Lessons Learned: Acknowledge Small Successes

Motivated by her retirement date in sight, my mom has been focusing hard on her health over the past 3 months. With plans to relocate to Hilton Head so she can spend more time with her grandchildren, she is driven to have the energy to enjoy her time with them. Signing on to a new corporate wellness program with her company, she has found support, encouragement, accountability, and easy access to information and activities that has helped her along the way.

This past Friday she was scheduled for her weekly weigh in. She had informed me earlier in the week that she thought she was on target to receive acknowledgment for 3 milestone goals - 5 pound star, a 25-pound charm, and her first 10% mark. She's admitted that it's been challenging for her to recognize each weekly 1/2 pound or 1 1/4 pound weight loss as progress, so needless to say she was looking forward to these with much anticipation.

When Friday finally came, a 3-pound loss for the week earned her 2 of the 3 milestones (only 0.8 pounds from earn her 10% mark). Overall, she still felt proud about her success.... That is, until she met with the wellness consultant. You see, the week's activity was to review her personal food log and review the areas that need improvement in terms of following the nutrition plan. She was told that she was supposed to be getting 2 teaspoons of healthy oils in daily, and that she would not lose weight unless she followed the plan exactly as written. Aside from the fact that this is a misguided statement (that's another blog in itself), my mom came from the discussion now focused on what she was doing "wrong." Forget the fact that she's eating more fruits and vegetables daily than she has in 2 years... Or that she is now doing a combination of walking, using a pedometer, biking, and attending Zumba when she's been sedentary for years... Or that her doctor took her off her blood pressure medication... Or that she can now discuss her weight and her actions around food without tears involved....No! Talk about poor timing! It broke my heart. Luckily she's heard me ramble enough about the successes some of our guests have had that she moved past it and accepted the challenge of getting in some healthy oils.

Lesson learned - it is imperative to celebrate your small successes. While it is important to review your plan and make adjustments when needed to continue your success, do not dismiss the opportunity to acknowledge the changes you have made. That 10% mark is a BIG deal, and it doesn't come every week, so it is absolutely critical to treat it as noteworthy. Congratulations Mom!!!

No matter how big or small... Share your most recent success with us and motivate another to stay the course.

Coaching Corner: Take a Pause to Celebrate Achievement

The journey to weight loss and lifestyle change is often a path paved in goal setting and achievement. We set big goals that provide a direction and vision of our ideal level of wellness; smaller goals are then established to close the gap.

 What happens when we reach a goal though? Often times we pause for a moment to look around and reset to the next goal on our path.  We are on a journey after all and want to continue moving forward, but it is the pause that I want to look at today. Just like in the flow of music down a stanza, the pauses and rests can be just as powerful and meaningful as the notes being played. Our pause at the attainment of a goal is a valuable part of our journey.

Sometimes we do not want to pause out of fear that we will lose momentum. If this is the case, go back to your vision of your ideal level of wellness and what you want as part of your future. Reconnect with that vision and what that means to you. Often times after a significant pause or rest in music it begins to builds, the momentum picks up and you reach the most exciting and meaningful part of the song. You do not turn off the iPod at the rest thinking that the song is over, you embrace the pause and wait with anticipation for the music to build and continue on.

Once you achieve a goal, whether a milestone or an inch pebble, take a moment to celebrate.

5 ways to celebrate your achievement:

1. Write down the date and specifics of the achievement in your calendar. It is a historic day and worth recording. Continue to do this and you will be able to go back and reconnect with past achievements in your journey. Stay close to what you have done and how far you have come.


2. Tell someone. It is not bragging! Think about how excited you are to celebrate good news with a loved one. Don’t celebrate alone. By verbalizing your success it reinforces the achievement and allows you to share your journey with those close to you. We were not made to be alone.


3. Do something about it. Use your new success, put it into action. Show it off. If you reached a fitness goal, seek out a way to enjoy it. Go hiking, kayaking, or sign up for a 5k. If it is a weight loss goal, go shopping for something new. It doesn’t have to be a new closet of clothes, but something new that you are proud to put on. If it is a nutrition related goal, try cooking a healthy balanced meal for others. We have some great ideas for you!


