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.

I counsel  lots of people who are trying to get other people to behave differently. This may be a parent who is trying to get their kids to behave better or do their chores.  It may be someone who is trying to get their spouse to treat them more with more respect.  It may also be someone who is trying to change their own behavior.

Whether you’re trying to change your own behavior or someone else’s, you’ll usually get better results if you focus on rewarding or celebrating the things they are doing right rather than criticizing the things that are going wrong.  For example, if your spouse is on the sloppy side and tends to leave things laying around, watch for the next time they put something away without being asked and make sure you compliment or thank them for it.  For example, “I love it when I see you put things away!  That’s so helpful”.  I know it sounds kind of cheesy but it works.  The more you do it the more likely they are to keep putting things away.  Then you can start asking them to do small things and compliment that too.  For example, “Can you do me a big favor and put away those tools you have on the counter”.  If they do it, show appreciation.

If we try to get someone to change behavior by nagging or criticizing, they might develop a habit of doing it, but only because they think you’ll be negative if they don’t.  You really don’t want your teenager to constantly remind themselves of how you’re going to complain if they don’t pick up their room.  It’s better if they have the memory of you being appreciative when you walk by and notice how clean their room is and comment on how mature or responsible they are.

This works on yourself as well.  If you’re trying to develop a new habit, take reading for example,  try to set a time when you will read for at least a minute or two, then give yourself a mental pat on the back for doing the thing you said you were going to do.  I’ve been working on this myself.  I have several habits I’m trying to train myself to do.  Rather than berating myself for not doing something, I focus on celebrating myself when I “do the thing”.  It works.  When I feel successful for doing one thing, I’m eager to keep doing it and I usually do even more constructive things while I’m in such a good mood.

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.

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