For example, if you walk for an hour, you’ll burn about 300 calories.  But you drink one can of pop and you’ve added about 150 calories.  One slice of pepperoni pizza is about 250 calories (and who eats just one slice?).  One plain donut has anywhere from 250 to 400 calories.  

I’ve played around with the idea of making behavior changes with the idea that change is very difficult if it’s painful.  Telling yourself you can’t have something (i.e. donuts) tends to be stressful.  Doing things that cause us stress do not become habit.  B. J. Fogg discusses this in his book, “Tiny Habits”.   We change by doing things that make us feel good, not by doing things that make us feel bad.  So, for myself, I decided it was time to take getting in shape seriously.  When I started thinking about the idea that I would never be able to out exercise a poor diet, I started looking at my diet to see where I could make painless changes and reduce calories.

One of the first things I noticed was that I drink a lot of milk and juice.  While this is certainly healthier than drinking pop, it has the same about of calories.  If I could switch to drinking water instead of milk and juice, I estimated that I could cut out about 700 calories a day easily.

Next I looked at my lunch time meals.  I had a bad habit of forgetting to take a lunch to work with me so would end up going out for a take out lunch.  Quite often pizza because it’s fast and convenient.  One slice of pepperoni pizza is about 250 calories each, and I never stop at just one.  Let’s say I would eat three slices (because it’s pizza and it’s there in front of me).  That’s 750 calories right there.  It’s exceedingly difficult to find takeout food that isn’t loaded with calories.  

On the other hand, if I bring a sandwich and an apple or veggies from home, that turns out to be about 475 calories.   On days, I can also keep dinner to about 500 calories, I’m now below the number of daily calories my body needs to maintain my current weight, which means I lose weight that day.  This also means my one-hour walk (burning about 300 calories) is really paying of in weight loss and muscle toning.

The key seems to be planning ahead so I have what I need to make a lunch at home, and making sure I create a habit of making the lunch and bringing it to work.  Losing a small amount of weight (i.e. a pound or two) in a couple of days proves to be a motivator to continue the practice.  The nice thing is that it doesn’t have to be painful. Quite often, just reading calories of something you’re about to eat can deter you from eating it.  For example, when I saw that there are 350 calories in a Hostess Ding Dong, I was able to immediately put it back on the shelf.  The thought of having to walk over an hour just to burn off calories that I would enjoy for only a  moment just wasn’t worth it.

Going back to the idea of making the process painless, I also began looking at recipes that actually tasted good that were low calorie.  This was mostly vegetables.  I wanted something I would enjoy whether I was dieting or not so I wouldn’t feel I was giving anything up.  I discovered I rather like broccoli and cauliflower  with cajun spices and soy sauce.  I could prepare this in large batches and refrigerate it in single serving containers.  So far, so good.

If you’re trying to get healthy, see if you can find ways to tweak what you’re doing.  You can find ways to cut out calories, find small ways to add movement or exercise to your day,  and start adding these up to big changes.  

The post You Can’t Exercise Your Way Out of a Bad Diet appeared first on Turnabout Counseling.

Scaling Questions to Help Think Small

One of the things we do in SFBT is use scaling questions.  We ask a client where they would rate their current progress from one to ten, with ten being the best.  Then we look at what you’re doing right that lets it be that number instead of a lower number.  Next we will look at what a half number higher will look like.  Sometimes I even ask for a smaller increase in the number, say one quarter higher because big changes start small.  What we’re asking clients to do is think about small but noticeable changes they can make. These changes should be really easy to perform and implement. 

Small Changes Are Easier to Keep Going

Making one small change not only makes a difference, it’s also easy to keep doing.  This is what behaviorism has taught me.  Changes have to be small and easy for us to keep them going.  When the changes are too big, you can do it for a short time, but soon get burned out by taking on too much at once.

Behaviorists sometimes talk about one percent changes.  They recommend looking for ways to start with 1% improvement of the behavior at first.  If you improve by 1% every week, then in two months you’ve improved by 8%.  In a year, you’ve improved by 52%.  This is good improvement compared to changing by, say, 50% in a week, and then quitting whatever you’re trying to improve because you burned yourself out.  

So when I use the scale, I ask you to talk about what a 1 or 2% change in behavior will look like for you.  I want you to start small on purpose so you have success but aren’t overwhelmed by trying to do too much too soon.

Gary Watson is a Solution Focused Therapist in Grand Rapids Michigan.  He provides counseling for couples, teenagers, and adults.  He can help with anxiety, depression, stress, college and work stress, relationship problems, and more.  For more information, please visit the website at www.turnaboutcounseling.com.

The post Big Changes Start Small: The Scaling Question appeared first on Turnabout Counseling.