4. Give thanks to those who support you. Show gratitude for those who are with you and offer support on your journey. Gratitude is good for your health. It is amazing the impact that a 99 cent greeting card with a hand written note or a simple thank you can have. Whether it is your trainer, friend, spouse, or the butcher who portions out your meat at the grocery store, give gratitude for those who build you up.


5. Take a picture. Snap a pic of the meal you made, fitness adventure, or even the scale! Print it out and fill your space with snapshots of achievement. These will be reminders to you on good days and bad that you are a success!

 

The Climb

My accountability partner and I have been texting each other just about every day to make sure we’re staying on track. She recently told me about a tough run she had and we decided to talk about it. Before her run, she decided to shoot for her best 5K time. In spite of the heat during her noon-day run, she managed to meet her goal of setting a new personal record (PR) for her 5K! After hearing this, I wondered why she was so upset about her run. Turns out, the rush from meeting her goal inspired her to make a PR for her farthest run right after running her fastest 5K. Needless to say, having spent just about all her energy meeting her 5K goal, her long run didn’t go as she hoped. I reminded my partner that while setting challenges for yourself is a good thing, celebrating when you meet those challenges is just as important.

I know I’ve found myself guilty of forgetting to celebrate my simple wins and solely focusing on what I could have done better. Often used in wellness coaching, when assessing whether or not you met your goals, try giving each goal a percentage instead of a flat out yes or no. What I’ve learned from this exercise is that even though I may not have cooked as many meals at home, decluttered as many rooms in my house, lost as much weight as I had hoped, or whatever the goal is at the time, I still made 70% more progress than the time before—which to me is success worth celebrating! So the next time you’re down about missing that top branch, take a look at your surroundings and celebrate how far you’ve already climbed.

We're so proud of all your success, keep up the hard work!

Being Mindful of the Journey

Everyone recognizes the importance of goal setting when it comes to making healthy lifestyle changes. In fact, a clear vision of our desired end result is a significant motivator. However, our final goal can often seem so far off and practically unattainable; focusing solely on the goal, while paying little attention to the process, can be paralyzing for many individuals.

Part of what we teach at H3 is the importance of mindfulness -- being present, in the moment. Living a mindful lifestyle is paying attention to the process of achieving our goals. That means we acknowledge with each new day what we weren't able to do the day before. We also acknowledge the gratitude that goes with each new achievement, no matter how small. Appreciation for accomplishing our final goal remains shallow unless we reflect on the journey. That reflection needs to be done on a daily basis in order to get the full benefit.

Paying attention to the journey, as it's happening, is embracing the full measure of the needed change. The change itself becomes your lifestyle when you're mindful. Without the reflection, it is likely that you can see the weight loss while learning little about how you really achieved it. Being mindful of the process allows you to experience the little victories, which then become bigger victories that result in your ultimate victory. Mindfulness produces the momentum you need to cross the finish line.

So what does being mindful of the journey really look like? It’s noticing the sweat on your body and the intensity of your breath during exercise. It's setting your sight far beyond the numbers on the scale. It's taking pride that after just two weeks at H3 you went from a zero incline and 2 miles per hour in Treading Class to an incline of 14. It's getting through an entire Cardio-Boxing class without having to sit down, feeling like you want to throw up but inwardly smiling from the seemingly impossible accomplishment. It's trying something completely new like yoga, whole grains, or Bootcamp and realizing you enjoy it. It's noticing the subtle changes in your attitude, outlook and mood as you move forward. It's paying attention to the feelings that surface as you shed old, dysfunctional coping strategies. It’s starting to live in your body instead of in your head.

If you think about it, all we really have is this moment anyway. We are not guaranteed of the next moment or tomorrow even. So why sell yourself short of the daily gratitude that comes from living in the journey instead of an uncertain future? In short, paying attention to the journey, moment by moment, is giving yourself permission to experience the rewards of success everyday instead of months down the line