Building better habits has challenged many individuals and has been especially difficult for me. When I think of better habits, I think of sleeping enough, spending less time on your phone, and most importantly, keeping both your mind and body healthy.
Yet, it’s easier said than done, as I can assure you on so many levels. According to an article in the Scientific American, “A hallmark 2009 study on habit creation found that habits developed in a range of 18 to 254 days; participants reported taking an average of about 66 days to reliably incorporate one of three new daily activities—eating a piece of fruit with lunch, drinking a bottle of water with lunch or running for 15 minutes before dinner.”
Attempts at eating healthy or exercising cannot be quickly built up on and followed; it takes a while, and not everyone has the patience or success to stick to it, including me, as I’ve given up so many times.
Yet, building on these habits is important as, according to News In Health, “You can reduce your risk for the most common, costly, and preventable health problems—such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and obesity—by making healthy choices.”
Ever since I was little, I’ve never been healthy enough, mentally or physically. I went through many struggles that persisted and physically showed, especially with my body. Up until middle school, I was at a somewhat healthy weight for my height and age. Yet, when school shut down, I had to bear the consequences of staying at home while gaining weight.
Back in middle school, I used to weigh around 120 pounds. Now I weigh so much more than that, and my weight gain was so astonishing that I’ve never had the confidence to say it out loud, and instead, now I can only try to hide from it.
It’s been almost five years since then, and every day, I grow more appalled at myself for letting go of myself so much, especially at my age.
My habits were not good at all compared to others. These habits included sleeping only 4-6 hours a day, not exercising at all, like literally none, and overeating (a lot of overeating).
These habits eventually built up as it was something I would repeat every single day. For most of my day, I would skip breakfast and wait until I got home, and eat everything I could until I was full. If there was no food at home or I was too lazy to make something, which was almost every day, I would walk 3 minutes to the gas station and pick up chips or candy to eat. This wasn’t even an actual meal to keep me full, as most of the time, so I would end up wanting more.
Working at my job at a fast food restaurant also wasn’t easy, as I was constantly surrounded by food for my whole shift. I couldn’t even remember the last time I brought a healthy meal to work, as I would instead eat something available there, which was just fried foods.
Even if I wasn’t at work, I didn’t even make an effort to make anything at home, so I would just pick up fast food 3-4 times a week, which I would constantly indulge in.
These snacks and “foods” started affecting my health, and when I had to get my blood drawn at a lab, I shouldn’t have been so surprised that I was considered pre-diabetic.
This was almost 6 months ago, and even with that diagnosis, I didn’t have the motivation to change these habits until a few weeks ago. I honestly don’t know what finally made me snap out of it and realize that I needed to change.
Maybe it was my fear of dying. I realized that I didn’t want to die at an early age from health and weight problems. As morbid as it sounds, it was the reality for me, as it was a constant fear for me.
Two weeks ago, I decided to “lock in.” I stopped eating chips, candies, junk food, and especially fast food. I started going to the gym, too. It hasn’t been easy, and I realize not one single person has said it was.
The past two weeks have been exhausting and difficult for me, especially as a beginner who is in constant discomfort and fear inside a gym. But each day, I constantly decide to get up and go. Ever since I’ve started, I’ve lost 5 pounds, which is not a lot, but keeping up this rate means I could lose nearly 20 lbs by the end of the school year, which is my ultimate goal.
My typical day now consists of eating a healthy meal that I genuinely like and that will keep me full. So far, I’ve experimented and made sure to enjoy foods that I like. Just last week, I made a homemade chipotle bowl with meat, beans, rice, lettuce, and a side of cut-up baked potatoes.
While these may not seem like the healthiest meals, it has kept me full even for a full day before hitting the gym, and instead of waiting to get home to eat, I make sure to bring it to school, put it inside a fridge, and heat it for lunch. When I get home, I don’t even tend to eat anymore as I’m still full from the lunch I had, which brings me to my next step, going to the gym.
While going to the gym is important, it’s equally important to watch the food you eat, which is what I’ve decided to focus on. Before stepping inside a gym, I tend to feel nervous and scared, but one thought that always crosses my mind is the fact that if I had the motivation and guts to go yesterday, I could do it again today.
