share these struggles, without feeling judged or like a failure, is really critical to your success.
The fifth principle is to include the people closest to you
Specifically when it comes to lifestyle change, it will not only benefit US to include our family but it will benefit them.
OF course we want our families to be healthy and I know for sure that we don’t want our girls to have the same health and body image issues that we struggle with. So if we can do it better for them, why wouldn’t we.
So I use every opportunity to educate my kids on why certain foods should be restricted (note, not eliminated), but eaten less off, and why it’s important to eat plenty of other food groups.
I use positive language when I talk about food and eating and most importantly when I talk about my body. Not just for my own sake, but also for my kids.
So including your family will help you to do it for the long run, because it is also a form of accountability.
I talk to them about how sugar and dairy makes ME feel sick and they learn from that. And when we always talk about self care at home, it’s nothing weird, it becomes normal to be mindful of how I take care of myself.
Trying to make change for yourself only will make things really hard for you. LIke having to cook 2 separate meals every night. It’s a much better idea to make small changes to your cooking that will be acceptable to the entire family. And then over a period of time, you continuously make small changes until you reach the point where you’ve made major changes without anybody noticing.
And then finally, your mindset.
When we reach a point of desperation, our motivation tends to be really high. But then we start making changes and it gets hard, and our brain tells us, ‘just go back to the familiar, where you are safe’.
I truly believe that the right preparation is critical for any planned change.
It’s crucial to set expectations from the start, and then to determine how I’ll measure success.
Sometimes, the only measure of success that we have is the picture of 100% success.
SO losing 20 pounds, or fixing my periods, or healing hormonal acne.
But what if those goals are too big to achieve in our set timeframe.
What if you actually need to measure your success by some other measure.
For example, healing acne is usually something that takes time. It is absolutely a sign of hormonal imbalance, but will be one of the last things that will heal.
If you know this from the starting point, you’ll know to track other improvements as a measure of progress. So maybe start to experience better sleep, better emotions, slight movements in your weight, less painful periods. All of these will be indications that you’re heading in the right direction and will therefore give you the motivation to keep going.
So setting realistic expectations is literally the difference between success and failure.
But the problem is, sometimes we struggle to get out of our own heads.
We don’t know what the mindsets are that are keeping us back.
And so having somebody there that will have a better perspective can be incredibly helpful.
And these are all of the principles that I implement in my life ongoingly. Not only in terms of my physical health, but also my spiritual health.
And these principles my friend, have helped dozens of women to take back their health and wellness. It has helped women to go from sick, tired, cranky and frustrated, to understanding their bodies and knowing exactly what to do to take care of themselves. And I would love to help you to do the same.
The next intake of the Hormone Health Academy is about to open and I wanna invite you along to a free masterclass I’m hosting to show you how this framework has not only changed my life and the lives of dozens of other women, but it can also change yours.
I’ll be sharing with you my Simple 3-Step formula for busy women who are sick of feeling tired, cranky and out of control, so you can learn how to make friends with your body without the diets, quick fixes or spending hundreds of dollars on supplements that don’t work.
And if you join me, I’ll be giving you my brand new guide with recipes for the 10 foods that you need so you can start healing your body right now.
I would love to have you there, so make sure to save your spot. There are 4 different times, so I’m making it easy for you to join me.
Head over to vandghie.com/3steps and find a date and time that works for you. I’ll also link to that page in my show notes.
My greatest goal, is to show you what is possible.
To show you that you CAN live life on your terms.
And I’m hoping that is what you get from listening to my podcast.
I value the time you spend with me so much, so thank you for being here again today.
If you don’t mind, would you please share this episode with a friend?
And if you could subscribe and leave a review, I would be so very grateful.
Ok my friend, I’ll see you again next week.
Bye for now