Anyone who has been around young children knows that they learn early on to resist. Once they learn to say “no,” life gets a lot more difficult for a parent. And, as we know, children are famous for resisting bedtime. Kids utilize resistance early and often.
Resistance comes in handy. It establishes a boundary and lets you hang on to things you hold near and dear when it seems that things are being imposed or a change is in the wind.
But what about when resistance gets in the way of something that you want for yourself? Unfortunately, resistance can get in the way when we have a goal to improve our health by making some changes to our eating and exercise habits. This is inarguably a great goal. But, the actual actions necessary can cause us to balk.
Facing the thought of going on a diet or establishing a new exercise routine can lead people to say, “I would love to lose 20 pounds, but now is not the time. I am too busy and stressed out.” Another one is, “I know I should. I just don’t have the motivation right now.” In many ways, these people are acknowledging that they know the task requires focus and energy. They feel that they don’t have the wherewithal to make changes to their life right now.
Many people who have tried and dropped out say things like: “I just couldn’t keep up with the program. I had to take a day off, and then I started falling back into my old habits.” Or, “I have cravings that I can’t seem to ignore.” Or, “It was all too restrictive; I couldn’t keep it up.”
We shouldn’t feel bad about resistance. We have had resistance in our repertoire for a long time. As 2-year-olds, we used resistance to establish ourselves as separate beings, ones with choices. Resistance can happen when that little person is being told what to do.
Grown-ups can also balk at being told what to do. Take, for example, diet and exercise programs. They basically tell us what to do: Follow the program. But that rarely works for very long. Even with some choices built in, it’s still all within the program.
Further, adults have something that 2-year-olds do not have. We have years of established habits.
It comes down to this. We love our habits. We have had a long time to get plenty of them established. Constant reinforcement keeps them in our brains, ready to be called upon at a moment’s notice. When it comes to eating and exercise, many of those habits bring us comfort and connection.
Following restrictive programs like a diet can make us crave the comfort of our old habits. There are plenty of ways this can happen.
For example:
There are many strategies that we can use to make change easier. One of these is to use something that adults develop as we mature.
Adults develop executive function. Executive function covers many areas of self-regulation, including problem-solving, planning, and emotional regulation.
We can use our executive function to turn down the volume on our resistance. Here are some ways to do that.
In a nutshell, change is a process. A slow process. You can’t make diet and exercise changes overnight and expect them to stick. Making small changes, of your own choosing, that are in line with your goals, will greatly reduce the need to resist.
References
Grant, Adam (2021). Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know. Viking. New York, New York.
Segar, Michelle (2022). The Joy Choice: How to Finally Achieve Lasting Changes in Eating and Exercise. Hachette Book Group, Inc., New York, New York.
Polivy, J., Herman, C. P., Deo, R. (2010). Getting a bigger slice of the pie. Effects on eating and emotion in retrained and unrestrained eaters. Appetite. 55(3):426–430.
Getting Past Resistance When Striving for Healthy Goals
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19.03.2024
Anyone who has been around young children knows that they learn early on to resist. Once they learn to say “no,” life gets a lot more difficult for a parent. And, as we know, children are famous for resisting bedtime. Kids utilize resistance early and often.
Resistance comes in handy. It establishes a boundary and lets you hang on to things you hold near and dear when it seems that things are being imposed or a change is in the wind.
But what about when resistance gets in the way of something that you want for yourself? Unfortunately, resistance can get in the way when we have a goal to improve our health by making some changes to our eating and exercise habits. This is inarguably a great goal. But, the actual actions necessary can cause us to balk.
Facing the thought of going on a diet or establishing a new exercise routine can lead people to say, “I would love to lose 20 pounds, but now is not the time. I am too........
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