Starting at the gym, I didn’t even know what to do except know the fact that I wanted to lose weight. That’s why I’ve decided to start simple and easy during the first few days, and that’s why so far, I’ve only decided to stick to the stairmaster and the treadmill. When I first started the treadmill, it was okay. It wasn’t super complicated for me as I mainly started at an incline of 7 and a speed of 2.5. I cannot say the same for the stairmaster.
The stairmaster is, in my opinion, one of the most difficult machines to overcome. When I first started, I could only do level 3 for a maximum of 15 minutes, as you are constantly holding on and fighting for your life, yet every time you decide to get up and use it, it gets more tolerable.
Yesterday, I was able to stay on the stairmaster for a whole hour on level 4. A few days ago, I would be in pain and out of breath. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still out of breath and in pain now for the whole hour I’m on the machine, but I thought that it was impossible to complete 15 minutes back then, yet looking at me now shows me how it’s possible if you decide to show up and just try.
Every day, I have managed to show up and make an effort for my health. I have grown more proud and feel better about myself. There are so many things I want to do in the future, these things will, however, come from me living a lot of years by working now, when I still can build up a healthy lifestyle. Trying to take it one day at a time is important to me this time, as I will make sure that I will not give up and be stuck in the same place again next year.
Let me clarify once again that it’s tough, and I still want to give up at times. Yet, it’s important to keep thoughts that hold you accountable, as I have done. These shouldn’t be negative per se, but critical, as well as helpful enough to help you get through the day. You shouldn’t think or dwell on the present or future; focus on the present, wherever you are, and be there totally. It will be a great help both mentally and physically, as it is especially important, as many thoughts have crossed my mind and have helped me stay in the present and focused on the day. Some of these thoughts include…
1. Consistency is key
If you fail, don’t give up. Back then, I would think that if I had a sweet treat or missed a day at the gym, it meant that I would have a whole cheat day to myself or should skip the gym since I already failed. But changing your perspective helps you. When you have an accident like spilling a small amount of water from a glass on the floor, do you think inside your head that you should spill the whole glass since it already happened? No. It was a slip-up. This perspective has helped me, as I know it will be alright no matter what happens or when I “slip up.”
2. It’s possible if you want it bad enough
I’ve always wanted to do this, but I don’t think I’ve wanted it so badly enough until now that I’m willing to put in the effort and work to accomplish it. After a few weeks of putting in the effort, I’ve managed to feel better and more accomplished with my life, and this is only when seeing the weight drop little by little. Seeing this has made me want to work even more towards my ultimate goal and has held me more accountable, as well as on track. If you want it, you’ll work hard no matter how long it takes.
3. Your biggest motivator and enemy is yourself
Even before starting this journey, I always thought and even said to myself that it was impossible. Saying this constantly would no wonder make me give up before I even started, so this was a view I immediately needed to shift away from, surely. It didn’t matter if no one believed in me when I, the person who needed to put in the effort, didn’t even try, and even gave up before I started. Yet, when you pull up and push yourself and have to make an effort to continue on your journey, you realize that you can do it no matter what your past self or current self says to yourself..
4. If you won’t eat an apple, are you hungry?
One of the main struggles when trying to lose weight is managing what you eat and what you take in daily. A rule that I have kept in mind is the 80/20 rule, which implies that the 20% is the exercise you partake in, and the remaining eighty percent is the diet you take. Food continues to be one of the main struggles, as it’s so easy to fall back and repeat previous habits surrounding food and especially cravings. Even when making a routine exercise, unhealthy foods can slow down the progress you’ve already accomplished. For now, anytime I get a craving, I question myself and dwell on the fact that if I wouldn’t eat an apple, I’m not really “starving” as I think I am.
5. You didn’t gain it overnight. You won’t lose it overnight.
Something I constantly keep forgetting is that my current weight to me is more than 6 years to amass, starting from when I was at a normal weight in middle school. Yet, it shouldn’t be so surprising or make me more impatient that I’m not losing weight as quickly as I wanted to. It’s normal to want to give up, as it’s a normal human tendency so normal that I’ve done it several times.
